A new national poll shows that in the absence of any substantial criticism in the media or Government the reputation of local government appears strong. The Populus/LGInisght poll conducted during late August shows that seventy percent of British adults think that their local council has received either positive or neutral coverage from the media in the last few months, up nine points from 61% in June 2011. Perceptions of pos/neutral coverage of local councils across the country have gone from 41% to 53% at the same time. The polling highlights how councils are engaging with residents and continuing to deliver high quality services. But, as we approach the end of the year there are indications that this could be the calm before the storm. In January 2011 underneath a mound of snow and ice the reputation of local government fell. Satisfaction with how they were running local areas fell to 62% as services such as refuse collection suffered. By August reputation has rebuilt to 70% satisfaction, in line with the previous month, built on satisfaction with refuse collection increasing from 73% to 84% and street cleansing from 67% to 76%. Throughout this period the proportion of people feeling informed about the services and benefits provided by their council has gone from 54% to 59%. This shows that despite the new local government publicity code councils are still able to communicate with their residents and drive an improved reputation. As people have talked with their councils and learned about the tough decisions being made the proportion feel their council takes account of residents’ views has gone from 42% at the start of the year to 48% now. At the same time value for money ratings have gone from 42% to 50%. It would be easy for councils to now take the foot off the pedal and consider the job done. Government has gone quiet in its criticism of local government. A freeze in council tax has taken much of the sting out of a much hated tax. Councils are finding that people will have sensible conversations over their budget and the services they need to deliver and how. But not everything is working out for councils. There are still incredibly tough and controversial decisions being taken on issues such as adult and children social care. Despite only impacting on a small group of residents nine in ten (90%) Britons offer an opinion on how good support for vulnerable adults is in their local area (47% rate it well). Will this improve as consultations start to end and final decisions on the future of services are made? For years councils have been reluctant to communicate the good work they are doing with vulnerable groups through case studies as they have been concerned about confidentiality. Do we think that vulnerable adults or their carers will be as considerate in return when services are being taken away and the TV cameras turn up? Councils will still continue to support vulnerable adults, but all that will be shown to many are cuts and the taking away of services. And then there are the roads. Half (49%) of British adults are dissatisfied with road maintenance. No other major service comes close in getting this level of dissatisfaction. It is an easy area for a council to hold off spending on for another year, increasing the accepted size of potholes or lengthening maintenance schedules. This is likely to be a mistake. Which organisation in their right mind would neglect a service that leads to their customers’ cars being damaged? Local government rarely escapes criticism for long. There are over 400 local councils meaning that there will always be one mad enough to do something the media will lap up to damn the sector. Yet with a strong enough performance from the majority of councils this can be dismissed as an irritant rather than anything substantial. Of more concern is that the council decisions will now start to bite. Libraries will close. Vulnerable people will complain. Car mechanics will do a roaring trade. Councils will be held to blame. Then in March 2012 council tax bills will go up as the subsidy from central government to freeze the bills was only for one year. A tax rise could consolidate what by then will look like a very lean feast from your local council. Good communications will help ensure that councils are being open and honest with their residents by explaining and engaging with them about what is going on. With any luck councils are making the right tough decisions and finding that change is possible that drives down costs but also improves the quality of services. The mistake will be to look at these latest polling findings, or observe that media criticism has lessened, and think that the argument has been won. In reality the storm of criticism is likely to start again very soon the question is whether councils are ready for it.
