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10 Jul 15
The silos of Westminster and Whitehall are not impregnable. Hard-won lessons from the Total Place initiative point the way to improved public service alignment
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26 Nov 13
The political leadership in our town and county halls too often undermines collaboration with local businesses and the voluntary and community sector. Leaders must up their game or consider their...
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14 Sep 10
The government will review local government finance 'this time next year', Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles told an influential group of MPs this week.
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11 Jun 10
Councils will be able to promote financial discipline across a range of organisations as part of the Total Place programme, influential local government figures have predicted
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8 Jun 10
There is widespread scepticism about the effects of Total Place and other initiatives to integrate public services, according to a CIPFA survey of 435 chief financial officers
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22 Apr 10
Expectations for Total Place are now ‘unrealistic’, according to a leading
official on one of the programme’s pilot schemes.
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26 Mar 10
The Treasury is to conduct a further round of Total Place pilots and has pledged to grant more freedoms to the best-performing councils
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24 Mar 10
Proposals outlined in this year’s Budget to devolve more power from Whitehall have been met with faint praise and scepticism by localists
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18 Mar 10
Councils are calling for radical public service reform as the government prepares to release the results of the Total Place pilots, intended to identify billions of pounds’ worth of savings.
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16 Feb 10
The first reports from 13 pilot projects provide a wealth of data. One thing is clear: public services focus too much on symptoms and too little on causes
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12 Feb 10
The 13 geographical areas piloting the Total Place ‘healthcheck’ have announced the categories in which they will seek to make savings.
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4 Feb 10
Total Place could help solve the problem of drastic funding cuts for local services. But it’s going to be a steep learning curve for both Whitehall and town halls, says John Tizard
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22 Jan 10
Councils in London have renewed their calls for greater independence after a report showed they could save 15% of their total budget if they were given more powers over local spending
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13 Nov 09
The shadow communities secretary has given enthusiastic backing to the local government collaboration programme, predicting it will ‘eclipse’ previous partnership schemes
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30 Oct 09
Much is expected of the Total Place initiative – ministers are hoping it will join up services while producing huge savings. Guy Clifton warns, however, that the consequences have not been properly...
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30 Oct 09
The scale of the public sector deficit demands no-holds-barred solutions. So could Total Place – the latest weapon in the government’s armoury – help to lower costs without damaging vital services?...
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3 Sep 09
The flagship Total Place programme, which is re-examining spending patterns across all public services, is likely to continue under a new government
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3 Sep 09
Planned capital funding is set to be halved. So how can public bodies break out of their silos, and make the most of the £21bn available? John Tizard and Robert Hill have some ideas
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2 Sep 09
The government’s Total Place programme has a lot riding on it. But will scrutinising all public money spent in a location really lead to better but cheaper ways of providing services?