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In Local Government
The
key task facing local authorities is how to improve both the delivery
and the value for money of local services (sometimes called ‘modernisation’).
In sustainability terms, local authorities
aim to:
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give everyone
the opportunity to live in a decent home |
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promote
social cohesion, well-being and self-dependence |
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safeguard
the countryside |
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create
a well designed, accessible and pleasant living and working
environment |
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govern
effectively and fairly with a strong sense of community for
economic prosperity |
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provide
access to better education, transport and health care facilities
to the poorest parts of the country. |
This is achieved by:
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doing Comprehensive
Performance Assessment (CPA) |
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engaging
with other Authorities to improve planning |
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monitoring
local public service agreements |
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electronically
delivering services |
Organisations that work with local authorities include:
The
Social Exclusion Unit
The
Neighbourhood Renewal Unit
The
Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA)
It is often difficult for local authorities
to deliver since they have shortfalls in resources (finance and
talent), notably in the areas of:
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partnership
working - including skills in consensus building, negotiating
and influencing and knowledge of issues such as policy and
funding developments, forms of partnerships that add most
value and ways of overcoming barriers to partner engagement
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e-government
and lack of knowledge about how ICT can be applied |
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risk taking
- primarily not being able to make changes internally |
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community
engagement - in particular knowledge of how to empower local
communities, carry out local needs analysis and manage conflict. |
Sd3 can help local authorities implement
sustainability on the ground, from partnership brokerage in local
development and the social economy, stakeholder mapping and dialogue,
support in community strategy building, energy and environmental
best practice advice, as well as training in systematic sustainability
management.
CPAs
help to identify authorities’ performance strengths and weaknesses,
and provide a basis for the improvement planning which the duty
of best value confers (driven by Local Government Act 1999).
From
http://www.odpm.gov.uk
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