Clarity is needed on just what localism means, says report

Eighty per cent of councils do not have a specific strategy in place to address localism despite its central position in the government’s long-term public service reform plans, according to a new report from business advisory firm Deloitte.

Findings show that the Government’s flagship policy of improving public services by devolving power to local communities requires leadership to build consensus and bring clarity to the varying interpretations of what localism means.

The survey, which interviewed the chief executives of 15 local authorities, collectively managing over £7.4bn and employing more than 100,000 people, finds that the engagement of local communities is seen as the primary challenge; in particular how to introduce governance and accountability mechanisms for local activity.

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There is also a lack of consensus on what localism actually means with central government thinking it’s about reducing government control by devolving power to local communities while local government expects an increase in its responsibilities. Paul Thomson, partner and head of Deloitte’s public sector practice in the North, said: “From the beginning, what the government means by the ‘Big Society’ and localism has, to some extent, lacked clarity.

“This has had consequences: people don’t understand it so they ignore it or they interpret it in a way that suits them.

“Clearly, for the government’s localism vision to be realised, it needs to provide the leadership necessary to bring clarity to the interpretation as well as remove the barriers to implementa- tion.”

The Deloitte report, A Little Local Difficulty, explores the challenges of making localism work.

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It finds that currently there isn’t a broad consensus across the public sector on how localism, decentralisation and the ‘Big Society’ will work in a systemic fashion across local government.

The report identifies a number of actions that local authorities can take to address the challenge such as mapping which parts of the community have the potential to deliver services; developing accountability and governance models; and then understanding how the local authority will need to change to meet these demands. The survey also reveals that local authority chief executives would like to drive localism by establishing a stronger relationship between local tax raising powers and locally provided services.

Whitehall intransigence and resistance to change in central government departments, which provide local government with £140bn per annum, is seen as a key threat to successful implementation of localism, according to the report.