Following last week’s efficiency statements, released by the communities and local government secretary at last week’s Labour Party conference, Heather Jameson looks at some of the topline figures
With cuts the name of the game at this autumn’s political party conferences, it has been good news for local government, the most efficient part of the public sector.
Last week, communities and local government secretary, John Denham, announced the latest local government efficiency savings at the Labour Party conference in Brighton.
Fresh from taking a sideswipe at chief executive salaries in his speech, Mr Denham announced that £1.76bn of taxpayers’ cash was saved by local government in the year 2008-09 – a total of £4.6m a day.
However, studying the announcement in more detail, Mr Denham appeared to take the credit for saving. He told his party’s conference: ‘The Government’s focus on local government efficiency has seen impressive rewards for the taxpayer.’
The figures are up from the forecast figure of £1.59bn – and achieved, despite the fact that several councils came in under their forecast figures.
Ellie Greenwoid, a senior policy consultant for the LGA, said the news was positive for local government. ‘Given the recession and the other pressures they are facing, councils have done well. We are the most efficient part of the public sector.’
But what do the efficiency figures actually mean? A list of savings for each authority, pitching large counties next to small districts, does not say a great deal. Unsurprisingly, those who have saved the most tend to be the councils with the highest budgets, such as the counties.
There are countless other considerations to be taken into account. Who is facing an election year? And what does each council consider to be efficiency savings.
Barking and Dagenham LBC is just one of the councils which exceeded its expected efficiency savings. After a forecast of £5m savings, the council actually achieved £12.7m. Chief executive, Rob Whiteman, tells The MJ: ‘We take efficiency very seriously.
‘We have tried to create a corporate means of achieving efficiency, but also to embed it into the DNA of the whole organisation.
‘Every manager in the council has a role to play, to ask, Are we doing the right thing, and, Am I saving money for the council.’
He adds: ‘We have got a long way to go and we are not complacent. The next 10 years will be very challenging for everyone in local government. We have a lot of work to do, but I am confident we can do it.’
On the other side of the coin, Arun DC is an example of a council which fell short of its forecast savings. It expected to save £946,000, but actual savings came in at around £293,000.
Resources director for the council, Nigel Croad, tells The MJ this is not a failure on the part of the council, but instead, just a question of the calculations.
He is adamant that the guidance from central government, on what could and couldn’t be counted as an efficiency saving, is not clear.
When Arun made its original forecasts, it was convinced it could meet them. But when the guidance was clarified, it became apparent some of the savings predicted were not eligible.
‘We have massively exceeded our Gershon targets for the past three years,’ says Mr Croad. And we are already preparing to save around £3m a year over the next few years based on locally-decided priorities, which will exceed any targets which are artificially set by the Government.’
Arun is, he adds, already one of the lowest-spending district councils in the country. It seems unfair to line up the districts figures next to giants such as Kent or Birmingham, where savings are made on massive budgets. For the figures to be meaningful would require far more work gathering and analysing the data – which in itself may be an inefficient process.
It has been a huge achievement by local government – even if some of the savings have been due to accountancy rather than real savings.
Either way, the coming squeeze on public services is likely to make saving cash far more of a necessity and a way of life for local government. Whether local government can continue to cut costs without cutting frontline services as the cash runs out and the easy wins are all over, remains to be seen.
Last week, communities and local government secretary, John Denham, announced the latest local government efficiency savings at the Labour Party conference in Brighton.
Fresh from taking a sideswipe at chief executive salaries in his speech, Mr Denham announced that £1.76bn of taxpayers’ cash was saved by local government in the year 2008-09 – a total of £4.6m a day.
However, studying the announcement in more detail, Mr Denham appeared to take the credit for saving. He told his party’s conference: ‘The Government’s focus on local government efficiency has seen impressive rewards for the taxpayer.’
The figures are up from the forecast figure of £1.59bn – and achieved, despite the fact that several councils came in under their forecast figures.
Ellie Greenwoid, a senior policy consultant for the LGA, said the news was positive for local government. ‘Given the recession and the other pressures they are facing, councils have done well. We are the most efficient part of the public sector.’
But what do the efficiency figures actually mean? A list of savings for each authority, pitching large counties next to small districts, does not say a great deal. Unsurprisingly, those who have saved the most tend to be the councils with the highest budgets, such as the counties.
There are countless other considerations to be taken into account. Who is facing an election year? And what does each council consider to be efficiency savings.
Barking and Dagenham LBC is just one of the councils which exceeded its expected efficiency savings. After a forecast of £5m savings, the council actually achieved £12.7m. Chief executive, Rob Whiteman, tells The MJ: ‘We take efficiency very seriously.
‘We have tried to create a corporate means of achieving efficiency, but also to embed it into the DNA of the whole organisation.
‘Every manager in the council has a role to play, to ask, Are we doing the right thing, and, Am I saving money for the council.’
He adds: ‘We have got a long way to go and we are not complacent. The next 10 years will be very challenging for everyone in local government. We have a lot of work to do, but I am confident we can do it.’
On the other side of the coin, Arun DC is an example of a council which fell short of its forecast savings. It expected to save £946,000, but actual savings came in at around £293,000.
Resources director for the council, Nigel Croad, tells The MJ this is not a failure on the part of the council, but instead, just a question of the calculations.
He is adamant that the guidance from central government, on what could and couldn’t be counted as an efficiency saving, is not clear.
When Arun made its original forecasts, it was convinced it could meet them. But when the guidance was clarified, it became apparent some of the savings predicted were not eligible.
‘We have massively exceeded our Gershon targets for the past three years,’ says Mr Croad. And we are already preparing to save around £3m a year over the next few years based on locally-decided priorities, which will exceed any targets which are artificially set by the Government.’
Arun is, he adds, already one of the lowest-spending district councils in the country. It seems unfair to line up the districts figures next to giants such as Kent or Birmingham, where savings are made on massive budgets. For the figures to be meaningful would require far more work gathering and analysing the data – which in itself may be an inefficient process.
It has been a huge achievement by local government – even if some of the savings have been due to accountancy rather than real savings.
Either way, the coming squeeze on public services is likely to make saving cash far more of a necessity and a way of life for local government. Whether local government can continue to cut costs without cutting frontline services as the cash runs out and the easy wins are all over, remains to be seen.
Some of the top savers
Kent CC £44,946,000
Suffolk CC £43,251,000
Hackney LBC £40,474,000
Birmingham City Council £39,300,000
Essex CC £27,856,000
Suffolk CC £43,251,000
Hackney LBC £40,474,000
Birmingham City Council £39,300,000
Essex CC £27,856,000
