Reputation and leadership norfolk summer conference 13.07.10
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Transcript of Reputation and leadership norfolk summer conference 13.07.10
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Reform outdated legislation to allow local councils to operate more efficiently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: