Memorandum from Staffordshire County Council
INTRODUCTION
Staffordshire County Council welcomes the opportunity
to contribute to this inquiry on localism. We are committed to
and are fully supportive of the localism agenda and would welcome
the opportunity to be more closely involved in further discussions
that may take place in the future.
For localism to really work, Staffordshire County
Council feels that all organisations that work at the local level
- including central government departments - need to be involved
when appropriate and that the lessons of past partnership working
need to be taken on board. Partnership working needs to be more
coherent, with more transparency and a change in culture. Central
government and each relevant government department has a role
to play in this through the devolution of power, the end of silo
working and the reduction of bureaucracy. Furthermore, accountabilities
within partnerships need to be clear and rest with those organisations
within the partnership that have a clear democratic mandate thus
ensuring accountability and transparency. In view of this the
county council wholeheartedly supports the Local Government Groups'
Place Based Budgeting model.
This submission reflects the views of the county
council and illustrates how localism is already taking place and
working effectively in Staffordshire. It is also supportive of
the County Council Networks (CCN) submission to this inquiry.
KEY POINTS
- Decentralisation does lead to more effective
public service delivery. Staffordshire County Council can evidence
examples of where this has already occurred and is beginning to
make a real difference to our communities. This work can only
be enhanced by the move to greater decentralisation and localism
nationally.
- As the local organisation with the clearest democratic
mandate, Local government has to provide leadership in any decentralised
model of public service delivery. The role of locally elected
representatives is therefore, a vital component of this model.
- For it to be truly successful, Localism has to
extend to all the organisations working locally.
- The lessons of past partnership working and the
Total Place pilots need to be learned by all involved so that
it supports rather than hinders the move to more coherent, place-based,
locality working.
- Local government has already proven its ability
to make efficiency savings and make difficult choices. Greater
decentralisation in tandem with the work of central government,
can therefore, only lead to greater savings.
- A local government, sector-led approach is the
way forward for the oversight of performance management. This
will allow the sector to take on responsibility for its own improvement
whilst working with central government to ensure that certain
key services meet common standards. Furthermore, this sector led
approach will mean that local government will be accountable to
its communities through the democratic mandate of locally elected
members.
The extent to which decentralisation leads to
more effective public service delivery; and what the limits are,
or should be, of localism;
Staffordshire County Council feels that decentralisation
leads to more effective public service delivery. One size does
not always "fit all" and decentralisation means that
service delivery can be better tailored to the needs of the local
community. It allows locally elected representatives and the organisations
that are best placed to know their local communities and the services
they need to make the appropriate decisions. The criteria determining
"what works best" will vary from place-to-place, depending
on local circumstances and local democratic decision-making. As
such, decentralisation is the key to more effective public service
delivery. The concept of subsidiarity should be applied where
this is most appropriate. For two-tier areas this means allowing
the counties and districts to decide where they are best placed
to deliver services and meet local needs. This should take place
on a county by county basis thus avoiding the one size fits all
approach that would otherwise distance residents from local authorities
and has led to structures that do not recognise the reality of
peoples' lives.
The extent to which decentralisation has led to more
effective public service delivery has already been proven by local
government. The Local Government Group has demonstrated that local
government is the most efficient part of the public sector and
that the sector can deliver efficiencies, improved performance
and innovative local solutions to local issues.
In Staffordshire, the concept of localism is already
being delivered. It has been prominent in the council's work following
the change of administration in the 2009 county council elections.
Staffordshire is therefore, well placed to evidence how localism
can and does work. Outlined below is a selection of examples conveying
how localism is already being delivered in Staffordshire and how
the county council and its partners have shaped services in line
with local needs - something that can only be enhanced by a move
to further localism and decentralisation.
- Total Staffordshire:
Rather than adopting the "Total Place" initiative wholesale,
Staffordshire County Council's Cabinet and Senior Leadership Team
felt it was appropriate to take the core principles behind it
and make them appropriate and relevant to Staffordshire and at
the same time managing the project within our own budgets. In
contrast to the national approach which is focussed upon counting
finances, the Staffordshire approach tries to take a broader view
on the wider range of resources available to an area. This allows
for valuable work such as volunteering to be factored into the
planning processes. The Total Staffordshire model is based on
the following four questions:
- (1) What resources are going into the locality?
