Scots councils need to radically rethink services, warns Accounts Commission

5 May 10
Fresh thinking about the design and provision of services will be needed if councils are to cope with the difficult times ahead, the chief of Scotland’s local government spending watchdog has warned
By David Scott

6 May 2010

Fresh thinking about the design and provision of services will be needed if councils are to cope with the difficult times ahead, the chief of Scotland’s local government spending watchdog has warned.

John Baillie, chair of the Accounts Commission, told members of the Scottish Parliament local government committee on May 5 that councils should be prepared to look at whether particular services were necessary.

He was giving evidence to MSPs on the commission’s annual local government overview report, which looks at how councils performed in 2009.

Baillie said councils had responded positively to Best Value audits, the system that requires them to make continuous improvements, and were now better placed to provide good services.

But he warned that the scale of budget challenges now facing councils was significant and urgent action and fresh thinking were needed.

He added: ‘Performance management and reporting, robust options appraisal and effective scrutiny remain quite central and will be increasingly important in the coming years.

‘Good governance and clear accountabilities are the foundations of good performance irrespective of whether services are delivered directly or through arm’s-length external organisations.’

Questioned by committee convener and MSP Duncan McNeil on what constituted radical change, Baillie replied: ‘I think we start by suggesting to elected members: is the service necessary and if it is, is it necessary in its current form?

‘It’s for councils to try to answer that quite radical open question. Once they have, they can start to find how they will produce or deliver the service. But I’m not sure there has been, until now at least, enough done on whether the service – in the way it’s currently provided – is actually necessary.’

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