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Shaping the future: the new Councils; presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Scotland ... July 1993
- Author:
- GREAT BRITAIN. Scottish Office. Environment Department
- Publisher:
- HMSO
- Publication year:
- 1993
- Pagination:
- 36p.
- Place of publication:
- London
White Paper setting out proposals for new unitary authority boundaries and explaining how the new authorities will be expected to deliver services in Scotland.
Contracting for social cohesion: can local area agreements make a difference?
- Authors:
- ANDREWS Rhys, DOWNE James, GUARNEROS-MEZA Valeria
- Journal article citation:
- Policy and Politics, 42(4), 2014, pp.477-493.
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
Under the Labour government, Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) in England were responsible for the delivery of Local Area Agreements (LAAs) – agreed targets between central and local government. This paper uses statistical techniques and local authority case studies to explore the impact of LAAs on LSPs' efforts to promote social cohesion. The results suggest that LSPs with a LAA for social cohesion experienced a better rate of improvement in community cohesiveness than those without, and that tougher targets resulted in stronger improvement. The impact of changes in LSPs' approaches to promoting social cohesion appears to be responsible for this finding. (Publisher abstract)
Policy transfer and convergence within the UK: the case of local government performance improvement regimes
- Authors:
- NUTLEY Sandra, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Policy and Politics, 40(2), April 2012, pp.193-209.
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
This article explores the development and implementation of local government performance improvement regimes in England, Scotland and Wales over the last decade, noting the similarity in policy goals but divergence in policy implementation and outcomes. The article suggests that while the governments in all three countries had a common aim of improving local government performance, differences in ideology, the nature of central-local government relations, the numbers of councils and a political imperatives limited policy learning between different parts of the United Kingdom. It particular, Wales is suggested to promote policy avoidance by policy makers.
Third sector commissioning and English local government procurement
- Author:
- MURRAY J. Gordon
- Journal article citation:
- Public Money and Management, 31(4), July 2011, pp.279-286.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
The government has made policy commitments to a greater involvement of local government procurement with the third sector in England. Third sector involvement is beyond that of being a potential provider and includes active participation in designing, shaping and calling public service delivery to account. This explorative study sought to consider the response of English local government procurement to this third sector policy agenda. A web-based survey was included in a newsletter that was emailed to the Society of Procurement Officers in Local Government (SOPO) during October and November 2008. The survey examined: whether procurement managers view procurement and commissioning as different; the level of awareness of the policy commitments; and whether the policy commitments regarding third sector commissioning are embedded in procurement policy, strategy, procedures and performance management. A total of 72 usable responses were received. The findings showed that there is confusion regarding the differences between commissioning and procurement; 53% of respondents considered them to be different names for the same thing. Most respondents claimed to have a working knowledge of the policy commitments. However, embedding the commitments into change management tools, such as procurement policy, strategy, procedures and performance management, appeared to be lacking.
Diluting the role of party groups? Implications of the 2006 local government White Paper
- Authors:
- LEACH Steve, WILSON David
- Journal article citation:
- Local Government Studies, 34(3), June 2008, pp.303-321.
- Publisher:
- Routledge
This paper argues that the proposals for strengthening local political leadership outlined in the 2006 British government White Paper 'Strong and Prosperous Communities' are based on an unconvincing, methodologically flawed analysis of the benefits of strong individual leadership. The extent to which the continued dominance of the party group is inimical to the exercise of executive political leadership is analysed and a number of scenarios that highlight circumstances in which there is a mismatch between the party allegiance of the leader and the composition of the council are then put forward and the implications for 'strong' political leadership discussed. The conclusion emphasises the importance of a continuing role for local parties and party groups in the post-White Paper era.
Residents to be given the upper hand
- Author:
- GOLDING Nick
- Journal article citation:
- Local Government Chronicle, 26.01.06, 2006, pp.8-9.
- Publisher:
- Emap Business
The author reports on government plans to give residents more of a say over service by encouraging councils to devolve responsibility to neighbourhoods. The article also briefly reports on community initiative in Essex County Council.
