Toward an agreed improvement strategy

On Monday, I was lucky enough to be able to go to a conference on the central-local Improvement Strategy. I was there merely as a glorified notetaker, but it was still a great event (organised by my colleague Adrian Barker).

There are a lot of big challenges in the local governance and public sector policy environment and some exciting positive shifts in the way we'll be working - closer working between partners, greater engagement with citizens and customers and stronger, enhanced roles for front line councillors. At this conference, chief executives, senior political leaders, representatives from the Department of Communities and Local Government and regulators were all there to get their heads together around how we'll fashion new, more cohesive and effective ways of supporting improvement in local goverment through these challenges.

At the IDeA, we've long seen our role as working with local government, supporting improvement - and sometimes helping to lead improvement, too as we work with councils to innovate and to share those innovations more broadly within the sector.

Part of our approach to support is going to be how the IDeA helps local government help itself. Paul Coen, Chief Executive of the Local Government Association, spoke about the recently launched LGA campaign - raising the game in local government. Part of it is about taking responsibility for sector colleagues who need a helping hand.

Helping the public sector to help itself on regional or sub-regional basis, while capturing and sharing (and sometimes developing) the learning nationally were certainly some of the themes being explored in the groups I was with. It's too early yet to share headline findings, but we hope to be able to explore and share this debate with you over the coming months.

This is cross posted - (with pictures!) at the Policy and Performance Community of Practice (free registration required) at www.communities.idea.gov.uk








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