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Local government must push ahead with the Total Place programme, even if the name disappears under the new coalition government, councils were urged last week. In the first Total Place event since the general election, Lord Bichard, who chairs the Total Place high-level officers' group, said: ‘The most common question I am asked is, Will Total Place survive the change of government? ‘This misses the point. Total Place is a way of doing things differently, and I hope this will survive. Total Place as a brand won't survive, but I'm not sure that's important. The question to ask is, Do we want to continue working in silos? The financial picture is so challenging we have to find radical solutions, and Total Place has shown it can come up with them.' Lord Bichard told the audience of council leaders: ‘None of this demands legislation. A lot of it can be done at local level. We need to maintain the momentum during this transition period. We have a real chance of convincing politicians this can't be let go.' While the coalition agreement made no mention of Total Place, Helen Bailey, head of public sector at the Treasury, said it was up to councils to show the new government that Total Place matched its own aims. She said Whitehall had learned ‘fantastic things' from Total Place, and added: ‘This is an opportunity for local government while we're getting to grips with our new Bible, the coalition agreement. It's a real challenge to those in Total Place to pick up the themes of the new government. My message is, This is in your hands.' David Parsons, chair of the Local Government Association improvement board, and leader of Leicestershire CC, a Total Place pilot, said: ‘The last Labour Treasury chief secretary, Liam Byrne, pushed Total Place, due to the money savings. We need his successor, David Laws, to carry this on. The coalition agreement still sees delivery in department silos. We need to make our case by the autumn statement.'

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WHITEHALL

'Press on with Total Place' coalition told

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