08 September 2006
The Local Government Association is embarking on a root-and-branch review of its operation as it prepares to confront a new era in town hall administration.
This week it launched a powerful independent commission, involving council chief executives and other public service leaders, to examine its working practices.
LGA chief executive Paul Coen told Public Finance that 'all options' were open. 'No doubt they will present us with some difficult recommendations and some hard decisions,' he said.
'The independent commission will make a major contribution to ensuring our next ten years are even more successful than our first decade.'
With the tide turning towards localism, he added, the time had come to re-evaluate the association's work. 'We've got the best opportunity to move forward on our agenda. We need to look at how we can capitalise on that.'
The remit of the commission is to review the relationships between the LGA, member councils, related bodies and stakeholder groups, and how effectively they deliver the strategic objectives of the local government sector.
It will be required to come up with recommendations on the development of the LGA's future role and purpose, as well as the activities it should pursue in the medium and long term.
The review, headed by Lord Richard Best, LGA president and director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, will work independently.
Other 'critical friends', as Coen described them, will round out the commission. They include Slough Borough Council chief executive Cheryl Coppell, NHS Confederation chief executive Dame Gill Morgan and Paul Kirby, a partner at the consultancy KPMG.
Best said that with the white paper on local government due for publication soon and the Lyons inquiry to report at the end of the year, councils were facing significant new challenges.
'During this period of rapid change, the LGA and councils need to ensure that their case is persuasive not only with government but also with the public,' he said.
'The commission members and I look forward to listening to a wide range of views about how the LGA and its related bodies can be best placed to fulfil this role.'
LGA chair Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said there was a need to improve the organisation's workings and build on relationships with member authorities and partners. 'I am confident that Paul Coen's initiative will help, and I keenly await Lord Best's report,' he said.
'Local government has a unique opportunity to turn the talk about localism into reality and to achieve our ambitions of improving services and the way of life in the towns, cities and villages where people live and work.'
The commission will meet in London each month.
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