Local Government Chronicle
4 March 2010
View all stories from this issue.
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Chiefs rail against proposed pay cap
One in 12 local authority chief executives is considering taking a pay cut as an example of restraint in the face of pressure on public sector finances, an exclusive LGC survey suggests. -
Communications - 4 March 2010
A round up of key recent events in communicationsNOTE: Click on the headlines for more on the stories. -
Consumer protection - 4 March 2010
Consumer protection briefing - the top local government news and events in one place.NOTE: Click on the headlines for more on the stories. -
Council tax capping must be abolished
The average council tax increase this year looks set to come in well below 2%. It will be the lowest since council tax emerged from the ruins of the community charge in 1993. -
Councils prepare for paper probe
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is poised to investigate local newspaper publishers’ claims that they endure unfair competition from council publications, many of which now carry private advertising. -
EXCLUSIVE: Total Place councils challenged
A senior Treasury official has urged councils involved in the Total Place programme to provide more hard figures to back up assertions about efficiency savings. -
Financial costs and benefits
Communities secretary John Denham has highlighted potential savings of £20bn from better asset management identified by the Total Place programme, and called for a more open debate about the best way to provide services locally. -
'I won over local media on pay'
Katherine Kerswell began 2010 by publishing details of her salary and expenses online and calling on fellow local authority chief executives to do the same. -
Information and data: the need for a professional
Information and its management is a growing responsibility across the public sector and local government is no exception. -
It's a matter of trust
At a time when trust in politicians and government is at an all-time low, senior pay, especially that of chief executives, has become a hot topic that is generating many column inches in the press. -
Local democracy online
As part of LGC’s election coverage over the next two months, we are supporting a campaign to help councillors use social media to promote local democracy. -
News review - 4 March 2010
LGC’s selection of this week’s must-read news items plus a comprehensive round-up of news from all local government’s service areas and disciplines.NOTE: Click on the headlines for more on the stories. -
Responsibility for data starts at the top
What we do – and it’s been happening for the past three years – is dictated by our current information and IT strategy: we nailed our colours to the mast and said we wanted to be a centre for excellence for the management of information and data. -
Security specialist calls for new IT role
A leading expert on the security and management of data is calling for the creation of a new professional post within public bodies, including local authorities. -
Sparks set to build bridges after contest
David Sparks, the man who fronted councils’ response to this winter’s snow chaos, has been chosen to replace Sir Jeremy Beecham as the voice of Labour in local government. -
Survey rebuffs earnings link
LGC readers are lukewarm about the suggestion that senior officer reward should be linked to staff earnings, our survey has found. -
Total Place - the LGC guide to the pilots
The 13 Total place pilots have analysed a diverse range of topics, from asset management to services for young offenders. The findings are unique in style and content but common strands include calls for pooled budgets and a focus on prevention. -
Total Place pilot - Birmingham
Annual public expenditure £7.5bnFocus of pilot Early intervention in children’s services, drugs and alcohol, gangs, learning disabilities and mental health. Total Community initiative showed how Total Place can work in a particular geographic area. Cost of inspection Not included, although the council estimates its Audit Commission costs at £800,000 ConclusionsDeveloping a “Budget for Birmingh -
Total Place pilot - Bradford
Annual public expenditure £4.4bnFocus of pilot: How effectively support is delivered to: older people with mental health needs leaving general hospital; young people leaving care; and offenders leaving prison.Cost of inspection Not available ConclusionsThe final report has not been made public. Early conclusions focus on establishing a single point of access to services for vulnerable -
Total Place pilot - Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire
Annual public expenditure £6.2bnFocus of pilot Children’s services.Cost of inspection Not available Conclusions Call for a concordat to be developed with Whitehall, which would devolve the sub-region’s £1.8bn children’s services budget to the locality, which would receive more autonomy in return for a negotiated cut in expenditure. Better use and sharing of client information relating -
Total Place pilot - Croydon
