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Suffolk CC recently hit the national media for its proposal to become an enabling 'virtual' council. Here the county's leader, Cllr Jeremy Pembroke, outlines just what it means in practice Two challenges face local government. The first is the public sector deficit. We shall hear more about this on 20 October, when the chancellor unveils his Comprehensive Spending Review, but in Suffolk, we are in no doubt that we face hard choices about what services and activities we can afford in future. The second challenge is also an opportunity – how we redesign public services to be sustainable in an era of less money, while creating the Big Society in our communities. Cllr Jeremy Pembroke At Suffolk CC, we have taken a long, hard look into our future. And to help meet the challenges we face, we have designed an ‘enabling council', based on four key elements: First, we want to help people take control by making their own decisions about how they live their lives. We will provide personalised payments for those receiving a care package from us. This means that instead of receiving care – often not tailored to suit the individual – we will hand over cash so people can purchase exactly what they need to support them. Where we have piloted this already in families with children with disabilities, people have told us that their lives have been improved by the choices they've been able to make for their children, and they have felt more in control. I t also cost the council less, since people tend to undervalue and overuse services which appear free at the point of delivery. Second, we want communities to be more involved in decisions about what happens in their locality. To make this happen, we will ‘divest' buildings, parks and local services to existing and new organisations which operate in our communities – such as town and parish councils, social enterprises, voluntary groups, mutualised staff buy-outs, arm's length bodies, trusts and so on – to create a mixed economy of local service providers. Third, we will encourage community capacity and greater personal responsibility means people can become less reliant on the public sector to support them, and more ready to look for their own solutions to their problems, using their own capabilities and networks. And finally, we will support an enhanced role for councillors, local democracy and sharper accountability. Our plans aren't about following the latest ideological fashion. They are based on a real belief that people know best what they want, and are better at targeting scarce public sector resources to the real issues facing them. There are many different ways we can work with communities or local groups to take on services. What may work for a country park might not be suitable for a library or local public transport scheme. So, we need to be flexible. We know this will take time to get right, and will be more difficult for some services. And other services will need to close or be reduced, but we will be honest with our communities about the choices we face. In the past, communities supported each other to a far greater extent than they do now. I think this is a sad indictment of our age. Where communities once provided support, now the Government has crowded out informal support networks, and health and safety rules ensure that individuals are deterred from taking matters into their own hands. There are some exceptions, of course. Last winter, many communities in Suffolk supported each other during the snowy weather – delivering meals on wheels, checking up on frail neighbours, sharing transport and clearing paths and roads. Chief Executive of the RSA, Matthew Taylor, wrote recently in his blog about the networks which developed out of children's nurseries. Where parents were required to help with their child's nursery, to raise money or provide supervision for trips, the relationships and friendships between parents whose children attended the network were greater than where parents had no responsibility for helping the nursery provide the service. Those parents who had better networks had people they could call on for informal support. We need to increase the strength and number of bonds that link individuals in a community, to strengthen our communities and reduce demands on the public sector. An example already under way is the Suffolk Circle – a social enterprise which helps people access the services and practical help they need as they get older. It uses a membership model to develop a community of individuals and organisations, connecting people who need help to those who can help. This is an extraordinary time in the public sector. The challenges we face are unprecedented. In meeting these challenges, we must not create a new kind of bureaucracy to replace the old, but instead, take this once-in-a-generation opportunity to redesign the way we deliver services, to put power into the hands of the people we serve. Cllr Jeremy Pembroke is leader of Suffolk CC

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WHITEHALL

Give the public more control

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