15 July 2005
Councils have been challenged to think more clearly about what they want to achieve and the role they should be fulfilling.
A report published jointly last week by the Audit Commission and the Improvement and Development Agency aims to get local government leaders thinking more systematically about their strategic direction.
Audit Commission chief executive Steve Bundred told Public Finance that the report, Fitness for purpose in the twenty-first century, was intended as a 'thought piece' for council leaders and chief executives.
'The report is not advocating any particular position,' Bundred said. 'Councils do a number of different things. Some focus on service improvement or community leadership. All of them will be pursuing different kinds of objectives. This helps them think how to strike the right balance.'
The July 5 report sets out three 'ideal types' of council. These are: 'service first', focusing on continual service improvement; 'civic leader', working with partner organisations to develop responses to long-term problems; and 'democracy hub', where public engagement is the driving force behind the council's work.
Although there will be no formal assessment of how well councils respond to this strategic challenge, Bundred said there was a link with the Comprehensive Performance Assessment.
'One of the characteristics of excellent councils is that they're clear about what they want to achieve and they organise the whole of the council around that.'
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