Education for Modernisation? The Impact of Higher Education Member Development Programmes on Councillors’ Perception and Performance of their Roles

The recent ‘modernisation’ process in local government has brought about the most significant, and certainly the most explicit, changes in councillor roles for decades. At the same time – partly as a result of this and partly for other reasons – there has been a significant growth in the provision of training for councillors, and in particular, training – or, rather, education – programmes provided by higher education institutions (HEIs). These accredited programmes, leading to standard, nationally recognised academic qualifications at a range of levels, first appeared in the early 2000s, and have been steadily growing since. The entry of supposedly disinterested institutions and academics and the introduction of accreditation into the field of member development raise a number of questions around potential conflicts of interest between councillors, officers and the academy, councillor motivation and selection processes. Of particular interest is the question of what HEIs and the courses they are providing are doing, deliberately or otherwise, to shape, reinforce or challenge the new (and old) roles explicitly and implicitly being introduced and promoted through the modernisation reforms. This article utilises interviews with councillors, local authority officers, academics and representatives of national bodies representing or with an interest in local government to examine how councillors’ roles and the way that they perform them are perceived by all involved, and whether these are altered by participation in a higher education programme of study.     

Arab Local Government in Israel: Partial Modernisation as an Explanatory Variable for Shortages in Management

About one-third of all local and regional councils in Israel are Arab. Ever since their establishment, and especially during the last decade, the Arab authorities have suffered from financial crises and from administrative and organisational deficiencies that jeopardize their functioning. Arab local politics is characterised by the increased strength of traditional clan-affiliated forces, at the expense of modern representative groups. The present article has tried to explain the problems that beset the management of Arab local government in Israel. We believe that the explanation is rooted in the fact that ‘partial modernisation’ is the dominant explanatory variable for Arab local government shortages.     

‘To be or not to be’ (like the West): modernisation in Russia and Iran

Having passed through a labyrinth of social contradictions, both Russia and Iran have reached a point on their historical timelines where they have transcended the logic of development of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Today, Russian and Iranian modernisation reflects the interaction of universal norms and practices and specific cultural traditions. As an epistemological category, modernity can no longer be enchained in the grip of a totalising narrative. Modernity has given rise to civilisational patterns that share some core characteristics, but which unfold differently. The Russian and Iranian historical experiences reveal the need to take a much broader view of the modernisation process by placing it in the context of cultural adaptation of civilisational particularities to the challenge of modernity. The era of fixed, Euro-centric and non-reflexive modernity has reached its end, and we have, in practical terms, the emergence of ‘multiple modernities’.     

In practice - Modernising the Council: A Personal Reflection

Joined up governance has emerged as one of the key policy discourses of the modernisation of local government under New Labour. Community strategies are one of the principal policy tools that are intended to deliver more joined up governance at the local level. This paper draws upon early findings from the national formative evaluation of community strategies to consider the extent to which community strategies are delivering more joined up governance in practice. The paper concludes by highlighting a number of tensions in the role of community strategies in delivering a more joined up local agenda.     

Notes on Contributors

Social services departments have been an integral feature of local authorities in England for delivering social services since 1970 with a distinct identity, a largely uniform set of social service functions and similar organisational structure. This model of a unified social services department has survived major structural reorganisations in local government, the community care initiatives and social services modernisation agendas. This paper reviews recent government initiatives to promote closer collaboration between health and social services and identifies the different models now in place or being put into place. These include formal partnerships, integrated management, integrated care trusts and the example of fully integrated health and social services trusts. The paper considers whether such developments along with the establishment of new children's trusts will finally mean the disintegration of local authority social services departments, whether the Seebohm vision has been abandoned and what future there is for social care within local government.     

Local Political Leadership and the Modernisation of Local Government

Political leadership has been a key element of central government's attempts to ‘modernise’ local government over the past decade, within a discourse that emphasised ‘strong’ and ‘visible’ leadership and the role of leaders and leadership in driving change within local authorities. In the context of such an approach, and also taking account of academic discourse, this article draws upon interviews with nearly thirty individuals in leadership positions in local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales to assess their experiences of leadership and their views of some aspects of the role and work of councils. It suggests that whilst there is broad convergence between the aspirations of government and the narratives that emerge from these leaders on some aspects of local political leadership, there are also differences, perhaps most notably over the relationship between changes to decision-making structures and the loci of political power.     

Matching supply and demand in local public services,part 1 — Preliminaries; productivity and quality control

The local government 'modernisation agenda' has important implications for research in local government, a function which has been neglected in recent years. This article argues that modernisation, especially Best Value, requires authorities to develop as 'intelligent learning organisations' and to build the capacity for research to support processes of learning and improvement. Based on the findings of recent research, the article discusses lessons for local government in enhancing research capacity and utilisation, referring both to internal factors and to the potential for collaborative arrangements. It is concluded that central government might do more to assist the development of such capacity but ultimately authorities' approach to research must be developed to support achievement of their defined purpose, role and objectives.     

