15 June 2007
Scottish local government finance could be heading for a radical change if a move to outcome budgeting is sanctioned by the new Executive, CIPFA delegates heard at their annual conference in Bournemouth on June 13.
Rory Mair, chief executive of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, told the conference it was possible that outcome budgeting could become a reality during the next Comprehensive Spending Review period. This form of budgeting links spending decisions to specific outcomes structured around themes such as health and regeneration.
Mair said it would 'fundamentally alter the nature of our relationship with each other and the nature of our relationship with the [Scottish] Executive,' he said.
Speaking to Public Finance after his session, Mair would say only that discussion of outcome budgeting was 'in the air', but added that Scottish councils were ready for the challenge. 'We'd like to move to it. We can move the money about [to where it's needed] and we're up for that.'
Mair shared a platform with his opposite numbers in England and Wales — the first time the three chief executives of the local government bodies had come together. The trio set out their vision for the future of local governance in their respective countries.
Steve Thomas, chief executive of the Welsh Local Government Association, noted that the days of plenty for the public sector had come to an end. 'We just had a golden age of public finance, although it doesn't feel like it,' he said.
Thomas told PF that he was 'massively worried' about local government's future financial situation. 'We're not talking about an efficiency debate, we're talking about cuts to services. I'm hoping we can collaborate and try to weather some of the financial storms,' he said.
Local Government Association chief executive Paul Coen urged local government to shift its focus from structural issues to one that made a genuine difference to child poverty, housing and community cohesion.
'Better outcomes are the only things that are worth working for,' he said.
PFjun2007
