05 November 2009
Source: The MJ (Local government is rapidly changing - to be effective in this environment it is essential that you have access to the most up-to-date and detailed information. <strong>The MJ</strong> is the magazine that will help you to come up with practical solutions to everyday issues in this changing landscape. Every week <strong>The MJ</strong> publishes the latest news, features, editorial and industry comment on the following key issues: Management * Legislation * The White Paper * The Lyon’s Report * Regional government * CPAs * Business * Finance * Education * Adult and Children’s Services * E Government * And much more…)

Offload ‘non-vital’ services, sector told


Mark Conrad

Councils must privatise ‘non-vital’ local services –  such as libraries and leisure centres – if they are to thrive beyond the fiscal tightening, a radical new report has suggested.

A study by the centre-right Localis think-tank and auditor KPMG, published today, has suggested ‘any services not considered vital [to local government] should be cut, or run by either the private or third sectors’.


The report suggests that should outsource non- essential services, including leisure centres
The report suggests that councils should outsource non-essential services, including leisure centres


The report, The bottom line, suggests other aspects of local government policy that must be assessed or ‘corrected’, as under-pressure authorities strive to deliver services amid declining revenues and the likelihood of an austere period of public spending.

Writing in The MJ this week Localis chief executive, James Morris, warns that fiscal tightening across the sector could last a decade, and says town halls must ‘reassess their priorities’ to continue to deliver high-quality services.

He calls on authorities to ‘look further than having a role as simply a service provider and instead, move to becoming a commissioning and procurement hub’ – thereby outsourcing non-essential work.

The report’s authors also suggest modifying the fledgling Comprehensive Area Assessment, because it holds ‘questionable value for local residents’. They call for a bottom-up, citizen-led approach to monitoring within the CAA framework.

Other recommendations include a greater pooling of funds for some services with other councils, or other local partners, as well as self-imposed targets to raise up to 10% of council revenues from innovative finance mechanisms, such as new regeneration taxes.

Mr Morris said: ‘Councils must not be afraid to make tough decisions.

‘Some are beginning to lead the way, but it’s up to others to take up the challenge and prioritise funding to match up with their core functions.’

Localis



Your comments

"Digital Citizenship" and "Digital Inclusion" are key to this and the next Government's agenda. Public Libraries, as pointed out by others, is the stautory service best placed to deliver these agendas. Additionally Libraries are key to Total Place strategies. Take off your Auditors Hat - put on the 'Imaginative' hat - and let's have some lateral thinking!

Peter Brown, Informationa , Added: Friday, 6 November 2009 04:14 PM

So 'outsourcing' the operation of the nation's railways has been a model of cost-effective and economical operation, has it? That is not to say that, where possible, the local library couldn't be incorporated into a conveniently sited community school or other public building, but the emphasis must be on 'convenient'.

Peter Monk, retired Consulting Engineer, Added: Thursday, 5 November 2009 06:14 PM

May I remind Localis that libraries are a statutory service under the Public Libraries Act 1964. If playing a major role in democracy, learning, creativity and inspiration, attainment and instilling confidence in and love of reading is not essential for an ambitious nation then I have wasted the last 34 years of my working life.

Stephanie Crossley, Assistant Director Culture and Community Services, Bolton Council, Added: Thursday, 5 November 2009 05:28 PM

Yet again the non statutory services are being plundered. why is it that 'savings' have to be made through those services that offer very good value for money. Sports Development is usually the first to go even though our partners and residents value and acknowledge the wide breadth of what we deliver in Sport, Health & Physical Activity.

Pat Bailey, Sports Development Service Manager, Gloucester City Council, Added: Thursday, 5 November 2009 05:19 PM

Has this research proved that outsourcing 'non-essential' services such as libraries would be more cost effective? What criteria (other than statute) has been used to identify non-essential services - what say has the service-user had in this? Community health and wellbeing is an important government target and such a proposal may well just work against it if people are then unable to afford / use the very services that contribute to their wellbeing.

Jackie Wright, Performance Improvement Coach, Ganesha Coaching Ltd, Added: Thursday, 5 November 2009 05:12 PM

Since when did Public Libraries cease to be essential - not everyone has broadband, and lives near a branch of Waterstones or HMV. There are many people who cannot afford to buy the books they wish to read. Not everyone has their own swimming pool either so I would have thought most sane people would consider their local leisure centre to be essential too.

Paul Hunt, Ryedale DC, Environmental Protection Officer , Added: Thursday, 5 November 2009 04:35 PM



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