Debate on local government reform was opened further today with the launch of a new web forum. The forum provides an opportunity for members of the general public to make their views known directly, as well as offering another channel for local government stakeholders – such as local authorities, the business sector and voluntary and community organisations – to contribute to discussions.The Deal for Devolution proposes a radically different form of local government where power is moved down from Whitehall to councils and from councils to citizens. It involves the creation of Neighbourhood Charters within a National Neighbourhood Framework. The charters would set out how public services are delivered to a neighbourhood and the empowerment mechanisms that are available to local people. The proposals provide challenges and opportunities for local and central government and the result will be radical changes in responsibilities and relationships.
Two local authorities are facing capping measures after the announcement that the average council tax increase for band D properties will be four and a half per cent. The authorities that have been designated with a view to in-year capping are York City Council and Medway Borough Council. They now have 21 days in which to respond after which the Government can either set a maximum budget for the year ahead or withdraw the designation and restrict future increases.Local Government Minister Phil Woolas said the majority of authorities had responded positively to the message from central government. “The achievement of another historically low increase is a tribute to the way in which local authorities have contained their costs and budgeted prudently,” he said. Mr. Woolas said the average increase for the coming year would have been 4.2 per cent but was higher because of the council tax element of the funding package for the 2012 Olympics that affects London.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations has published guidance for voluntary and community organisations thinking about working in partnership to deliver public services. Because public service contracts are often sizeable, joint delivery can be the only way for small organisations to get involved. Organisations and their service users can benefit from working together to deliver contracts, rather than by competing with each other. The model focuses on the relationship between voluntary organisations rather than partnership between voluntary organisations and public bodies. Case studies illustrate voluntary sector experience of jointly delivering public services.The guidance is available by email from collaborate@ncvo-vol.org.uk Further information is at: www.ncvovol.org.uk/jointprojects
Scottish local authorities have responded to criticism of their failure to deal with the issue of equal pay by pointing to the size and complexity of the task they are facing. The Scottish Parliament’s Finance Committee is demanding a resolution to the problem within 12 months but the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities says that demand is pointless.The Committee looked at the financial implications of harmonising local authority workers’ terms and conditions, a move known as “Single Status” and at the costs of one-off compensation payments for past pay discrimination. In a report it said that in spite of an agreement on Single Status between local authorities and unions in 1999, it has been implemented in only one of the 32 local authorities.
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Seventy-six local authorities have stated their interest in becoming early adopters of products developed through Government Connect, the 12 million pound project that aims to provide a common infrastructure allowing local councils to provide secure and effective provision of online services. Now, following its successful first stage, local authority sponsorship of the programme is to switch from Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council to the North West e-Government Group, under the sponsorship of Tameside Council.The Minister for Local e-Government Jim Fitzpatrick, said progress made on the scheme meant it was ready to move to the next stage towards its target of rolling out the services to around 300 local authorities by April 2007 and to all authorities a year later. The first phase had identified opportunities for improvements to service delivery and efficiencies, many of which relied on increased joint working by central and local government.The move to the North West e-Government Group was a reflection of this and there would also be increased involvement from key central Government departments. Mr. Fitzpatrick congratulated Bolton on the work it had done. “The project is now entering a new and exciting phase and we have agreed with all parties that it makes sense to increase its profile with NWeGG leading to develop a regional dimension. NWeGG is an established partnership and we are confident that their work will soon deliver products that will be of real value to local authorities,” he said.
By Tiggey May, Martin Duffy, Bradley Few and Mike Hough. Selling drugs is big business with those involved earning in a week what some earn in a year. The authors examined the drug market in three areas to find out how it is structured and how it functions. They offer suggestions for preventing young people from entering a drug market and they identify some of the issues that need to be tackled.
A new improvement programme is being launched for health care staff who have to deal with the more than 130,000 written complaints received by the National Health Service each year. It uses enquiry and work-based learning to improve the effectiveness of staff who manage complaints.The Managing Complaints for Service Improvement programme has been developed by the Institute of Healthcare Management in conjunction with the Department of Health. It has been designed to help health organisations to enhance the local resolution of complaints through improvements in investigation and by ensuring lessons learned by the organisation are put into practice.
A motoring organisation is today highlighting the plight of local authority highway engineers who, it says, are fighting a losing battle to ensure the safety of Britain’s roads through proper maintenance schemes. The RAC Foundation says poor road surfacing is one of the five most common causes of motorcycle crashes, but councils in England and Wales get just a third of the budget they need to maintain highways to a safe standard.The Foundation says figures in the latest annual report on local road maintenance mean authorities can afford to resurface their roads only once every 56 years. All the Welch councils and 85 per cent of those in England that took part in the study agreed that the backlog of maintenance was putting road users’ safety at risk.
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This report sets out actions and recommendations to improve the local authority consent regime system. This is the process whereby a local authority has to apply for permission from the Secretary of State, or in some cases the Attorney General, to carry out certain activities in order to perform their statutory duties, such as the provision of off street parking. Local authorities continue to have a strong perception that government departments could do more to remove burdens such as unnecessary paperwork associated with some of the controls that are in place.This report identifies the actions that government departments will take which to remove the constraints and burdens caused by some of the consent regimes. Local authorities will no longer need to seek consent at every turn, before they can take action. In addition to repealing 21 consent regimes, consultations will continue on a further 11 regimes. Departments will also provide better guidance on consent applications.
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A conference in Scotland is to stress the importance of partnership working in education. The annual conference of Enquire, the Scottish advice service for additional support for learning, will examine renewed emphasis on partnership work in light of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act, which promotes an integrated approach to service delivery.The Act also aims to build a stronger system to support learning, so all children and young people get the additional support they need to make the most of their education. The two-day conference will look at best practice in partnership working in additional support for learning and provide opportunities to look at issues and solutions in partnership working. Delegates will also get help in developing their partnership working and network building skills.
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