By Mark Smulian | 14 October 2011
Public attitudes stand in the way of the radical service transformations needed to deal with local authority budget cuts, according to the New Local Government Network.
The think-tank examined libraries, transport and waste services to see if apparently disparate services facing common problems ‘might also benefit from some common solutions’. Its report, Transforming universal services, says these services are vulnerable because most councils have chosen to protect spending on social services. They are also not amenable to the usual reform prescriptions of personalisation and competition.Radical cost-saving measures are possible, the report concludes, but could be introduced only after concerted efforts to win the support of residents and businesses.
For example, the report found that some library running costs were so high that it would be cheaper give patrons books rather than lend them out. It recommends that libraries’ physical book collections should be concentrated on works for children and the most popular adult titles.
Other books would be held in warehouses or electronically and accessed as eBooks or through library vending machines scattered around communities. ‘The library itself would become a centre that promotes learning and reading,’ the report says.
Waste spending could be cut if local businesses were required to buy landfill space with waste credits, which could be traded, while households could be offered lower bills if they reduced the amount of waste they sent to landfill.
But the NLGN found that only national solutions would make much impact on highways and transport. It calls for a re-opening of the debate on road user charging, which was dropped by the previous government in the face of public hostility.
Commenting on the report’s findings, NLGN director Simon Parker said: ‘National politicians say they want service transformation, but their support becomes decidedly lukewarm whenever they face angry headlines or community campaigns.’
Numerous judicial reviews of council spending cuts had highlighted the risks of ‘innovating against the wishes of highly motivated activists who may or may not represent local public opinion’, he added.
