• Home
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Conference
  • Events Calendar
  • Webcast151
  • MOTB
  • Log In
  • Register

Room 151

  • Treasury
  • Technical
  • Funding
  • Resources
  • LGPS
  • Development
  • 151 News
  • Blogs
    • David Green
    • Agent 151
    • Dan Bates
    • Richard Harbord
    • Stephen Sheen
    • James Bevan
    • Steve Bishop
    • Cllr John Clancy
    • David Crum
    • Graham Liddell
    • Ian O’Donnell
    • Jackie Shute
  • Interviews

Steve Winterflood: Is Northamptonshire the first domino?

0
  • by Guest
  • in Blogs · Funding
  • — 10 May, 2018

Photo: Sutulo/Pixabay

The county council’s troubles are well documented, but is it the first in a line of local authorities set to fall? Steve Winterflood argues that doing the “boring really well” is no longer enough if councils want to avoid a similar fate.

The best value inspection report of Northamptonshire County Council published in March was, to say the least, damning. An earlier report by the Local Government Association’s peer review team was also far from flattering. But is Northamptonshire’s parlous state due to its own incompetence or is it a portent of things to come?

In February 2018 the council’s external auditors, KPMG, issued an advisory notice under Section 29 and Schedule 8 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act, 2014, essentially for four reasons:

  • Flexible use of capital receipts
  • Reliance on one-off use of resources
  • Failure to deliver savings plans
  • Ensuring sustainable financial decisions are taken

The best value (BV) inspection team, quite rightly, relied heavily on the concerns of KPMG in reaching their conclusions, as did the Local Government Association (LGA) report. But surely there is more. Northamptonshire’s problems did not happen overnight.

The question for me is not what happened in terms of the financial situation but why it happened. And having understood “the why” can we reach any wider conclusions on the state of local government? Or, is Northamptonshire simply a sloppy, squandering council as variously described in the BV report?

Next generation

In addition to the concerns raised by KPMG, the BV report takes forward the LGA report’s concern that “the council has a poor record of delivering its approved budget”.

There is a strong implication in the BV report that all was well in Northamptonshire before 2013 when Ofsted published an inspection report which resulted in an “inadequate judgement”.

According to the BV inspection, the county council then “lost tight budgetary control” and instead adopted a new model called Next Generation, which focussed on future arrangements and structures for the delivery of services over the longer term.

It is far from obvious — even from the most cursory view of the council’s budgets before 2013 — that tight controls did exist, at least in terms of the levels of overspend.

Of special note concerning Northamptonshire is that it has consistently levied the lowest county precept in England while having the fastest growing tax base of any county council.

But the BV report concludes that both observations are largely irrelevant. In terms of the precept, it was clearly a local political decision that the county should have the lowest level for any county council in England, and this has been the case since at least 2005.

It is an unfortunate fact of central and local government relations that the earlier county-level decision cannot now be reconsidered because of the “capping regime” (referendums aside).

It has also been the case for over 70 years that local authorities, unlike many other local democracies across the world, have no control over the setting of the local tax base. I do not believe either of these observations to be irrelevant.

The Next Generation initiative seems to me to be largely dismissed by the BV report. A telling sentence at the start of the report notes: “In local government there is no substitute for doing boring really well. Only when you have a solid foundation can you innovate.”

Both the LGA and BV reports conclude that there was insufficient “buy-in” for the Next Generation initiative, and I think this is the most critical observation of both reports.

Doing the “boring really well” is no longer sufficient to guarantee the survival of individual councils. The reduced funding since 2010 is well documented. The fact that local authorities have fewer resources does not diminish demands for better services, and the fact that, by and large, these demands are being met is testament to the determination and innovation of the service.

Dominoes, culture & central government

And this brings me to two conclusions. The first point is to determine if Northamptonshire is only the first domino of many to fall, or is it a one-off?

The answer for me is unknown. What I do know, however, is that if other authorities are to avoid a similar experience two things need to happen.

The first is that local authorities facing such a crisis cannot just stick to “doing the boring really well” and expect to thrive. A change in culture must take place with buy-in across the organisation to ensure savings are delivered and an approach adopted that is relevant to the future, not just the past.

Secondly, more diktats by central government for local government is not the answer; rather, it is the cause of the problem.

The “irrelevant” concerns of both the local tax base and rate are but two examples of many whereby taking authority away from councils undermines their ability to thrive and adapt to changing circumstances.

Steve Winterflood

Steve Winterflood is a PhD student at INLOGOV researching measures of local government authority and is a former chief executive of South Staffordshire Council.

Get the Room151 Newsletter

Share

You may also like...

