Just a few weeks ago, LocalGov revealed that government spending on care for people aged 65 and over had fallen by a fifth in England over the last 10 years. This is concerning when you consider that people are living longer.
The growing elderly population depend on accessing health and social care. In reality we should be hearing about spending rises rather than cuts. However, there is only a finite amount of money in the public purse. This means money that has been allocated, whether it’s decreased in absolute terms or not, needs to work harder and help more people than ever before.
Changing consumer behaviour and the on-going channel-shift is also putting additional pressure on authorities.
By 2025, Generation Y – the first generation to be fully immersed in all things digital will be in their 30s and 40s and shaping public sector service demand. They will be connected, mobile, independent and self-serving; expecting to access everything they need conveniently through the internet and via connected/wearable devices for both business and pleasure wherever they are.
At present this is a considerable challenge. If local government evolves alongside Generation Y, their demand for greater autonomy is in fact a tremendous opportunity; a chance to emerge leaner and smarter than ever before.
But we’re not there yet. The Public Accounts Committee of MPs recently issued a report in which it calculates that some councils have seen their funding from Government cut by up to 40% since 2010.
The Barnet ‘Graph of Doom’ shows if spending predictions are accurate and if councils’ statutory responsibilities remain the same, then within the near future, let alone by 2025, statutory services and social care costs will swallow up most local council spending.
Local authorities are working hard to find a way to do more for less while meeting legal duties. While many have made good progress at transforming themselves and achieving unprecedented efficiencies, this needs to be rule rather than the exception. To tackle this problem head-on we brought together a group of local authority leaders to discuss how the role of the council needs to transform over the next decade and beyond. We captured our thinking in The changing landscape for local government report.
The public sector has already made significant investment to start bringing itself in line with the changing expectations of this digitally savvy generation. In June 2014, the electoral registration process became the third public service to be digitised following the lasting power of attorney in 2013 and student finance in 2012. Meanwhile, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has replaced tax discs with an electronic system to modernise, cut costs and improve enforcement.
Over the next decade, and beyond, local authorities will not only have to digitise but change the way they operate to become more efficient, focusing on delivering the strategic functions and requirements for their local community.
2025 will see combined authorities become the norm, having been created through forced or voluntary consolidation of current councils. Poor performers can expect to merge with more successful counterparts. Those remaining will work together to share services to benefit from the increasing economies of scale; partnering with third parties where necessary to implement the technology and processes needed to do so effectively.
Commissioning and conducting these types of strategic partnerships will play an increasingly important role in the model of the future as councils won’t be able to deliver every shade of local service alone. This could take many forms, from sharing services to partnering with local charities for their knowledge of vulnerable citizens and outsourcing back-office functions or services entirely to third-party experts.
Wider industry research we conducted as part of The changing landscape for local government report supports this, with 40% of council leaders agreeing strategic partnerships will be the most important characteristic of the local authority of the future.
Strategic technical partnerships will help enable local authorities to empower their communities to self-serve and consume the services they need through their channel of choice. Already a quarter of people prefer to use digital services when interacting with organisations, and we expect authorities will increasingly work with digital experts to develop apps to offer the same services on smart-phones.
The way that authorities fund and offer services will also be transformed, particularly when it comes to health and social care. Our research suggests councils will offer a basic level of core services to everyone for free, whilst providing personal budgets to those with greater needs. This will enable individuals to purchase bespoke services as and when required, and relieve some of the financial pressure on authorities.
A commercial and self-funding mind-set must be the central tenant of the new breed of local authority. The ability to spot commercial opportunities will be vital to sustaining service delivery and better meeting the expectations of both pensioners and Generation Y.
A deep understanding of analytical and behavioural dynamics, intelligent data and automation will help to enable all of the above. Integrating and analysing data from a variety of public and private sources and partners to better anticipate and automate community services will become common-place. According to The changing landscape for local government report, almost a quarter (24%) of local authority leaders sees this as being a key focus for the local authority of the future.
In summary, there’s no doubt that austerity measures, population changes and digitalised consumer behaviour are pushing local authorities to accelerate complex and challenging transformation which will see them and the services they deliver change dramatically between now, 2025 and beyond. Decisions taken now will determine success by and beyond 2025 - doing nothing is not an option.
Paul Bradbury is group business development director at Civica
