04 August 2006
The government's 'double devolution' rhetoric will only be meaningful if communities are involved in deciding how their public services operate, business leaders have warned.
The CBI this week urged local authorities to take radical steps to ensure that citizens' views formed the foundation of reform. It said that although three-quarters of councils are beginning to experiment with programmes to engage council taxpayers more, almost two-thirds of people feel public services providers do not listen to them.
CBI director general Richard Lambert said: 'Improvements already achieved are often not recognised by local people because they don't play a significant enough part in shaping the services they receive.
'Giving communities more engagement from the planning stage all the way through to service delivery and assessment would help improve both the services and people's perception of them.'
A CBI report published on July 31 highlights examples of good practice. In Woking, 350 residents are polled every three months on street cleaning services. The contractor can forfeit 10% of its fee if residents are not satisfied.
In Slough, a citizen's jury has contributed to the town becoming one of the cleanest in the Southeast.
Local Government Association chair Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said: 'The report demonstrates that delivering services to neighbourhoods can be done without excessive costs.
'The LGA challenged the private sector to show it could be sensitive and responsive to the needs of local people while at the same time demonstrating value for money to the taxpayer. The case studies illustrate where this challenge has been met.'
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