Senior local government figures have pledged to act to avert the threat of the sector being sidelined in the debate over how the state will secure future efficiency savings.
A change of government offers huge opportunities for things to be done radically differently. There have been some positive steps outlined by the coalition but there remain important challenges that the new government must address, not least the huge financial pressures that local government must get to grips with in the months ahead.
The three northern regional development agencies and the west midlands agency will be relatively protected from swingeing in-year budget cuts that will fall most heavily on the agencies in the south, LGC has been told.
Around £22.5bn worth of savings are available if ministers give the green light to a radical shake-up of public services governance, which would see significant control over local spending devolved to councils, according to the Local Government Association.
New freedoms for local government to support the Government’s ‘Big Society’ have been welcomed by council leaders.
The new coalition government this week pushed forward with its ‘Big Society’ approach to reforming public services, but critics claim the ideas are a smokescreen for cuts. On May 18, the prime minister and deputy prime minister met community leaders in Downing Street to launch policies giving citizens more powers and enabling voluntary groups to […]
The Guardian has made Small State, Big Society one of their Editor’s picks on their Guardian Public website.
Localis said there was a major opportunity for the new coalition government to tackle the fiscal deficit and underperforming public services. Dr Anthony Seldon, said: ‘The move towards the reinvigoration of the local community is unstoppable
Massively reducing the size of the public sector in the face of the nation’s economic challenges does not have to spell doom for services orsociety, according to a new collection of work commissioned by thinktank Localis.
Chief executives are hired because they are exceptional people who can handle the pressures of the top job. But in the wake of the recession and the Total Place ‘whole area approach’, the spotlight is on their ability to work in company with other leaders across their patch.