Local government told to share services and put all vacancies on web

Local government bosses have been told to put all job vacancies on the net and find new ways to share back offices services including the sharing of chief executives and press officers. Eric Pickles, local government minister, has told town hall leaders to think the unthinkable and end silo structures.

Pickles wants councils to share planning departments, legal services, media departments and even chief executives. He says the sharing of back office services is "especially important for the highest levels and the most expensive people".

The communities secretary has also attacked councils for creating "non-jobs" such as cheerleading development officers.

He also wants local authorities to advertise all posts on their websites so their usefulness can be scrutinised by members of the public - who can then decide if they are 'real' jobs.

Further, Pickles wants councillors to take more responsibility for decisions previously taken by chief executives.

Taxpayers want councillors to make decisions about reductions in local public spending, a new survey has revealed.

An opinion poll by ComRes for the Local Government Association reveals that 62% of people would prefer local councillors to make decisions about public spending in their local area compared to 18% who backed MPs and 2% who would prefer officials in quangos.

The poll also shows that 70% of respondents believe that spending on some services should be protected, even if this has an impact on spending in other areas. Taxpayers also think NHS managers, quangos and overseas aid are the top three areas where cuts should be made to save money.

Just 1% respectively thought street cleaning, care for the elderly by social services and rubbish collections should be cut to save public money.

Only 1% regard quangos as a frontline public service. The survey also shows that almost three quarters of people (74%) believe that frontline services will be hit by cuts.

Dame Margaret Eaton, chairman of the LGA, said that councils should strip out bureaucracy and red tape and remove unnecessary tiers of middle management to bring the deficit down.

"Councils provide vital frontline services upon which millions of people rely. Ministers need to recognise that when detailed decisions on spending are made in the autumn.

"Councils are in the vanguard of reforming the public sector and will work with the government to ensure that savings will be made by pruning out the maze of quangos, middlemen, bureaucratic funding streams and audit arrangements, rather than salami slicing services that the most vulnerable people depend on.

"We need nothing less than a transformation of the way the public sector works to deliver savings by giving power to the people who know their areas best."

The LGA says that taxpayers could save as much as £20bn a year if councils were given more control of frontline services.

The moves come as Treasury secretary, Danny Alexander, told the House of Commons he was cutting spending for local government by £220m.

Source: www.ukauthority.com