Amid the pre-Christmas rush of policy relevant for local government, one specific announcement seemingly more focused on the civil service is worth watching.
In a speech which was the most revealing to date of the Government's intention to reform the state, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden, spoke of the need to develop a ‘test and learn mindset'
The sites focus initially on two challenges: reducing the costs of temporary accommodation and increasing engagement in family hubs among disadvantaged families
Coupled with chancellor Rachel Reeves' announcement that departments will be required to find 5% productivity gains over the three years of the Spending Review, it's apparent the Government recognises that innovation and embedding new ways of working is the only alternative to simply scaling back business as usual.
As McFadden indicated, Whitehall needs to shift away from a structural focus on process towards the pursuit of outcomes.
The centrepiece of the announcement is four new test and learn sites in Liverpool, Sheffield, Manchester and Essex, as part of the £100m Public Sector Innovation Fund. These will involve ‘crack teams' of council officers, civil servants, and others with a range of expertise including digital, design and private sector.
The sites focus initially on two challenges: reducing the costs of temporary accommodation and increasing engagement in family hubs among disadvantaged families.
The initial wave is small-scale and narrowly focused. But by being set up as an iterative, ongoing endeavour, there is room for the test and learn approach to expand in both reach and themes.
By establishing strong local partnerships with a feedback loop direct to Whitehall, learning about what works could begin to inform the national framework: how might wider civil service reform better enable working within complex local systems and deeply with communities for impact (and efficiency) of spend?
It's early days, but has quite exciting potential to catalyse deeper place-based reform.
Jessica Studdert is chief executive at New Local