- (2) What are the problems we are trying to
solve?
- (3) What are the needs of our customers?
- (4) What are the ambitions of the wider place?
- This model, agreed by the Staffordshire wide
Local Strategic Partnership, is being implemented through two
pilot projects - the Blake project (a locality based project encompassing
all relevant issues within a specific area) and one responding
to the harm and cost of the misuse of alcohol across Staffordshire.
- The Blake Project:
The Blake Total Staffordshire Project is about the long term (20
year) sustainable development of the community of Blake in the
Cannock Chase area of Staffordshire. This project is addressing
the causes of the problems that the local community faces as well
as improving the way in which local stake-holders respond to the
manifestation of these problems. Thus far all those involved have
shown a real commitment to this project and to the Total Staffordshire
approach.
- The work so far has revealed that over the course
of 2009-2010, a range of public sector agencies spent an estimated
£53,300,000 worth of resources in the Blake area and yet
the same issues remain. In response to this, work is being undertaken
to collect and understand what the evidence base is telling us
about the locality. This includes work with frontline practitioners
and elected representatives, community engagement and work to
understand the change projects and community assets that are already
in place in the community. By applying the Total Staffordshire
model, partners have been able to identify a vision for the project,
the long term outcomes and the shared objectives for delivery
in the short/medium term. The focus is on shared objectives where
value can be added by working in partnership, where partners can
support organisations to do their "day job" (potentially
differently) and by ensuring that the work in Blake is linked
in with the wider ambitions and plans for the county. The project
is now moving into delivery mode.
- Critical to the success of the project is the
role of elected members. For the first time locally elected members
from all levels - town, district and county councils - were brought
together to address the problems that the community faced. They
were able to not only identify the issues that the community faced,
but also influence the development and delivery of the innovative
solutions to these issues and provide accountability to and dialogue
with the residents in the Blake area. This is further evidence
of the pivotal role and local leadership that they provide.
- Decentralised management structures:
In order to reflect, manage and take advantage of the size and
diversity of Staffordshire, the county council has implemented
a devolved management structure for the local delivery of adult
social care services. This supports the local delivery of services
through the development of initiatives that meet local needs.
This is being delivered as part of Staffordshire's wider strategic
approach to social care and provides communities with a "local
identity" for, and ownership of an areas county council provided
social care services. Staffordshire has also
recently moved to a district management structure to deliver our
integrated youth services (Staffordshire Young People's Service)
to ensure effective delivery to meet local needs at the right
geographical level. By doing so we are able to reflect
the diversity of need across the county and meet these needs in
the most appropriate manner.
- Families First and Community and Learning
Partnerships: "Families First"
is a Staffordshire County Council project which will transform
our services for children, young people and families. It will
ensure an integrated approach to services delivery. As part of
Families First, the county council has made a commitment to re-design
services around local community needs. Part of the work currently
being undertaken is to understand those needs and the consequences
for the service being provided. The focus is on early intervention,
and identifying those children and young people "on the edge"
of harm and entry into care earlier. The development of Local
Support Teams will achieve this where universal services (such
as Family Assessment Support Services and Education Welfare Officers)
will be re-designed to deliver effective services locally.
- These Local Support Teams will be configured
around Community and Learning Partnerships (C&LPs). C&LPs
are a critical feature in the successful delivery of "Families
First" and have already brought together personnel from different
services and agencies to work together to provide more collaborative
early interventions and there is a real opportunity to build on
this through the Families First project.
- C&LPs were developed across Staffordshire
to raise attainment and achievement for children, young people
and families, as well as empowering our communities. The devolution
of resources to a locality management advisory group (with governance
and local accountability provided by locally elected members)
has created 50 localised multi-agency partnerships across Staffordshire.
By devolving resources into the locality clusters, we have enabled
elected members, locally based agencies and schools, the "Third"
Sector, local government officers, parents, children and young
people themselves, to inform the decision making process around
service delivery for their locality.
- For example, in the South Staffordshire district,
the C&LPs have enabled the development of three local voluntary
managed groups. These have now been supported to undergo training
to become constituted voluntary managed groups, and as a result
they now deliver activities that improve the lives of children,
young people and their families, primarily through the delivery
of activities in their own community.
