Local Authorities delivering new ways of working and on a grander scale than your average home improvement.

While many have been busy at home during extended leave, DIY it seems has not been limited to household projects. Many Local Authorities have also been delivering new ways of working, albeit on a grander scale than your average home improvement.

Whether it is part of a long-term strategy or the result of emergency contingency planning, conversations with other Local Authority colleagues over the past month seems to highlight a clear message, Councils have seen a rise in the number of services they now deliver.

Some colleagues have always had a clear mandate; to ‘in-source’ contracts, sometimes due to failure or risk, sometimes to increase control and service agility, often to yield more Social Value.

Other colleagues have now had insourcing, or at least additional control over outsourcing contracts, thrust upon them, with an immediate need to react.

As the dust settles, unsurprisingly, there seems to be a clear opinion that actually, whether pushed or planned #CouncilsCan deliver.

Not always credited with agility, Local Government has adapted and also shown what it’s known for – great resilience.

Whether this will lead to a wider recognition that more services can be delivered internally or through a LATCo is yet to be seen. There is certainly growing concern around the long-term sustainability of some outsourced providers that may result in the need for more agility to be shown in the near future.

Also clear, is the need to put Social Values at the forefront, to provide additional support to the communities we serve. Again, once the dust has settled, the incredible Social Value impact of the new ways of working will become apparent and will undoubtedly be something for the sector to take immense pride in.

So what’s next? Back to the old normal, or progress and develop the new found agility, ability and passion to take control and deliver?

If the latter, then we as a sector, have a huge opportunity to share knowledge, resources and expertise to learn from each other’s success and failings, to make these new ways of working succeed and thrive in the new normal.

Collaboration as a word often over-used but as an action is under-utilised.

Speaking to colleagues over the past month has identified we can all learn a lot, from the agility and resilience shown on all of our DIY projects and that now, more than ever is the time for collaboration the action.

We would be delighted to have an opportunity to talk through what we can offer your organisation.

stephen.wilson@csltd.org.uk      m 07885 823393