Councils are facing a number of strategic challenges and ‘greater pressures', according to the director of the Strategy Unit. Addressing last week's SOLACE conference in Cardiff, Stephen Aldridge said the rising demand on services and lower funding allocation from central government would put councils under more pressure. Focusing on public services, he described public expectation as high – and rising. ‘The public want better public experiences, but there are cost pressures, new demands and an increasing diversity of population,' he said. ‘Councils need to shape services around the individual, they must give a renewed focus on user and customer experiences and they should move away from treating problems to preventing them.' He added that looking at the relations between central and local government, there were good indications of the way the relationship was going to go. ‘There was strong emphasis on targets and a top-down approach, but there has now been a recognition that in future, this will not suffice,' he said. Mr Aldridge added greater flexibility, responsibility and discretion at the local level would allow service providers to ensure the right services were provided to the right users.
