16 November 2001
Brian Briscoe, chief executive of the Local Government Association, which oversees the local government advisory agency, told Public Finance that a decision on whether to fill the top job would not be taken until Robin Wendt's review of its future had been completed.
This is due at the end of this year, while Fanning will leave his post in January. 'We are talking about what interim arrangements to make pending the outcome of the review,' Briscoe said.
Significantly, he refused to rule out any options from being considered during the review, such as the 4Ps being disbanded.
'There are no preconceptions about what the outcome will be,' he said. 'Robin Wendt has just started, and until he has done more work, we won't comment on what those options are. It is not helpful to the review or to the body to discuss them with the world.'
Briscoe sought to play down suggestions that the review is a prelude to scrapping the 4Ps, which gives local authorities advice on Private Finance Initiative deals. 'Whenever there is a change in senior management in one of these bodies we ask ourselves whether we should continue to do things in the same way.'
But earlier this year the Improvement and Development Agency, which promotes greater efficiency among councils, made a bid to swallow the 4Ps and incorporate its responsibilities into its own activities.
Negotiations stalled after LGA and government officials failed to reach agreement, but an IDA spokesman said the proposal was still being looked at.
Martin Pilgrim, now chief executive of the Association of London Government, founded the 4Ps six years ago. He told Public Finance it was envisaged that the organisation would only exist for a few years. It was intended to act as a catalyst in helping councils strike deals with the private sector.
'We set up a single purpose vehicle, which, in my vision, was time-limited,' he said. 'With Peter leaving, it does seem wholly appropriate to take stock and examine whether such a body is still needed.'
The 4Ps is top sliced from central government grant, with an annual turnover of £1m.
Peter Fanning declined to comment.
PFnov2001