Modernisation or Backward Step? Women Councillors and New Decision-Making Structures in Local Government

Following the 1997 general election New Labour took power with a commitment to ‘modernising’ government, including local government. This modernisation was based upon a variety of approaches including the introduction of new decision-making structures, improving local democracy, improving local financial accountability, creating a new ethical framework for councillors and council employees and improving local services. It is with the first two of these and their potential impact upon women councillors that this article is concerned. It analyses past evidence on women's participation in local government in the UK and examines the impact of the new political structures on progression to senior posts in local government.     

The role of local government in the review of public administration in Northern Ireland: The challenges of enhancement,devolution and modernisation

A very limited system of local government has been one of the main characteristics of public administration in Northern Ireland for the past 35 years. Yet in the recently completed Review of Public Administration changes in local government occupied a very dominant position. This article gives an account of the reasons for this, analyses the processes which led to what may be viewed as an enhancement of local government but argues that the principles adopted by the UK Government to guide the reforms, of subsidiarity, strong local government, coterminosity and good relations have not been met. The lack of an analysis in the Review of the implications of devolution for local government reform and the distribution of functions is highlighted including the relevance of the distinction between administrative and political devolution. How the proposed reforms relate to the UK-wide local government modernisation agenda is also discussed.     

A Prehistory of the Best Value Regime

Best Value was one of the central planks of New Labour's modernisation agenda for local government. This article uncovers the origins of the regime by unpicking the activities of two working groups responsible for its design. Licking its wounds in the aftermath of the 1987 General Election the Labour Party's leadership had come to see the party's record in local government as a source of increasing embarrassment. A series of policy initiatives, first emerging from the party's policy review, later given the Best Value tag, were intended to neutralise producer interests and improve the party's reputation for governing competence.     

Integrating Policies,Plans and Programmes in Local Government: An Exploration from a Spatial Planning Perspective

Local government bodies are increasingly attempting to integrate different functions and departments in the production of policies, plans and programmes. Despite this interest, a general lack of conceptualisation around integration currently exists, presenting difficulties for local government practitioners to pursue such integration. This article reports findings of an ESRC PhD case study into integration in local government, and presents a conceptualisation which seeks to resolve these outstanding issues surrounding integration. These findings are particularly apt given the ongoing changes to local government in England.     

Modernisation and Political Management Arrangements: The Case of Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council

In the United Kingdom the Labour government has placed considerable emphasis on the need to modernise public services. In the case of local government, Labour's belief in the need for modernisation has resulted in radical measures to change local authorities' political management arrangements designed, in part, to achieve greater efficiency, transparency and accountability. In its response to the Labour government's agenda, Redcar &; Cleveland Borough Council established interim political management arrangements in May 2000 prior to the establishment of permanent arrangements. The permanent arrangements were to be decided upon following public consultation and a review of the interim arrangements. This article reports the outcomes and, in doing so, provides evidence of the impact of Labour's measures to achieve change in local government.     

Local Government at the Nexus?

The modernisation of local government in the UK, pursued by Labour governments since 1997, has covered many, often conflicting elements. Councils have been encouraged to be both strategic ‘place shapers’ and also involved in the nurturing of democratic engagement. This latter theme of ‘democratic renewal’ has in itself contained paradoxical elements, but has been a consistent focus of attention. This debate around democratic renewal has also taken place in the context of a broader ‘rethinking’ of local governments’ role, in an era of partnerships, governance and new models of service delivery. Normatively and practically new justifications for local government have been sought. One such normative foundation has drawn on a range of theoretical perspectives to reimagine the place of local government in the democratic polity, seeing local authorities and local councilors as facilitators or nurturers of democratic health. In particular, broad theoretical developments in communicative and deliberative democracy, and also, more recently, on work based in ‘second generation’ governance theory, have been drawn upon to place local government at the nexus of state and civil society. This paper will examine the possibilities for such a role, from a normative standpoint, to argue that local government can have only limited success in this role, particularly in the context of New Labour's restructuring of the local state.     

Thinking about the ‘Local’ of Local Government: a Brief History of Invention and Reinvention

In 2004, Local Government Studies published an article in which I reflected on the implications of new Labour’s modernisation agenda for the remaking of local government and the reshaping of the welfare state. Here I return to some of the issues raised in that paper in the different context of localism, austerity and dreams of urban entrepreneurialism. I argue that exploring the changing meanings of the local, as a contested political as well as geographical category, is a fundamental task for those of us seeking to understand the nature of contemporary local government; the wider processes of state restructuring which frame it; and the possibilities of local politics.     

