With yet more cuts afflicting the public sector, it’s time to be honest both to politicians and the public about the likely effects on vital services
Darra Singh is the latest in a long line of the great and the good given the unenviable task of chairing a commission into the future of local government finance.
Sir Frank Layfield, Nick Raynsford and Sir Michael Lyons have all walked this path before, and none achieved notable success. The problems are clear – sometimes even the solutions – but the necessary reforms are viewed as impossible for politicians to endorse.
It would be easy therefore to dismiss council finance as ‘too difficult to change’, and assume we just stick with the status quo. But that would be an abdication of responsibility, and would ignore the fact that the current system is unsustainable.
Ahead of his speech to CIPFA’s annual conference, Singh tells Public Finance ‘it’s all about context’. Lyons reported at a time of plenty. In contrast, the 2014 commission has to deal with a frighteningly bleak financial environment.
With two-thirds of town hall leaders saying they expect some councils to get into a ‘serious financial crisis’ this year, there’s no time to waste.
Singh’s commission, established by CIPFA and the Local Government Association, needs to speak truth to power. Ministers should be in no doubt of what will happen if reform is postponed again.
CIPFA’s new president Mike Owen will inevitably be part of the communication process when the commission reports. Owen says in his PF interview that he is prepared to air strong views to politicians of all parties.
Power also lies with the people, of course, and it’s important that the public understand the seriousness of the situation.
As a recent CIPFA health roundtable debate concluded, finance managers should be more open with the public about the effects of service cuts. Speakers compared the need for financial honesty with the duty of candour required of doctors.
A lack of candour is not something that Margaret Hodge can be accused of. The chair of the Public Accounts Committee, also a speaker at the conference, is famous for her no-nonsense approach when it comes to interrogating civil servants, tax-avoiding companies and BBC bigwigs.
She rightly defends her forthright questioning, telling PF: ‘I think the public demand much more transparent accountability right across the piece.’
It’s a message that all those in charge of stewarding public services need to take on board.
This opinion piece was first published in the July/August edition of Public Finance magazine
