18 August 2006
The high-level task force charged with slashing town hall red tape will deliver its recommendations for the Department for Communities and Local Government by December, Michael Frater has told Public Finance.
The chair of the Lifting Burdens Task Force said that Ruth Kelly, the communities and local government secretary, wanted to demonstrate her commitment and deliver quick results on the promise to cut the welter of performance information that councils have to submit to government departments and inspectorates.
Frater told PF that Kelly's aim was to lead by example and show other Whitehall departments that it was possible to reduce the almost 600 performance indicators and reporting requirements without compromising the quality of public services.
'Ruth Kelly is keen to demonstrate that it's not as painful as it seems, and the world doesn't end if you slim down the red tape,' Frater explained.
He told PF that his task force, which is still being appointed and is expected to meet for the first time next month, will have two types of members.
Its core membership will comprise between six and eight town hall chief executives. They will be selected to reflect a mix of district, metropolitan and county councils, with a geographical spread.
Frater, who is the chief executive of Telford & Wrekin council, said that he also wanted to appoint a cadre of associate members who could contribute to a specific aspect of the work programme.
'I will ask each of the core members to take charge of one of the work strands. They will lead a sub-committee to identify the unnecessary reporting requirements in a particular area,' he said. 'The intention is to produce a series of reports, rather than just one.'
Once the task force has finished its work in relation to the DCLG, it will turn its attention to other departments that work with local government, such as the Department of Health and the Department for Transport.
Kelly announced the task force at the Local Government Association's annual conference in Bournemouth last month in response to a study commissioned by the DCLG from PricewaterhouseCoopers. It found that 80% of councils' performance reporting is information required by Whitehall, while just 20% is for the direct benefit of residents.
PFaug2006
