Angela Moore

Comment on: Walker v Seddon - the debate goes on

Angela Moore's comment 22-Jul-2009 5:24 pm

Oh dear Mr Walker - the cracks in the purpose of the Audit Commission really are beginning to show! "It’s noteworthy in the Seddon view of the world how absent citizens and voting are" - Citizens, from the Systems Thinking viewpoint are the be all and end all of good services (they being the main base of customers in the LA context) so are implicit in John's writing - if Mr Walker had bothered to look a little deeper before he responded he may just have spotted that fact. Instead, Mr Walker appears to see Citizens only from a political standpoint - but do politics really have any importance to you as an individual when you are out of work and can't afford your rent, or need help simply to live your normal life with some degree of dignity? Citizens don't talk in terms of "value for money" - this is a Government / Audit Commission concept - Citizens simply have needs that they have at least some right to expect to be met. "Councillors, media and the maelstrom of politics don’t figure" - although if you study the system you will see that they do - in a political context they will appear as major causes of system conditions, and so as massive contributors to waste. Councillors are meant to represent the people - they are not gods - if they do what they should and do it well then they will 'keep the job', be well respected by all, and will be a very valuable asset to delivery of good service ... but if their motivations are different then they simply become part of the problem. The Audit Commission behave as if they themselves, and not the citizen, are the customers of Local Government - and as they weild so much power, its a brave LA that chooses to ignore them - so instead of using resources to provide what real customers need, we use them to service our false ones - we play the game so much that winning the game, and not delivering the best services possible, becomes the objective. So, please Audit Commission, stop dictating what's 'good' and let real knowledge and understanding, as is held by those actually doing the day job, lead the way - stop drowning innovation and real improvement when it doesn't fit your model, and stop rewarding LAs for playing the game well rather than doing the job well!