The next Labour government will need to deliver better public services for less. Labour councils must do it now. Austerity means we have no choice. But regardless our first priority should be to achieve the productivity gains in services that the last century saw in agriculture and manufacturing.
The public service delivery model of the last quarter century is broken. Its toxic combination of targets and competition was expensive, unpleasant to work in and unresponsive to people. There is a better, cheaper alternative based on neighbourhood delivery. What matters most to improving an area or services is not money or strategies but relationships. This is the approach we are pursuing in Liverpool – starting in opposition in one ward, now at a city-wide level.
North Liverpool has had loads of money spent on it over 30 years. If you piled all the strategies written about it on top of each other they’d be taller than the Liver Building. It hasn’t made a lot of difference. Beautiful North is a partnership of public, private and voluntary organisations. There is no budget. Organisations are asked to bring, and share, their own staff and resources, their best ideas, and their energy, to benefit the place. But in the first 12 weeks it increased from 12 to 40 partners. Ward councillors, as the mandated representatives of the target wards, are invited to issue ‘Asks’ – problems and opportunities not resolved or delivered by existing services. Public, private and third sector partners respond with ‘Offers’ to deliver.
The approach recognises good relationships, between organisations and front line staff who deliver services in the area, are essential. Partners contribute staff to a team who work across organisational boundaries. The team is not only transforming how we deliver services, but create opportunities and attract new investment.
The Mean-Time Community Car Park opened on a wet night in November. There was no money so the Council donated vacant land, the private sector, Flanagan Group, run the operation for free, and local Charity ABCC recruited staff and volunteers. The Police direct illegal parkers (saving them a fine and delivering us a sale) and LFC and EFC promoted the car park to visiting fans. By the end of the season the car park had made £50,000 profit, reduced car crime and proved that at least 600 fans were willing to spend an extra tenner a visit. Profits are spent by residents on their priorities. Their first investment was a ‘Poover’ (a dog poo hoover) and a local employee to hoover the streets. This year the car park will generate a further £100,000 for investment. If just 50 per cent of fans spend a tenner per visit it will add £7million to the local economy. National government is talking competitiveness. Liverpool is sharing what it’s got.
Seven years ago Labour councillors in Riverside ward faced three youth centres being closed by the Lib Dem administration. The youth service was organised around the convenience of staff not young people – we go out at night and weekends but we don’t provide a service for young people then. Residents’ number one complaint was over anti-social behaviour (ASB) at nights and weekends. Councillors sat down with housing associations, pooled our budgets and drew up a commission: youth workers on the streets at weekends, after school and evening provision for our kids. Young people carried out a survey of provision and told us their asks. We sat down the providers and asked them to work together to deliver them. Seven years on ASB has fallen year-on-year in the ward and since Labour won control of the council the approach has been rolled out across the city.
Different partners have come to the table – Liverpool football club has launched a Youth Ambassadors Scheme to meet and greet visitors to the city, presenting a new face and new opportunities for young people.
The first cut of the Coalition government was to Play Builder 2, which would have provided new play provision in the Dingle. Working with the Naked Heart Foundation (a children’s play charity funded by a Russian fashion model), Groundworks and the Morgan Foundation, a new play scheme went on site at a local community centre in January with a private company working at cost on land donated by the council.
It’s not rocket science. Working together at a local level, democratically elected councillors can bring together partners across sectors to work with and for local people. It’s cheap, it’s good, it’s easy. Just do it!
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Councillor Steve Munby is the cabinet member for neighbourhoods and Councillor Ann O’Byrne is the cabinet member for housing on Liverpool City Council
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