The future shape of local authorities
What sorts of characteristics will the local authorities of the future display? Tiffany Cloynes reports.
Local authorities in England and Wales are expecting a period of considerable change in the way they operate. In England, devolution at a regional level is continuing apace. Combined authorities are in place and elections will take place on 4 May 2017 for the first elected mayors to lead the combined authorities for:
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
- Greater Manchester
- Liverpool City Region
- Tees Valley
- West Midlands
- West of England
In Wales, the Welsh Government has published a White Paper setting out proposals for local government reform and a Bill is expected to be published after this year’s local government elections. The Welsh Government is proposing a greater emphasis on joint working, with mandatory regional working on some functions, flexibility for the Welsh Ministers to require other functions to be undertaken regionally, and scope for local authorities to propose voluntary mergers.
Elsewhere, individual local authorities have been looking into reorganisation for their areas. In Oxfordshire, for example, proposals have been developed for the establishment of a new unitary authority. At another tier of local government, the Neighbourhood and Planning Bill prompted the National Association of Local Councils to call for the creation of parish councils throughout England, as its chairman said that this would accelerate neighbourhood planning, get more neighbourhood plans in place and put more people in control of their areas.
Clearly then there is potential for a very different local government landscape to emerge from the one we have been used to. The experience of previous reorganisations and other changes in the public sector tells us that local authorities should always be prepared for change. Yet, some things remain constant. Local authorities will always have a role in serving the needs of their communities. They will always be public bodies, required to act within their powers, which includes exercising those powers reasonably. They will always have pervasive duties with which they will need to comply when discharging their functions.
In this context, it may be helpful to consider the possible future shape of the local government sector in the UK over the next few years and how local authorities can prepare for this. Characteristics of local authorities of the future are likely to include:
New roles for local authorities within their regions and an increased focus on regional working
Whilst individual councils will continue to exist – albeit some may be abolished or merged as a result of arrangements agreed for particular areas – their involvement in particular functions in their regions will change. In some circumstances, formal governance arrangements would require local authorities to take on a particular role and to work in a particular way. Local authorities in England that are members of combined authorities will need to participate in accordance with the constitutions set out in the relevant orders which establish the authorities. They will need to work with other members of the combined authorities to enable the combined authorities to discharge effectively the functions for which they are responsible. In Wales, the exact details of the formal arrangements for future regional working are not yet known. More details are likely to emerge when the Welsh Government publishes information on responses to its White Paper, Reforming Local Government: Resilient and Renewed and in due course publishes a Bill to take forward its proposals. The Welsh Government has suggested in its White Paper that an appropriate form of regional governance would be a strengthened joint committee.
Even where local authorities are not obliged to work on a regional basis, for example to comply with statutory requirements or with Government expectations, or with conditions imposed by funders, they may find that working with other local authorities helps them to deliver services effectively. Many local authorities operate shared services and find this can be a good way of making effective use of the resources and skills of all the authorities involved. This will be a useful option for local authorities to consider as they strive to deliver services with limited resources.
Appropriate engagement with the citizens they serve
Local authorities need to ensure their decisions and actions are transparent and accessible to the people they represent and serve. From time to time, the UK Government or the Welsh Government may seek to amend relevant legislation to reflect that changing methods of communication mean citizens expect to be able to access to the decisions of their local authority in different ways. For example, in England, whilst the Local Government Act 1972 has long provided for the public to have access to local meetings, amendments made by the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 recognise the prevalence of social media by allowing people to use any communication method, including the internet, to share their reports of local authority meetings. Legislation relating to executive meetings has been similarly amended. In Wales, the Welsh Government’s White Paper proposes that local authorities should be required to produce strategies explaining how the public can understand how decisions are made and how they can participate in the process. Many local authorities already broadcast their meetings. The Welsh Government proposes making this a statutory requirement and to require local authorities enable members to attend meetings remotely.
Service delivery according to what is most appropriate for the circumstances
In recent years, local authorities have used many different arrangements for service delivery. This has been prompted by, among other things, the need to make savings, a wish to review the local authority’s role, interest in stimulating community engagement, a wish to explore ways of improving the quality of services. Sometimes a local authority in England has been obliged to consider changes to its services after receiving an expression of interest from a body which has the right under section 81 of the Localism Act 2011 to express interest in providing or assisting in providing those services (the community right to challenge). These factors may lead a local authority to consider various models of service delivery, as well as the traditional model of its own in-house delivery. These include engaging external contractors to provide services and establishing corporate entities or other structures.
A local authority’s attention to service delivery should also include considering new ways of delivering services, in order to find the most appropriate. For example, developments in technology may allow a local authority to make efficient use of resources whilst offering service users convenient ways of communicating with their local authority. For example, the London Borough of Enfield has introduced an artificial intelligence system, known as Amelia, in which a virtual agent helps people find information and complete standard applications online. In an environment where local authorities face strong pressure from all the demands on their resources and where many members of the public have access to a range of technology, the need for local authorities to consider such ways of working may increase. However, they will need to take account of those people who do not have access to the relevant technology and ensure that any arrangements they make are non-discriminatory and compliant with the public sector equality duty.
It is clear that in the future local authorities face the prospect of changes in their roles and in the way they work. To ensure that they put their communities in the best position to benefit from such changes, they need to keep abreast of any proposed or actual developments in local government and assess any implications for their authorities and their areas. They should prepare and when appropriate take proactive action to change their own arrangements if they consider this will be in the interest of the people whom they serve.
Tiffany Cloynes is a partner and head of the Public Services in England for Geldards. She can be contacted on 01332 378 302 orThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
