Friday Funday

The lighter side of local government

So what's the point of all these Friday Funday posts. Why to make you laugh, of course (or perhaps raise a little smirky smile)? And what's the benefit of the giggle? Well, apparently, laughing can help you lose weight. That's according to a new study in the Journal of Obesity.

And what's the link to local government? As it happens, Friday Funday started off because although the IDeA's Policy Unit is known as a heads-down, hardworking, bunch of quiet boffin-types, we did happen to have a bit of a laugh on Fridays - perhaps sharing interesting snippets of news about local government and public services (yes, we're the types that can't really get away from work.) And since we're all about sharing practice - the Friday Funday blog posts were born.

And now that we know how beneficial it is, there's another reason to continue. See here at the IDeA we support councils in their role of promoting healthy communities - including being a healthier employer.


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Who do you run to...

...when there's no place to hide?

Lord Bruce Lockhart, Chair of the Local Government Association, is headlining a new ambitious approach to improving performance, outcomes and ways of working.

"The LGA is determined to seek radical solutions, and determined to put in place a robust and challenging action plan to ensure implementation. Many councils are leading through outstanding innovation. But there will be no hiding place for the poor performers"

Council leaders from across the political spectrum will today launch a
campaign to raise the game of authorities across the country.The key themes
include:

• Building visionary and ambitious leadership: making best use of both the political and managerial role
• Leading trusted and effective partnerships across the whole public sector
• Creating radically enhanced scrutiny: holding to account the council, the wider public sector, and service suppliers
• Devolving to residents and local organisations: engaging and communicating effectively, and enhancing frontline councillors' roles
• Ensuring outstanding improvement and transformation in service performance:innovation, value, efficiency and public access and satisfaction
  

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I think there's a growing awareness that we're all going to have raise our game in terms of performance management. I recently spoke to a group of officers from both North and South Tyneside about the challenges of the new policy environment as well as the lessons of the best in terms of what local government has already done on performance management. They were certainly ready to embrace those challenges and are making links across the water to support each other in that work.

Just like in North and South Tyneside, with this recognition that we're going to have raise our game, I think we're going to have to lean on each other a little bit more, too. And by that I mean sharing ideas and innovations (proactively) and asking for help with ideas and implementation from local authority and partner colleagues.

The IDeA wants to support the development of this approach and is creating spaces for online communties of practice at www.communities.idea.gov.uk. And we're not just creating spaces, we're also helping to facilitate online and face-to-face groups in collaborative working across the public sector, too. I and the team I work with facilitiate the Policy and Performance Community of Practice and a more specific group focused on performance management. And in the latter group, it just so happens you can find the slides (you'll need to be registered to view them) from my day long workshop with North and South Tyneside officers.

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On the chain gang now

The Home Office has announced a new scheme of Community Payback.

Home Secretary John Reid today announced that all communities in England and Wales will have the opportunity to get something back from offenders who have committed crimes in their area.

The "Mayors' Community Payback Scheme 2007" would provide a platform for mayors to choose a worthy project in their area that would benefit the community. The project can be nominated by the mayor or be initiated through suggestions from the public, media or local community groups. The successful project would be announced at the mayoral installation in May.

Community Payback-visible unpaid work by offenders-was launched in July 2005 in six pilot areas, and in late November/early December 2005 across the rest of the country. The aim of Community Payback is to give the community an opportunity to see the unpaid work carried out by offenders and to give them a chance to decide what projects they work on.

Growing up in America (and particularly in the American South), I'm quite used to seeing offenders doing useful work - giving back to the community. Oftentime they did work of a similar nature (if not side-by-side) that "non-custodial" volunteers from the community were doing, too. Meaning that the work itself isn't stigmatised (e.g. litter picking, beautification projects).

My British husband was less used to the idea and I remember visiting an outdoor "folk museum" in Mississippi that was being maintained by prisoners. He thought they were just part of a chain gang "living exhibit" - until he saw that there was a real guard with a real gun.

I don't expect that the Home Secretary's version will run quite the same way. I do think it's a stroke of brilliance getting Mayors to select the project. The vast majority of mayors still hold honorific positions, but spend a lot of time and hard work on promoting their area and worthy causes within it. It also creates a sense of accountability and community that the project might not otherwise have.

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Who gives you extra?

...East Riding apparently, who scored top marks on Value for Money as assessed by the Audit Commission.

Three-quarters of single tier and county councils exceeded the Commission's minimum requirements for their use of resources overall, and all met the minimum requirements. Fifteen councils achieved the highest possible overall score and one council, East Riding of Yorkshire, achieved top scores in all five themes. There has been a general improvement across the five themes which make up the assessment, including internal control and financial management.

Congratulations to them and to all the other top scorers. East Riding submitted a case study to the Performance, Management, Measurement and Information project. Although it doesn't cover VFM in any detail, it does highlight some of their innovative and effective approaches to performance management.

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Friday Funday - 12 Jan

If you're looking for the latest improvement technique, forget business process reengineering or future basing. One local government manager in Thailand seems to have a whole new technique for putting a little extra pep into the workforce. Napping.

A Bangkok municipal office has launched a new program to increase productivity: Lights go out just past noon and civil servants are invited to take an afternoon nap. Seeking to infuse city workers with a bit more pep, the Pathumwan district office in central Bangkok has set up a lunchtime "nap room" with soft music, sweet-smelling flowers and strict rules barring mobile phones and talking, said Surakiet Limcharoen, the district's top official who started the program.

Workers report feeling "fresher and brighter" after the midday snooze.


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