Getting better all the time?

Charting the course of local government improvement

In the summer of 2007, the Improvement and Development Agency (now LG Improvement and Development) commissioned an authoritative statement of current knowledge of local government improvement. This was based both on the available literature and current practice. 

The work was carried out by Clive Grace, a former council chief executive and now an honorary research fellow at Cardiff University, and Steve Martin, Director of the Centre for Local and Regional Research, Cardiff University.

The result, 'Getting better all the time? An independent assessment of local government improvement and its future prospects', was published in January 2008. This essay looks back on what we have learnt from the last eight to 10 years, and forward to how that improvement journey might develop.

'Getting better all the time?' explicitly addresses what is unique about local government and its developing role. Particular attention has been paid to the political dimension, partnership working and community leadership.

Download the essay

Two versions of the essay are available to download: the standard, published version, plus an extended version including more analysis and a list of interviewees from the research phase.

Getting better all the time? – published version (PDF, 56 pages, 491KB)

Getting better all the time? – extended version (PDF, 80 pages, 577KB)

Aims of this work

'Getting better all the time?' has a three-fold purpose:

• functional: to bring together what we know about improvement, and build on earlier work to help inform the work of improvement agencies, including LG Improvement and Development
• symbolic: to reflect back to the sector – and central government – how far we have come and how much we know about improvement, thus lending support to the continuing devolution of responsibility for improvement
• directional: to provide an indication of how to continue the journey in a challenging environment, and how to move – to quote the title of the Local Government Association (LGA) policy paper from September 2005 – 'beyond competence'.

Seizing the moment

This is a particularly significant time to be bringing forward such a statement and contributing to the debate. 

Local government currently sits on a fault line of change. Some of the main reasons for this are:

• more devolution and a greater emphasis on partnership working through the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007
• the need to operate within a tighter financial environment after the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 (CSR07)
• significant changes in regulation through comprehensive area assessments (CAAs), and the proposals put forward by LG Improvement and Development and the LGA for self-assessment and peer challenge
• seismic changes to the local government ‘improvement architecture’, with increasing importance placed on Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEPs).

We hope this essay will help inform and strengthen the repositioning of the local government sector in relation to its own improvement.

The aim is to ensure that the collective intellectual capital that has been developed is understood and recognised throughout the sector, and by key stakeholders. Doing so provides the opportunity for the sector to seize the moment, and to take greater responsibility for its own improvement and performance. 

Let the debate begin

We hope that publication of 'Getting better all the time?' will generate a debate on these issues. This is about what local government needs to do to deliver improvement over the coming years.

The sector, and its partners, must also be clear about what it needs from central government and regulators to help make improvement happen. 

We welcome your comments and thoughts so that we can continue to support councils and their staff to improve the service they provide to their local communities. Why not visit our discussion forum, and join the debate?

Discussion forum: Have your say on local government improvement

Alternatively, you can  email Adrian Barker, LG Improvement and Development, with your feedback at Adrian.barker@local.gov.uk. 

Useful links: where to find out more

'Beyond Competence' – LGA policy paper