|
|
|
|
|
|
26 March 2012
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Dear
colleagues,
The Local Government Association (LGA) is at its most effective when its work is grounded in what councils want and what they are doing. This approach underpins our
productivity programme and our priorities for 2012/13.
As the funding challenges persist many councils who already share services, have improved procurement practices and applied systems thinking will be asking 'What should we do next?'. The need to do something fresh is urgent and we are looking to work with and
where appropriate fund, a group of councils enthusiastic to try out radical new approaches. If you are undertaking a different model of service delivery and would like to share your learning and experiences, please do
contact us.
But when it comes to stimulating productivity and growth what doesn’t work is to have our hands tied by central prescription. Which is why the Improvement Board is not going to sign up to the Government’s proposed ‘Procurement Pledge’. Ostensibly designed to
stimulate economic growth, it fails to recognise the strength of councils’ current procurement practices. It would put the sector at a severe disadvantage and it would, in our view, do nothing to help us stimulate small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)locally.
So rather than sign up to Government’s view of how procurement practice should work, we will offer an alternative approach that better enables councils to support local enterprise and the voluntary sector. For more information about the content of the Government’s
'Procurement Pledge' and what we will be doing to develop a local government procurement strategy please visit the
LGA website.
Yours faithfully,
Councillor Peter Fleming
Chairman, LGA Improvement Board
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Local Public Audit
|
|
|
|
The Audit Commission has recently announced the results of its
process to procure local public audit which should save £250 million over five years leading to fee reductions of around 40 per cent for local public bodies. Contracts awarded by the Commission will
begin on 1 September and last for five years with an option to extend for a further three years. The Commission will consult local public bodies before finalising appointments.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The role of peer challenge
|
|
|
|
In the past month we have undertaken corporate peer challenges in councils spread far and wide from Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the north east to Cornwall. As a result
20 authorities will have had one of the new corporate peer challenges, with another 40 already booked in or in discussion and initial conversations are progressing with a large number of other councils.
We are closely monitoring the effectiveness of this new approach. We have held sounding board meetings involving leaders and chief executives of councils that have had a peer challenge along with peers who have taken part in the process. Feedback has been positive.
For more information on the LGA's peer challenge offer please contact
Andy Bates, Principal Adviser Peer Support.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shared services master class
|
|
|
|
Two, two-day residential Leadership Academy events focusing on Shared services were held in early March: one for leaders in the East of England, the other was
a national one held at Warwick Conference Centre. The programme was designed to assist political leaders to understand and take the lead in this agenda. It consisted of a mix of information, tools and techniques, discussion and action learning to enable the
participants to make the most of the opportunity to share experiences and plan their own way forward.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Next Generation
|
|
|
|
The Conservative Next Generation Group have undertaken their final residential part of their programme, focusing on local government finance, personal presentation and leadership
on the back foot, with contributions including IGPM Warwick, KPMG and Deloitte.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Conservative local government conference
|
|
|
|
The Conservative Group Office and Leadership and Localism team delivered a number of debates and workshops at this conference including: Policy Briefing Q&A with the Department
for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) team, Be a councillor workshop, Learning for the 21 Century – councils’ role in adult skills and lifelong learning, and improvement surgeries with our lead peers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fighting fraud locally
|
|
|
|
The LGA has been working closely with the National Fraud Authority (NFA) to develop an approach for councils to tackle fraud committed against them. Fraud against
the public sector is estimated at £21 billion and £2.1 billion of this is committed against local government. This collaborative work between the LGA and the Home Office, aimed at preventing losses and protecting resources has resulted in the publication of
'Fighting fraud locally'. The NFA held several workshops in five different regions to share best practice in counter fraud in the areas of housing tenancy, council tax, procurement, insider fraud and personal budgets.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Children and young people
|
|
|
|
|
New funding for children's services improvement
|
|
|
|
In a strong endorsement of a sector led approach to improvement, the Department for Education (DfE) has granted the Children's Improvement Board (CIB) a further
£8 million for 2012/13. This funding will enable the CIB to maintain and expand its activities, including making increased sums available to local authorities through regional allocations.
Colin Hilton has been appointed as the new Director for CIB. In taking up his appointment Colin said: "I am delighted to lead the CIB delivery team at this critical time for sector led improvement. There can be no more important mission for those in public
service than to secure the future of our children and I look forward to working with colleagues to that end." Colin was a teacher before entering local government management. He was Director of Education and Leisure services in St. Helens before becoming Executive
Director for Children's Services in Liverpool and then Chief Executive from 2006-10.
Children's Improvement Board
|
|
|
|
|
