Previously I wrote about managing your member referring to how officers in local government work with local councillors or as they are referred to by officers elected members. I was therefore very interested to read an article in the Guardian about how MPs were asserting themselves over senior civil servants through select committees. The parallels with local government are obvious when you consider that the model for scrutinising the work of local government is based on that of select committees.The Public Accounts Committee has been has been investigating the so called “sweetheart” deals between Revenue &Customs officials and Goldman Sachs. At stake is £20 million tax liability that was not collected. This is just a fraction of the billions of pounds which large companies seem to have been able to do a deal with the tax office over. Naturally the committee of MP’s want to know what’s going on. The senior civil servants involved have been hugely resistant to criticism, claiming that MP’s concerns are based are based on “partial information, inaccurate opinions and a misunderstanding of the facts”. This will all be very familiar to local councillors who have tried to use the scrutiny committee to find out whether the deal done by cabinet with BT really was value for money or why despite the additional funds put into the new fostering strategy foster placement appear to have reduced.Fans of Yes Minister will recognise the power struggle between the professionals and the people representatives. It also happens in local government. Officers often think they know best forgetting that it isn’t just about making the business case, whereas members can sometimes shy away from implementing unpopular policies or let ideology replace sound judgment. Local democracy needs the power to be balanced.Blair McPherson author of Equipping managers for an uncertain future published by Russell House http://www.blairmcpherson.co.uk/
