WIREDGOV

The Local Government Group (LG Group) yesterday launched an approach to self regulation for the local government sector, which will help local authorities strengthen their accountability and revolutionise the way they evaluate and improve services. 

The seven point offer is designed to help local authorities capitalise on the LG Group’s successful campaign for the £2bn burden of central government inspections to be drastically reduced.

“Taking the Lead” will offer a range of local accountability tools to help councils and other local authorities further improve the way they gather and respond to feedback from residents, partners and community groups. These tools aim to help local authorities boost their own accountability and transparency in ways which are most appropriate to them and their residents.

The offer also includes a number of new tools local authorities can use to explore how effectively they are delivering services, including a “Peer Challenge” which will be free of charge. It will be carried out by a mixture of local authority leaders, chief executives and directors of finance, along with people from a range of organisations including the third sector and business communities.

Cllr David Parsons, Chairman of the LG Group Improvement Board Chairman, said:

“Unlike the regime of centrally imposed targets, plans and inspections we have successfully campaigned to reduce, our offer does not tell councils what services they should deliver or how it should be done. Instead, it is designed to help councils improve local accountability in ways which are most appropriate to them.

 "Councils are accountable to their local residents, not central government departments. Ultimately they will be judged by how effectively they deliver services, rather than whether the right boxes have been ticked on a Whitehall bureaucrat’s template form.

“The LG Group’s Taking the Lead offer is designed to help what is already the most directly accessible and accountable level of government to become even more responsive to local residents.”

Notes to editors

“Taking the Lead: self regulation and improvement in local government” is a seven point offer to LG Group members to help them improve accountability and leadership and evaluate their service delivery.

It is designed to create a light touch system of self regulation to replace the time consuming, costly and overly prescriptive central government regime.

A full copy of the offer is available from http://www.local.gov.uk/lgv2/aio/1233499.

“Peer Challenge” is free of charge, voluntary and will be available from April.  

“Peer Challenge” involves a group of experts reviewing objectively the way a council delivers the services it has decided to provide, making recommendations on how those services can be delivered in a more effective, better value way.

Councils are invited to book a “peer challenge” by contacting andy.bates@local.gov.uk 

Council employees and councillors seeking more information on how they can become “Peers” should contact andy.bates@local.gov.uk 

Under the new system financial auditing and safeguarding for vulnerable children and adults will continue to be nationally led.

See also

• Improvement and assessment