Can Government policies improve local public services? An assessment of the impacts of top-down reform strategies Dr James Downe Cardiff Business School Cardiff University, UK

Introduction Increased focus on service improvement – NPM, rising citizen expectations, recession UK – ‘local government modernisation agenda’ Reliance upon Performance Indicators (PIs), household surveys and inspection scores Uses the perceptions of senior local government managers (corporate and service)

Local government modernisation agenda More than 20 policies aimed at achieving significant service improvement Best Value – systematic review of all services, plus BVPIs and inspection LPSAs – contracts between central and local government leading to financial rewards LSPs – brought together key partners to tackle ‘wicked problems’

Data and methods (1) Developed a model of service improvement with the Government department Survey of corporate (chief policy officers, finance directors and chief executive) and service managers in seven areas Seven dependent variables (service quality, value for money, responsiveness to user needs, joined-up provision, access for all groups, user satisfaction and staff satisfaction)

Data and methods (2) Independent variables Internal drivers – leadership (managerial and political), use of outsourcing, working across departments External drivers – how services are delivered with outside agencies, the role of inspectors and other outside bodies Government policies – those which have the potential to impact on service improvement

Managers’ perceptions of changes in service improvement CorporateService Service quality90% Value for tax payers84%85% Responsiveness to user needs 91% Joined-up provision87%88% Access for all groups84% User satisfaction57%77% Staff satisfaction63%65%

The impact of internal drivers on service improvement Internal driversCorporateService Leadership by executive members78%66% Scrutiny by non-executive members54%49% Leadership by officers92%89% Engagement of frontline staff in decision-making 69%81% Working across departments88%85% Use of market testing49%47% Use of outsourcing49%45% Use of performance management systems 92%88%

The impact of external drivers on service improvement External driversCorporateService Delivering services in partnership with the private sector 62%54% Delivering services in partnership with the public sector 80%72% Delivering services in partnership with the voluntary sector 66%59% Demands from residents84%76% Use of e-government90%80% Audit Commission activities72%68% Pressure from other inspectorates 69%61%

The impact of Government policies on service improvement Government policiesCorporateService Beacon Council Scheme34%33% Best Value87%85% CPA91%86% Local Public Service Agreements70%57% Local Strategic Partnerships85%69% National Local e-government Strategy 90%78% National Local Government Procurement Strategy 62%40% The power to promote well-being58%62%

Drivers of service quality DriversCorporate managersService managers Service quality Internal Scrutiny by non- executive members Leadership by officers External Local e-government initiatives Audit Commission activities Government policies LSPs Best Value

Drivers of user satisfaction DriversCorporate managersService managers User satisfaction Internal Scrutiny by non- executive members Front-line staff engagement in decision-making Market testing External Local e-government initiatives Partnership with voluntary sector Government policies LPSAs (negative) LSPs Best Value Intervention and Recovery Support (negative)

Findings Both corporate and service manager’s perceptions were significantly associated with each of types of driver Little correspondence between the drivers identified by different types of manager Different dimensions of service improvement are influenced by quite different variables Front-line staff engagement, e-government and Best Value were the most prominent drivers

Drivers of service improvement Driver Number of times included in the regression models Internal Engagement of front-line staff in decision-making 6 Scrutiny by non-executive members3 Leadership by officers3 Market testing2 External Local e-government initiatives6 Delivering services in partnership with the public sector 3 Delivering services in partnership with the voluntary sector 2 Audit Commission activities2 Government policies Best Value5 LSPs3 Power to promote wellbeing3

Conclusions (1) Assessing the impact of Government policies and other drivers is difficult Managers’ perceptions are a useful source of evidence Corporate managers may have a different ‘theory of improvement’ to service managers Holistic approaches to modernisation are needed – the Government can’t do it alone

Conclusions (2) Different dimensions of service improvement require different interventions, both within the local authority and in Government policy terms Future research could examine differences in perceptions of improvement across different services and between senior managers and local politicians