Norfolk Summer Conference13 July 2010

Reputation and leadership (and elections!)

Justin GriggsHead of Policy and DevelopmentNational Association of Local Councils

The political context

New Coalition Government

New ministers

New policies: Big Society & localism

Developments in the new unitary counties

New councils

Delivering commitment into action

The Queen’s Speech

Local Government Bill to reverse current legislation to introduce unitary authorities in Norfolk, Suffolk and Devon

a Decentralisation and Communities Bill to introduce greater devolution to communities and a wholesale Review of Local Government Finance

secure policy commitments from CLG and DEFRA in line with our policy objectives

secure new national programmes, with funding, from CLG and/or DEFRA, to support Government policy initiatives for local communities

secure some ‘top sliced’ resources currently allocated to principal authorities

The political context

Big Society & localism

Community regeneration

Devolution (planning? transport?)

Role of local councils

Funding and the economic climate

Government proposals

Power to the People

Secretary of State

New councils

Community groups

CLG/DEFRA

Ministerial meetings

Campaigns – Localism in action, Power to the People, Local democracy

Manifesto

Our Actions

recognise local councils as the grass-roots of our democracy

recognise local councils in legislation, statutory guidance and policy

ensure local councils have representation on regional and county level strategic bodies

establish local councils throughout England, in urban as well as rural areas

Manifesto on the future of local councils

principal authorities to work with local councils to provide efficient and economic services

local councils are statutory consultees on all matters affecting their area

new concordat between the local council sector and Government, and the LGA

local councils to make use of the power of well being/general competence

Manifesto

Invest funding to increase the capacity and effectiveness of local councils

Reform outdated legislation to allow local councils to operate more efficiently

Introduce a volunteering programme for 11-16 year olds with local councils, including shadowing, as part of the citizenship curriculum

Manifesto

Community leadership is about local councils, both councillors and officers, enabling local communities to steer

their own future

It promotes a partnership of shared commitment to promote a shared

vision for the locality

It is not traditional, top-down leadership, but involves councillors and officers using all the tools at

their disposal to engage communities in making their own

difference

But you’re all experts in leadership anyway…..

…..especially community leadership

…..but what about reputation?

Reputation is the opinion (more technically, a social evaluation) of the public toward a person, a group of people, or an organisation. It is an important factor in many fields, such as education, business, online communities or social status

Reputation can be considered as a component of the identity as defined by

others

Reputation is 'the result of what you do, what you say, and what other people

say about you'Source - Wikipedia

Source - Wikipedia

So why does

reputation matter?

Some stats, facts and stuff

There are around 9000 local (parish and town) councils in England…..

….spending over £500m of public money

There are 80,000 local councillors, some elected but many co-opted…..

…..representing around 16m people in England, about 1/3 of the population…..

The local council sector is very diverse, the smallest councils represent under 100 people, the largest over 80,000

Over 200 new local councils have created in the last 10 years, mostly in suburban/urban areas and towns

We have a legal structure, but with powers (and duties) to represent the local community, delivering services to meet local needs and improve local quality of life

An established and valued form of local democracy and management

Increasing role in urban areas Build on the existing local council

structure Improve its capacity to deliver better

services and represent the community’s interests

Existing powers strengthened with new powers

Partnership working and delegating additional services, budgets and decisions to a local council

The cross party view of local councils…..

…..BUT……….

…..there are challenges if this is what people think about local government?

80% of the population are satisfied with their local area as a place to live…..

….and 59% felt that they belong to their immediate neighbourhood

But only 33% of agreed or strongly agreed that their local council provided value for money…..

…..with only 45% of people satisfied with the way their local runs thingsSource – Place Survey 2008

29% of local people felt they could influence decisions in their local area…..

…..a figure noticeably higher in London with just over a third at 35%

In last 12 months, 14 % of population had been involved in local-decision making (member of a committee or groups relating to local services, education or standing as a councillor…..…..but only 27% of people would

like to be more involved in local decision- making

Source – Place Survey 2008

How often do the following tell the truth…..

…..24% for MPs, 28% for local councillors, 14% for politicians generally

and 15 % for Government ministers

What about behaviours exhibited by councillors…..

….. they treat people with respect (42%), they work

in interests of the neighbourhood (34%),

they use their power for personal gain (32%)

Source – SfE July 2009

Top three expected behaviours …..…..make sure that

public money is used wisely

…..be in touch with what the general public thinks is important

…..work in the interests of the neighbourhood

Source – SfE July 2009

There is practically no relationship between resident satisfaction with services and resident satisfaction with the council

Council tax levels have no correlation with overall satisfaction, and the same is true of council tax hikes

Source – LGA analysis of BVPI data

the drivers of resident satisfaction with councils

The strongest driver of perceived ‘value for money’ – and the primary driver of resident satisfaction with councils – is effective information about council services. Councils whose residents feel well informed about services are the most popular and vice versa

Source – LGA analysis of BVPI data

‘Perceived value for money’ has the strongest correlation with overall satisfaction. Councils whose residents feel they get good VFM are the most popular, those who score badly on VFM the least popular

“Councils who prioritise communications, and tell local people about the benefits and

services they provide, are likely to reap the benefits of higher overall

satisfaction ratings.

Of course, it is important to have something good to communicate

about.

“But effective communications can help to challenge inaccurate

stereotypes of local councils, as well as improving residents

familiarity and engagement with the local council.”

Source – MORI, November 2002

What can be done to tackle this?

Reputation and communication core actions

Manage the media effectively to promote and defend the council

Reputation and communication core actions

Provide an A-Z guide to council services

Reputation and communication core actions

Publish a regular council magazine or newspaper to inform residents

Reputation and communication core actions

Ensure the council brand is consistently linked to services

Reputation and communication core actions

Good internal communications – make sure staff and members are well informed

“Leadership is practiced not so

much in words as in attitudes and

actions”

- Harold Geneen

“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority”

- Ken Blanchard

The new landscape??

Local councils working with community groups and other partners to:

- understand viability of local assets and service provision

- enhance and sustain facilities and services (step change from traditional to new services)

- organise the precept to maximise community finance

- represent the collective needs and opportunities in dealing with statutory bodies

acting as the guardians of a sustainable community-led plan

Greater confidence to use powers, particularly new well being power

Developing and protecting reputation Use precept to meet community need and

support community leadership role

Is our reputation that bad? What do you do to improve your reputation?

Next year’s elections - what do we need to do promote democracy – by councils, by CALC, by SLCC, by NALC??

Let’s get talking……….……..table discussions

www.nalc.gov.ukjustin.griggs@nalc.gov.ukwww.nalcjustin.wordpress.comFollow me on Twitter…@JustinGriggs

Further information and stuff: