Bouncing back from rock bottom – local government reimagined 

I’ve read countless articles recently on Birmingham’s woes and reasons for downfall.

All articles have tackled the same theme: councils ‘fail’ because of a handful of common issues. These, summarised in my words, include inept financial management, poor project management, absent or insufficient governance and scrutiny, laissez faire corporate attitudes, weak political and/or executive leadership and inadequate corporate memory. Not rocket science and hardly a surprise when failure ensues.

What is much less written about, however, is exactly what to do to course-correct and make swift, meaningful, long-lasting, and beneficial (to residents and local economies) change that isn’t simply asset stripping and headcount culling.

Yes, we’re going to see a lot of that; not just in Birmingham, but across the section 114 notice cohort in its entirety.

But there’s little guidance or readily available data on what the optimal size and shape of local government could or should be, specifically, in relation to evolving resident behaviours in terms of how, when and the frequency with which they wish to engage with their local authority (and for what purposes).

There is little data (or case studies available) showcasing optimum Target Operating Models for different kinds of council – whether district, borough, county, or combined authority etc. Furthermore, there is limited guidance on the future of ‘statutory services’, specifically in relation to long-term decisions councils must make in and around wider transformation agendas.

While, inevitably, there can’t or won’t be a one size fits all model, the public sector needs to look at best practice from elsewhere to course-correct. It needs to go back to basics for service design and delivery to fix the complex, cumbersome and unwieldy systems, processes and delivery vehicles that might have resulted in its ultimate demise. It needs to bring residents and local businesses into service design, and it needs to embrace co-creation as a natural means of self-reflection and improvement.

The sector also needs to listen to critical friends who have lived experience on how to make things better. We, at Local Partnerships can be (indeed are) one of those critical friends!

This article is also available on TheMJ.co.uk