- Staffordshire Local Community Fund and the
Local Priority Scheme: The Staffordshire
Local Community Fund highlights the county council's commitment
to connect with and support communities through its county councillors.
Launched in 2009 it enables groups that provide important services
in their communities to further their work with the help of the
county council, benefiting local residents in the process. Community
groups and organisations apply for grants for projects, initiatives
or for general running costs. Applications are made directly to
county councillors who then make the decision on which should
be successful. Each county councillor has an allocation of £10,000
per annum - meaning groups across the county receive £620,000
each year. Village hall committees, residents' associations, sports
teams, youth groups, societies, festival organisers and schools
have all received funding over the last year. This not only shows
how localism works and how the Big Society' is being built but
also the crucial role that locally elected councillors play.
- For example, the fund has been used by one local
councillor to support an invaluable lifesaving service in a rural
part Newcastle-Under-Lyme where ambulance services often struggle
to gain access. The fund has contributed to replacement light
units, sirens and other equipment to help the Madeley and District
First Response Team become operational. Furthermore, the fund
has helped a community radio station get onto air in Tamworth.
Total Choice Radio is run by volunteers and thanks to contributions
from a number of local councillors was able to buy the equipment
needed to launch the station and to continue broadcasting local
news, features and music keeping the local community better informed.
The fund has also been used to support a number of community groups
to continue running community projects, leisure clubs and to help
raise funds for the Staffordshire Hoard to ensure its future preservation
for the region.
- Linked to this, Staffordshire County Council
also has a Local Priority Scheme in place. This scheme
places democratically elected representatives at the heart of
the service planning process.
- It allows them to influence the county council's
priorities through engagement with their communities. For
example, the development of each Divisional Highway Programme
is led by the local county councillor and is very much focused
on the needs of their Division. Working with the Community Highway
Manager, they liaise closely with the local parish/town councils
and other local bodies. This allows for the identification and
prioritisation of local concerns, thereby exercising power and
responsibility closer to the community level. The agreed priorities
are then translated into a clear work plan to focus on the delivery
of these established priorities at greater pace. Twice a year
the local county councillor leads a review of progress and priorities
to ensure that it continues to reflect local needs. They are also
able to use their Local Community Fund to support these highways
improvements where this is appropriate.
- To illustrate how the Local Priority Scheme and
Local Community Scheme work together, one local elected representative
for Tamworth highlighted lighting on a pedestrian bridge as a
key priority for community safety reasons. The decision was taken
for the locally elected member to contribute funding from their
local community fund together with an agreement for a contribution
from the borough council, as well as from the county council.
Work will now take place with residents to ensure that the lightening
meets the community's needs. This scheme therefore ensures that
our resources are directed towards the priorities of local communities.
- The scheme is not just about existing issues
or initiatives it is also about identifying new local needs and
can be used to attract additional investment from elsewhere. It
also allows issues that were thought not to be priorities - such
as Highways for example - to be articulated by local people through
their locally elected representatives and inform decision making.
Thus areas which were thought to be "low" on the priority
list can become more visible through the work of the county councillor.
- Neighbourhood Highway Teams:
Staffordshire Highways has established Neighbourhood Highway Teams
to tackle issues important to local communities.
- The teams deal with the high volume of small,
non-safety related highway maintenance problems that are important
to the appearance and environment of local communities. The work
programme is designed in advance through discussions with local
community representatives, often local parish councils. Devolving
decision making in this way enables parish councils to work together
with Staffordshire Highways to improve the effectiveness of this
element of the Highway service. For example, following local discussions
the Neighbourhood Highway Team visited Brereton in September last
year to clear overgrowth and weeds, strim footways and remove
green waste. Similar activities have been undertaken across Staffordshire.
Of particular importance is the fact that much of the work identified
by local communities is work that is already scheduled by the
county council any way, therefore the work of the teams not only
enhances the local environment and allows the county council to
respond top local need - it also saves money by preventing duplication
and by ensuring that the work required is prioritised in the correct
way.
- Norton Canes Library:
Staffordshire County Council's Library and Information Service
(LIS) works with Norton Canes Community Partnership (NCCP) on
the management and running of the new Norton Canes Library and
Community Hub. NCCP formed a library sub group to consult the
local community about how they would like to see the library service
develop. Following this LIS put in a successful bid to the Big
Lottery Community Library Fund to build the new library. NCCP
and LIS formed a steering group to progress the project. The local
community were also consulted about the final design of the new
community and library hub. Norton Canes Library and Information
Hub opened in September 2009. Local people continue to be involved
with the facility through Community Advocates who gather feedback
from the community on what they want to see at the library and
promote the library in the community, and through Learning Champions
who promote the learning courses to local people.