Effecting change in local government: local authority chief executives as emotional actors
- Authors:
- WILLIAMS Graham, TOBBELL Jane
- Journal article citation:
- Policy Studies, 38(4), 2017, pp.392-409.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Most change management initiatives fail. This study explores data which emerged from a larger research study of local authority chief executives’ subjective experiences of New Labour’s modernisation programme and argues that the route to change so often taken by central government is detrimental to the successful embedding of change within local government because it ignores fundamental human reactions to coercion and control. The authors demonstrate that the seeds of failure are sown in the processes adopted as much as in the content of any programme of change. A contributory factor to such failures is the apparent reliance on the part of legislators that their policies and procedures will receive a neutral reaction. The study shows that the reality is that legislation is responded to and enacted by people who react in ways designed to defend their own positions, irrespective of the worth of those positions. Whether seen as actors in the policy implementation process, or as agents of change, chief executives act and react emotionally. This contributes to theoretical understanding of the policy process and the practical application of change programmes. This article will be of interest to those in central and local government who are promoting or responding to change. (Edited publisher abstract)
Local governance under the coalition government: austerity, localism and the ‘Big Society’
- Authors:
- LOWNDES Vivien, PRATCHETT Lawrence
- Journal article citation:
- Local Government Studies, 38(1), February 2012, pp.21-40.
- Publisher:
- Routledge
The Coalition between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, formally created on 11th May 2010, has been dominated by concerns with the UK’s budget deficit and the cuts in public services. It has also introduced a range of initiatives which affect local governance, including the new Localism Bill, the abolition of the Audit Commission, and the ‘Big Society’ agenda. The aim of this article is to review the key policy announcements of the Coalition's first year and to analyse the underlying themes and trends which are emerging. It distinguishes between the measures that are a simply a response to the budget deficit from those which are an attempt to change the practices of local governance. It argues that the Coalition's reforms do show traces of an ideological commitment to localism and a new understanding of local self-government. However, the reform process is far from coherent and the potential for radical change is heavily constrained by: conflicts in Conservative thinking and the failure of the Liberal Democrats to assert their own ideology; the political expediency of budget cuts during an era of austerity; and the problems of implementing an apparently radical agenda after 13 years of New Labour.
Double-devolution or double-dealing? The local government White Paper and the Lyons Review
- Author:
- DAVIES Jonathan S.
- Journal article citation:
- Local Government Studies, 34(1), February 2008, pp.3-22.
- Publisher:
- Routledge
New Labour's third White Paper promised the revitalization of local government. The author argues that it does not, however, live up to the promise of a 'new localism'. The tenor of the paper is moralising and prescriptive, claims to a new approach belied by the government's negative response to Lyons. Proposals for reform are ambiguous, offering no guarantees against back-door centralisation. Such cause as there may be for optimism largely depends on the capacity of localities to take the initiative. A fundamental debate about the role of local government, local democracy and the relationship between centre and locality is therefore still needed. Given the preponderance of path dependencies, strategic dilemmas and structural constraints upon the centre, the demand for local democracy will have to be initiated, voiced and organised by local citizens and councillors themselves.
Local government modernisation in England: a critical review of the LGMA Evaluation Studies
- Author:
- LAFFIN Martin
- Journal article citation:
- Local Government Studies, 34(1), February 2008, pp.109-125.
- Publisher:
- Routledge
New Labour has subjected English local government to an unparalleled period of reform. This article reviews the Local Government Modernisation Agenda evaluation studies commissioned by central government. The review identifies valuable insights from the studies into the contemporary state of English local government, central government and central-local relations. However, the studies also illustrate the need for research on public service reform to include analyses of the political origins of reform policies and the political-bureaucratic issues involved in their implementation. It is also argued that future research needs to rediscover the value of studying local politics 'in the round', the impact of socio-economic and non-local factors on local policy outcomes and the role of new sources of policy influence in the channels of central-local relations.