07 April 2006
Whitehall's Departmental Capability Reviews should take account of the experience and views of local government, according to a former council chief executive.
Faith Boardman, chief executive of Lambeth Borough Council from 2000 until December 2005, said practical feedback from the ground was important and needed to be built into the new system.
'I haven't heard that connection being made by anybody,' she told Public Finance.
'Departmental Capability Reviews are very much directed at traditional mainstream Whitehall activity. Inspection regimes are one of the key hinges between central and local government, but from my perspective as a chief executive I didn't get any sense that inspection activities were leading to policy or funding decisions in Whitehall.'
Boardman's comments came as Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell announced that the Department of Trade and Industry, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Department for Education and Skills would make up the second wave of DCRs. The review teams will report before the end of the year.
DCRs consider civil service capability in three key areas – leadership, strategy and delivery – and identify areas where departments need to improve. The programme will be rolled across 17 departments by the middle of next year.
Boardman's remarks followed a lecture to the Public Management and Policy Association on April 4, where she offered her thoughts on some of the challenges for inspection in local government specifically and in the public sector more widely.
She said the rationalisation of the public service inspectorates into four bodies provided a key opportunity to re-examine the wider role of inspection.
She said: 'My concern is that we make the most out of that opportunity and not just use it as an excuse to cut costs. It needs to be used as an opportunity to look at the approach of inspectorates.'
Boardman's views chimed with an Audit Commission discussion paper published on March 31, which noted that regulatory systems needed to adapt alongside public service reforms.
Acting Audit Commission chair Sir Michael Lyons said: 'The government is encouraging service providers to widen their role by fostering innovation and a greater diversity of supply.
'We, as regulators, must move beyond a narrow view of the individual responsibilities of public services bodies and take up the challenge to focus more broadly on promoting efficiency and value for money.'
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