The lessons for decentralisation from Total Place,
and the potential to build on the work done under that initiative,
particularly through place-based budgeting
As previously stated, we have adapted the principles
of Total Place to make it more relevant to needs of Staffordshire
- Total Staffordshire. The commitment to this new approach by
partners has been essential and there is a real sense that we
can really make a difference by improving outcomes and reducing
waste and duplication. A clear benefit is the opportunity to streamline
processes with partners and reduce duplication, the result being
a better customer journey, a more satisfied customer, savings
and a shared vision for the "place".
Our experience thus far with a place-based approach
has however, revealed some potential barriers to success that
need to be addressed. The inflexibility of budgets across partners
has been a key issue that has meant partners are unable to reallocate
resources as they would like. As a result they have had to be
much more creative about using budgets to support projects, which
can slow down delivery and increase bureaucracy.
Furthermore, there have been issues about data sharing
between organisations which could inhibit a whole public service
approach. Hopefully these issues will be resolved through greater
transparency, the end of "ring-fencing" and the forthcoming
legislation relating to localism and decentralisation. It is clear
however that all involved will need to be more open and more willing
to work together to ensure that the right information to support
decision making is available to those involved at the right time.
Moreover, experience from working with Local Strategic
Partnerships and Children's Trusts has shown that decision-making
can be difficult as a direct result of unclear accountabilities.
As a result, devolution of responsibility would need to be accompanied
by clear accountabilities, which ideally should rest with those
local organisations with a democratic mandate to ensure greater
transparency and accountability to local people.
Staffordshire County Council has already fed into
the Local Government Groups work on community-based budgets. A
greater proportion of the resource that is spent locally should
be under local democratic control and this would be achieved through
extending the involvement of local elected councillors. As an
organisation we have already begun to reshape ourselves as one
more focussed on strategic commissioning based around the people
and places of Staffordshire. Consequently, the proposed move to
place based budgeting would be welcomed as it would make the delivery
of our vision much easier to achieve.
The role of local government in a decentralised
model of local public service delivery, and the extent to which
localism can and should extend to other local agents
The county council feels that Local government is
central to the decentralised model of public service delivery.
Local accountability is clearly a vital component of the localism
philosophy; therefore, the role of local government as the only
local organisation with a democratic mandate is essential. The
mandate that locally elected representatives hold is central to
Localism and we would welcome central government's support to
reinforce this role in all policy areas.
Localism should and needs to be extended to other
local agents if it is to work. Partners at a local level need
to have the same or at least a similar mandate to ensure effective
partnership working and service delivery. The lessons from past
and present partnership working, such as the Total Staffordshire
work, are proving this to be the case. Total Staffordshire also
reinforces the need to have all the appropriate agencies engaged,
committed and in agreement in order to make a difference. If local
agents are not part of the localism agenda, then there is a worry
that inefficiencies and past silo working between organisations
will reoccur. This would bring with it the risk that the Localism
agenda will then fail.
The county council would however, like to reinforce
that while all local agents need to be involved, Leadership should
come from local government as the democratically accountable body.
In this sense, the county-based budgeting model proposed by the
LGG is very much supported by Staffordshire County Council, providing
that the accountabilities are clear.
The action which will be necessary on the part
of Whitehall departments to achieve effective decentralised public
service delivery
The county council would like to see Central Government
and the Civil Service adopting a coherent approach localism. Mixed
messages from government departments in the past have left organisations
with confused and competing priorities. We would like to see all
relevant central government departments engaged with localism
"brought to the partnership table". This will then encourage
more effective partnership working at the local level. It will
also prevent it from being hampered by the fact that for many
local bodies the primary accountability was previously "upwards"
ie centrally, rather than outwards to the community, which was
the case for many year recently. The county council recognises
the role that the Structural Reform Plans will have in delivering
this vision and the attempts being made to prevent this from happening.
