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Whitehall mandarins came under fire this week for stifling the pioneering ‘total place' initiative through red tape and lack of funding. The critics hit out as CLG permanent secretary, Peter Housden, and the Treasury's public services director, Helen Bailey, wrote to all 13 total place pilot councils for the first time, outlining the programme they must pursue until their final report next March. The pilots, announced by efficiency tsar Sir Michael Bichard in the Budget, will deliver their interim findings by next October, in time for the pre-Budget report. In their letter, Mr Housden and Ms Bailey ask pilots to focus on mapping local public spending in their areas, identify barriers to joint working and provide a business case as to why ‘effective cross-agency working delivers service transformation and efficiencies.' Their letter also asks pilots to shortlist ‘potential programme directors' who must be ‘procured quickly and effectively'. But Stephen Taylor, former chief of the Leadership Centre which pioneered a total place study in Cumbria last year, said there was growing resentment at top-down direction of the initiative. Mr Taylor, who now runs his own consultancy, told The MJ: ‘We've had private discussions with many chief executives in the last few weeks. The mood has shifted – from grumbling resentment about micro-management and initiative-itis to rising anger at the way the centre continues to crush innovation and sap energy which should be devoted to communities and services. They're seeing total place as a genuine opportunity, but only if it's recognised that it's as much about removing the dead hand of Whitehall as about getting their local act together.' Andy Sawford, chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit and a keen supporter of the localism agenda, said the Government was taking a ‘piecemeal approach' and challenged the £5m funding. He said: ‘It underestimates the scale of the challenge local government and communities face at present. Councils are already having to innovate at a rapid pace. Ministers need to focus on the totality of public spending.' But local government minister, John Healey, said it was up to councils to put pressure on ministers to tackle their Whitehall colleagues – and seize the initiative locally. He told The MJ: ‘The opportunity is there. I expect councils to lead the initiative in their area. ‘They will look at how they transform services – the consumer must come first.' He warned police, health and other local bodies needed to step up involvement: ‘With all local agencies the responsibility is just as strong on them to find ways to do things better. ‘Our job is to ensure the other departments and national agencies are fully behind these pilots to get their whole-hearted involvement.' He added: ‘The rest of government should be watching very closely what they come up with. ‘And councils not in the pilots shouldn't be sitting back waiting for what happens here – they should be taking this agenda forward too.'

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WHITEHALL

Red tape warning over 'total place' pilot plans

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