Annual public expenditure £2.6bnFocus of pilot Children’s services, from conception to seven years old.Cost of inspection Not available ConclusionsSingle, multi-departmental budgets should be created at a national level, which could then be handed to multi-agency partnerships at a local level. This could be viable for a range of services, including children’s.Total estimated savings o -
Total Place pilot - Dorset, Poole & Bournemouth
Annual public expenditure £5.7bnFocus of pilot Securing improved outcomes at less cost for older people through greater collaboration. Cost of inspection Not availableConclusionsIntegrate health and social service teams so 15% of older people currently admitted to secondary care can be dealt with in the community instead. New forms of governance and financial management to transcend c -
Total Place pilot - Durham
Annual public expenditure £4.6bnFocus of pilot The myriad housing and regeneration funding streams. Cost of inspection Not availableConclusionsThe pilot has played an integral role in the launch of the Total Capital programme which has seen the Homes and Communities Agency begin drawing up plans for a series of Total Place-style pilots that focus on capital funding streams.The pilot h -
Total Place pilot - Gateshead, South Tyneside & Sunderland
Annual public expenditure £5.16bnFocus of pilot Improving alcohol and drug misuse services; removing ring fencing around drug treatment; diverting resources from national campaigns to regionally defined priorities. Cost of inspection Not available ConclusionsScope to achieve a 10% cut in the cost of alcohol and drugs misuse over the next five years. Efficiency savings of up to £12m th -
Total Place pilot - Kent
Annual public expenditure: £8.3bn Focus of pilot: Asset management and rationalisation; improvement of customer service access and regeneration of two of the most deprived wards in the UK. Cost of inspection: £7mConclusionsKent’s public sector economy has abouts £5bn worth of assets, with annual running costs of about £300m.An £40m of revenue savings are available through asset ration -
Total Place pilot - Leicester and Leicestershire
Annual public expenditure £6bnFocus of pilot Drugs and alcohol misuse, improving access to services. Cost of inspection £3.57mConclusionsIt cost £180m to spend £230m of economic development funding. This overhead would be present in other service delivery chains.Only £4.9m a year is spent on alcohol abuse, despite a cost to the public sector of £89.3m.Early intervention of al -
Total Place pilot - Lewisham
Annual public expenditure £2.29bnFocus of pilot Management of offenders, worklessness and unemployment, health and social care, assets and energy. Cost of inspection More than 4,500 officer hours needed to meet the demands of Comprehensive Area Assessment alone. ConclusionsNeed to improve the transition of offenders from prison back into the community. Cut overlap of data collected. -
Total Place pilot - Luton & Central Bedfordshire
Annual public expenditure £3.4bn Focus of pilot Improving the benefits system, which costs £1bn a year in the sub-region. Encourage self-reliance.Cost of inspection £4m per annumConclusionsThe most prolific benefit cheats are responsible for a quarter of the crimes committed. The 250 main offenders could be costing the state £112m a year.Identified 40 short-term and 40 long-term poten -
Total Place pilot - Manchester City region, including Warrington
Annual public expenditure £22bnFocus of pilot Early years - improving outcomes for children and parents.Cost of inspection Not available ConclusionsManchester has not yet made its final report public. Interim conclusions centred around putting the onus on parents to support themselves to reduce the demand on the public sector. Developing pooled budgets for the locality and re -
Total Place pilot - Worcestershire
Annual public expenditure £4.2bnFocus of pilot Property rationalisation and management, reducing the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) and improving outcomes in deprived neighbourhoods. Cost of inspection Not availableConclusionsBetween £18m and £36m worth of revenue savings available through smarter use of the public estate.Consider changes to the -
Tracking rogue traders online
If a college student dons their Gucci gear and heads to a London 2012 Olympic Games ticket gate, they may have presented three opportunities to internet scammers, and also three to the council trading standards officers who are pioneering an initiative against electronic crime. -
Transparency over salaries
Unable to make much progress on bankers’ remuneration, national politicians and the media are targeting public sector senior pay. But vote-winning talk of capping salaries at £150,000 risks serious implications for the leadership of councils and local public services. -
Views of the week: 4 March 2010
LGC rounds up the best comment, analysis and opinion from the past week. -
We are at a unique crossroads
It is a great honour to have been elected as the new leader-elect of Labour in local government.