The bureaucratic nature of performance management
also needs to be reduced if localism is to work. Local Government
can be trusted to "get on and do it" to ensure that
Localism turns into a reality. The county council sees the abolition
of the CAA is a positive sign in the right direction as is the
rationalisation of regional government, various Quangos and other
agencies across the government spectrum. This will allow the establishment
of more accountable and coordinated public bodies that better
reflect the needs of both government (central and local) and of
our citizens and allow a greater focus upon the delivery of local
outcomes. In doing so it will also reduce administration, improve
the consistency of, and prevent contradictory advice being given
or decisions made. Again we welcome the actions already taken
by the Coalition Government as a positive indication of moving
in this direction.
Staffordshire County Council also feels that there
needs to be an end the ring-fencing of specific grants and remove
central control on capital receipts, whilst also giving local
authorities powers to trade for profit. Greater flexibility in
local government funding is needed to support the localism agenda
and closer partnership working.
The impact of decentralisation on the achievement
of savings in the cost of local public services and the effective
targeting of cuts to those services
Decentralisation can lead to the achievement of savings
providing that the appropriate action highlighted above is taken
by all the relevant parts of government. Furthermore, if the legal
and administrative barriers to a more joined up approach locally,
this will allow local authorities to develop innovative solutions.
The Total Place pilots and our own Total Staffordshire work have
already proven the extent of resource that could be saved if more
joined-up solutions are supported to go ahead. Moreover, it will
mean that resources are more effectively targeted based on local
need and priorities.
Local government has already proven its capabilities
in making efficiencies. As such there should be no doubt that
more decentralisation will lead to the achievement of savings.
For example, Staffordshire County Council is at the beginning
of a process of introducing a new operating model that is predicted
to make £120 million worth of savings over the next three
years.
The new approach will allow us to operate more as
"one council" by better understanding the needs of our
citizens; using this knowledge to help decide what should be our
priorities (outcomes), what is needed to deliver these outcomes
(services) and who is best placed to deliver them (delivery).
What, if any, arrangements for the oversight of
local authority performance will be necessary to ensure effective
local public service delivery
Staffordshire County Council supports the view that
local authorities are now capable of governing and assessing themselves
and ensuring that improvements in services, performance and efficiency
continue to be made. We also recognise that there are certain
areas where central government still has an oversight role and
we will work with the LGG and central government to ensure that
this is delivered in the most efficient, effective and proportionate
manner.
The sector-led approach proposed by the LGG would
help to reduce the burden upon local government and free up central
government resources. It is felt that this sector-led approach
should have local priorities at its core and should be focused
on outcomes. Consequently it would be helpful if there were fewer
top-down performance indicators collected by central government
and instead, give local government the remit to develop its own
indicators of performance that reflect the local priorities that
are relevant and important to local communities.
The abolition of the CAA indicates that the government
is prepared to shift responsibility away from nationally imposed
regimes and towards the local government sector itself. We would
however like to see a reduction in the quantity of special reviews
such as those undertaken by the Care Quality Commission which
it is felt are time and resource consuming compared with the value
that they give - for example the county council is subject to
one such review every six weeks/two months.
Furthermore, performance management needs a benchmark
in order to allow robust measurement of our performance against
our peers. A sector led approach led by local government would
be one way of achieving this end and deliver real localism to
our citizens and communities.
How effective and appropriate accountability can
be achieved for expenditure on the delivery of local services,
especially for that voted by Parliament rather than raised locally
Staffordshire County Council is in agreement with
the County Councils Network (CCN) in believing that a greater
proportion of the resource that is spent locally should be under
local democratic control and direction and that there are good
arguments for local authorities taking direct responsibility from
Quangos or other agencies both in terms of cost effectiveness
and enhancing democratic accountability. Alongside this, a place-based
budgeting model that ensures local democratic accountability for
local services is the appropriate way forward.
Finally, Staffordshire County Council believes that
this is a once in a generation opportunity to develop a new model
of how government at the national and local levels work. The county
councils welcomes the devolution of power and the greater subsidiarity
that this brings, however it recognises that there is much more
to be done and that the organisation has a clear role to play
in addressing this - both on its own, in partnership and with
the local government sector as a whole. In all cases however,
locally elected representatives have a fundamental part to play
- a role that cannot be underestimated with appropriate involvement
at an appropriate level for the local decision to be delivered.
October 2010
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