The Council Show
The redoubtable Ben Page of Ipsos-Mori constantly reminds us that people’s appreciation of services provided in local government is far in excess of the reputation of councils themselves. Despite the consistent evidence of improvement, increased resources over the past few years and a welcome growth of celebratory awards, this perception does not shift.
We are aware fully of many of the reasons. Councillors receive a predominantly unfair press. The very rare cases of corruption and self-serving mask the years of dedicated and attentive action on behalf of local communities.
Beyond that a new lexicon of local government – local area agreements, local strategic partnerships, comprehensive performance assessments and so on are beyond the grasp of most citizens. These essential internal tools must not mask the success of genuine accessibility, encouraged by the LGA’s reputation campaign and reinforced by well-presented local information.
The fact is that most people are now influenced by electronic media, predominantly television. This is certainly true of those less likely to vote or participate in local democracy. But apart from the local government channel – only available on digital platforms – we make very little use of this powerful medium to promote our wares.
This was not always the case. I remember in the 70’s a fly on the wall series about Hammersmith Fulham LBC. This was not all positive – my old mate Peter Westland seemed to do little else than smoke & read the Guardian through 10 episodes but it did demonstrate how important decisions were made by local people. More recently, a similar series about Lewisham allowed cameras in the hallowed sanctuaries of group meetings, but off memory that was filmed nearly two decades ago. If there is anything more recent it has passed me by.
So what would have an impact now? A soap set in a local council? I guess some of the incidents of council life would be unbelievable in a popular drama but the interaction of people and events could be fascinating. I am not advocating trivialisation; just more accessibility and information for those to whom we are accountable.
We have a shared responsibility to do something positive about improving the image of local councils. Extensive terrestrial television exposure may take some time. Meanwhile, we could make a significant impact by promoting the local government channel Council Worker of the Year Awards 2008.
John Ransford is deputy chief executive at the Local Government Association