  • Councils deliver £1bn underspend despite ‘volatility of children’s services’ Councils deliver £1bn underspend despite ‘volatility of children’s services’ 23 Aug, 2018
  • Mixed reception for £556m Northern Powerhouse deals Mixed reception for £556m Northern Powerhouse deals 26 Jan, 2017
  • Overhaul in health funding requires stakeholder solidarity Overhaul in health funding requires stakeholder solidarity 30 Sep, 2013
  • How much worse could it get? How much worse could it get? 13 Jun, 2012

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • Register to become a Room151 user

  • Latest tweets

    Room151 13 hours ago

    Going beyond the standard metrics for climate change: Sponsored article: With climate change an investment imperative and an imminent reporting requirement, Ritesh Bamania argues UK pension schemes should look beyond today’s standard metrics. With… dlvr.it/RtnpLS pic.twitter.com/6ABaFHyS9I

    Room151 2 days ago

    LGPS webinar: Governance the key to TCFD implementation: LGPS funds have been warned that governance is it at the here of Whitehall plans to impose a new climate reporting regime on pension funds. In January the Department for[...] dlvr.it/RtjwNq pic.twitter.com/YMiMdmRyzU

    Room151 2 days ago

    LGPS webinar: Central bank management of bond purchasing could affect all asset classes: When the government debt caused by the pandemic is eventually tackled there may be a huge impact on assets of all classes, according to a leading investment expert… dlvr.it/RtjwJx pic.twitter.com/7v8K5vMYHo

    Room151 2 days ago

    #LGPS readers...what to do about #bonds? room151.co.uk/blogs/lgps-web… @BrunelPP 's new CIO, David Vickers tackles a problematic area #centralbanks #assetallocation #fixedincome pic.twitter.com/yUJr0azbKv

    Room151 2 days ago

    LGPS Challenges: Balancing Realpolitik and responsible investment: Elizabeth M. Carey warns of the perils of an ESG echo chamber as countries outside the West continue to invest in fossil fuels. Anyone working with the LGPS probably feels[...] dlvr.it/RtjMpq pic.twitter.com/MykIYxuYri

    Room151 5 days ago

    How can local government ‘build back better’?: Beverley Gower-Jones looks at the options for driving small business entrepreneurship in clean technologies. Innovation is essential for local authorities to save money and reduce emissions, it is the… dlvr.it/RtT3nS pic.twitter.com/bSMB6OG70t

    Room151 6 days ago

    Helen Randall: Spelthorne report places spotlight on ‘controls’: Fresh criticism of Spelthorne Council raises the question of what “good” controls look like when negotiating a property deal. Spelthorne Council’s continuing debacle over property… dlvr.it/RtSPhy pic.twitter.com/9uCOJgBcH6

    Room151 6 days ago

    Step-out strategies: Hitting the sweet spot between liquidity and ultra-short duration: Sponsored article: Jemma Clee describes how an ultra-short duration strategy can help local authorities enhance returns. Despite the expectation of a low, and… dlvr.it/RtSPZb pic.twitter.com/pdXPpv5lcN

    Room151 7 days ago

    What role will climate change have on the pricing of government bonds?: Sponsored article: Kerry Duffain finds that “vulnerability and resilience to climate change” have a significant impact on the cost of government borrowing. Ardea Investment… dlvr.it/RtNKv7 pic.twitter.com/wDjT31x4Yt

    Room151 1 week ago

    ESGenius: Slashing emissions will fuel green growth for decades: Sponsored article: Velislava Dimitrova argues that a big enough investment could mean transition to a low, or no, carbon economy can become a reality. The world needs to slash carbon[...] dlvr.it/RtKZJp pic.twitter.com/cd8S3ijERl

    Room151 1 week ago

    Prudential code: “Not perfect, but its heart is in the right place”: The new Prudential Code offers revised rules for borrowing. Nikki Bishop is sceptical it will work while Gary Fielding offers his support. Nikki Bishop I have been asked to give[...] dlvr.it/RtKZFh pic.twitter.com/OriN28lXcb

  • Categories

    • 151 News
    • Agent 151
    • Blogs
    • Chris Buss
    • Cllr John Clancy
    • Dan Bates
    • David Crum
    • David Green
    • Development
    • Forum
    • Funding
    • Graham Liddell
    • Ian O'Donnell
    • Interviews
    • Jackie Shute
    • James Bevan
    • Jobs
    • LGPSi
    • Mark Finnegan
    • Recent Posts
    • Resources
    • Richard Harbord
    • Stephen Fitzgerald
    • Stephen Sheen
    • Steve Bishop
    • Technical
    • Treasury
    • Uncategorized
  • Archives

    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
  • Previous story Northants makes ‘unprecedented’ use of reserves to balance books
  • Next story Portsmouth looks beyond borders with Manchester property investment

© Copyright 2021 Room 151. Typegrid Theme by WPBandit.