Political Parties in the UK

The modernisation of English local government has created new forms of executive leadership. These aim to deliver better management and greater public engagement. Drawing from a recent study of the views of elected councillors in a sample of contrasting councils, this paper considers how far the new political management has succeeded in enhancing public interest and involvement in local government. It is suggested that executive and non-executive councillors differ in their perceptions of the new arrangements and that public interest is still largely perceived as relating to issues of immediate and personal concern. Backbench councillors may feel relatively powerless in taking up issues. Stepping down from elected office could even provide greater opportunities to be involved in public and political affairs. Equally, there are many examples of positive initiatives to involve the public, including area-based organisation and the effective use of scrutiny. Elected mayors were more optimistic than councillors in their perception of public involvement, tending to see themselves as having a direct line to the public and serving to 'reconnect' council and public. Overall, however, public engagement remains the great unfinished business of local government modernisation.     

The wheel turns for policing and local government

The article examines the impact of two main forces, localism and centralism, together with their interaction within a common law legal system, which have influenced professional policing since its inception after 1829. In particular, it assesses the ways these forces have conflicted and in doing so created a police service which although closely related to local government subsequently drifted apart. Now, through the ‘partnership approach’, developed within the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, local government and policing appear to be re‐establishing a closer relationship. In this context, the article examines the significance of the concept of community safety and the partnership approach on the relationships between local government, police authorities and the force itself.     

Collaborative Governance of Ageing: Challenges for Local Government in Partnering with the Seniors' Sector

This paper considers the role local government plays in the formation and effectiveness of local collaborative partnerships in ageing well. Collaborative processes are central to emerging models of local governance and have received considerable practical and theoretical consideration with respect to many policy domains. Such collaborations require local organisations and actors from various sectors to work together in partnerships and networks to achieve policy goals. This paper reports research from two collaborations in southeast Queensland municipalities, and shows that joint efforts between local government and community organisations pose challenges. These relate to the political context and specifically to the tensions between flexibility and coordination; and tensions between harnessing community resources and investing resources. We highlight the value of a framing role for local government to ensure that such governance models for local action on ageing realise a collaborative advantage. In particular, the findings highlight the need for local government to invest in these processes and build social infrastructure and assets in order to develop improved ways of facilitating collaborative governance.     

Myths,Measures and Modernisation: A Comparison of Local Authority Performance in England and Wales

Local Authority performance in Wales is widely perceived as inferior to that in England. We analyse statistical evidence on current levels of performance and rates of improvement in the two local government systems, and find few significant differences between English and Welsh councils. Adverse judgements on Welsh local government seem to reflect perceptions of their management processes and methods of service provision rather than their substantive achievements. This may in turn be symptomatic of UK central government's assumption that public service improvement cannot be achieved unless organisations follow the specific model of ‘managerial modernisation it is currently promoting.     

Modernising Local Government: Micro-Organisational Reform and Changing Local Structural Configurations

This article takes an indicative group of county, metropolitan and unitary authorities located in the English West Midlands to examine how effectively local government is grappling with modernising’ reforms in a context where the appropriate unit of analysis has become problematic because of broader changes to local governance. Sub-national territorial structural variability is becoming more pronounced while, paradoxically, what stands out in the micro-organisational dimension is the extent to which local authorities are increasingly working to a common reform agenda, notwithstanding the need to resolve incoherences in New Labour's modernisation project. The explanation for these observed (contrary) changes lies not only in the vagaries of top-down pressures emanating from central political and regulatory infiuences, but also in local institutional dynamics, as well as in lateral or peer dissemination of ‘good’ practice within local government.     

Local Politics,Central Power: The Future of Representative Local Government in England

When Labour took power in 1997, local government was battered and bruised, but it had survived, and indeed retained much of its vitality. What would happen next? Where the Conservatives had used the language of competition, New Labour promoted its policies around an ideology of modernisation, and rapidly introduced a new legal framework, new powers and strong incentives to improve performance. But by 2004, in the run-up to another general election, Labour increasingly emphasised the rights of consumers to choose providers of services, and the value of involving the private sector in public sector provision. There were proposals to take the finance for education and social services out of local authority control. A complex geography of partnerships and networks had developed, which required small executives of salaried councillors, far fewer than the large numbers needed by the committee system. But turnout in local elections remained low, and membership of both Labour and Conservative parties declined. The paper uses a simple stakeholder analysis to show how councillors and local activists were marginalised. It suggests that the government has a choice: it could either accept that the era of multi-skilled councillors responsible for the multi-purpose local authorities is ending, or it could radically rationalise the present quangos, partnerships and other governance structures to re-create it.