Community ownership of public services

This project is about the practicalities of co-operatives and mutual societies in the ownership of public services. It will explore the benefits and challenges of such a move, and begin to ask fundamental questions about both the nature of the state and the role of public services for society.

9 Articles

The Icing on the Community Cake
[, Oct 20, 2011]

The Big Society means different things to different people. Many stress its civic activism, others the 'nudges' the Government may have to make to facilitate its successful execution while some have concentrated on how it will play out in times of constrained financial circumstance.

Community ownership must be the focus of Miliband’s Labour
[, Oct 10, 2011]

Consensus is building that Labour needs a policy hook beyond “too far, too fast.” It is clear what they are against – be it perceived excessive privatisation of the NHS, swingeing spending cuts across the board, and specific reforms in areas from pensions to planning – but not yet clear what they st

Barnet Banks on Big Society
[, Jun 16, 2011]

London's 'easy council' Barnet has set up a Big Society Innovation Bank and is inviting residents and not-for-profit community groups to bid for funding local projects.

The 'Big Easy' - Barnet's Big Society
[, Jun 16, 2011]

The Big Society has garnered more than its fair share of headlines over the last couple of years, but what does it mean for local government? In the first of a series of pamphlets, Localis is publishing ‘Barnet’s Big Society’.

Barnet's Big Society
[, Jun 16, 2011]

Localis have published the first in a series of pamphlets on the Big Society. Barnet's Big Society: a practical perspective from local government, a collaborative effort between Localis and Barnet, outlines Barnet's interpretation of the Big Society and what it means for local government, and highli

Empowered Communities With Neighbourhood Budgets Should Drive Early Intervention
[, Oct 6, 2010]

Community led early intervention programmes supported by government funding could transform our neighbourhoods and provide solutions to key social challenges argues a new report from Localis.

What role for local government in the Big Society?
[, Oct 6, 2010]

Communities and local government minister Greg Clark spoke of the importance of localism in a world where politics was becoming increasingly personal. Clark also spoke of the vital role of volunteers and the need for community engagement.

Localis study backs up case for place-based budgeting
[, Oct 5, 2010]

The new Localis report, 'Total Neighbourhood', adds weight to calls for place-based budgeting

Volunteers Supporting the Community Through Early Intervention Schemes
[, Jun 29, 2010]

ViCP is a ground breaking project that matches volunteers to families with one or more children suffering from neglect and who are at risk of significant harm. CSV’s volunteers provide support and encouragement to help these families address the many problems they face and ultimately assist them in

Related Local Government News Articles

35 Related Local Government News Articles

LGA demands Whitehall support over climate change
[False, Jan 27, 2012]

Council leaders have called for support to help Britain weather the risks posed by climate change at local level. esponding to the Government's climate change risk assessment – published yesterday – the Local Government Association (LGA) underlined the threat posed by hotter summers and more frequen

Ministers ditch 'people power' clause
[, Oct 26, 2011]

Ministers have ditched a key proposal in the Localism Bill that would have enabled local people to trigger non-binding referendums on any issue. Speaking in the House of Lords earlier this month, junior communities minister Baroness Hanham conceded that there was “barely a friendly voice” for provi

Cameron in bid to defend Big Society
[, Feb 15, 2011]

David Cameron has attempted to breathe new life into his much-criticised Big Society initiative, declaring that it is his “mission in politics” to make it succeed.

DCLG unveils ‘local budgets’ pilots
[, Oct 26, 2010]

Twenty areas are to investigate the scope for “budgets focused at a very local level” and community-designed-and-delivered services, ministers have announced.

Four councils pilot community-based budgeting
[, Oct 6, 2010]

Government's Big Society adviser Lord Wei reveals that community-based budgeting is being piloted in four council areas

Community schemes to kick start Big Society pitch
[, Jul 19, 2010]

Community projects in four parts of the country are to be given help in a bid to kickstart the government’s “Big Society” agenda, David Cameron will announce today.

London-wide shared services
[, Apr 8, 2010]

Ambitious plans for all 33 London authorities to share financial and HR systems are being floated to finance directors, in a bid to make substantial savings

Mutuals are the future for public services
[, Mar 31, 2010]

The government today announces a "mutual manifesto" as it unveils plans to allow people to own and run a plethora of local services including council estates and SureStart centres.

Changing the system from "command and control"
[, Mar 24, 2010]

Last week saw the launch of the latest book from John Seddon’s stable, Systems Thinking in the Public Sector: Case studies delivering public services that work. It is a volume of case studies showing how local authorities using his ideas have made massive improvements in service in conjunction with

Making Total Place work
[, Mar 18, 2010]

Total Place will not fulfil its potential unless radical changes are made to how public services are delivered, senior local government figures have warned

Denial about rising bill for welfare
[, Mar 16, 2010]

Britain's political class is accused today of a pre-election conspiracy of silence over how to meet rising financial demands on the welfare state, estimated at an extra £60bn-£80bn over the next two decades

Call for London boroughs to run benefits
[, Mar 15, 2010]

Local authorities have urged the government to let them run employment services in London to help cut the capital’s high unemployment figures, in a new report by London Councils

The future of Total Place
[, Mar 11, 2010]

A battle over the future direction of Total Place has erupted just weeks before ministers are due to unveil their long-awaited report on the programme, says the LGC.

Should local services be run like co-ops?
[, Feb 25, 2010]

Although mutuals and co-operatives have been providing services for hundreds of years, they are suddenly being touted as the saviour of the public sector.

Early results from Total Place
[, Feb 19, 2010]

The first reports from 13 pilot projects provide a wealth of data. One thing is clear: public services focus too much on symptoms and too little on causes. The 13 pilots, launched last July, are now reporting their findings back to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Westminster: we can save millions
[, Feb 18, 2010]

Millions of pounds can be slashed from Westminster’s £2bn public services bill through greater collaboration, according to a council report. Police, health and council services should be brought together “under one roof”, according to Westminster City Council Total Place-style report analysing publ

Lambeth to become 'John Lewis' council
[, Feb 17, 2010]

Labour is planning to rebrand one of its local authorities as Britain's first "John Lewis council", offering council tax rebates to residents in exchange for helping to run services, in a direct challenge to the Conservatives' pioneering "easyCouncil".

Mr easyCouncil defends his model
[, Feb 3, 2010]

The architect of the 'easyCouncil' model – the possible blueprint for local government under the Tories – explains why it is more than just providing public services without the trimmings

London boroughs call for new powers
[, Feb 1, 2010]

London’s boroughs have set out a list of demands for new responsibilities that should be devolved to local government after the general election - including over benefits

Public services could cut costs by 15%
[, Jan 25, 2010]

Up to 15% of spending on public services is being wasted through duplication and inefficiency, according to research that suggests huge savings could be made without harming schools, hospitals and social care

Biggest ever council tax cut
[, Jan 21, 2010]

Windsor and Maidenhead council will announce today a four cut per cent in the charge from April.The Local Government Association said that Windsor and Maidenhead’s tax cut was the biggest ever.

Standardise - then share, urges Cipfa
[, Jan 20, 2010]

Councils need to simplify and standardise their underlying processes before they are consolidated into a single shared service, according to a new report

Radical reform will devolve functions and funding
[, Jan 7, 2010]

My discussion document is about radical devolution to local communities and local government at all levels. It shows how real devolution and empowerment can deliver substantial savings and drive up standards of services.

Barnet's approach held back by the law
[, Jan 5, 2010]

A council that made headlines over its plan to provide a no-frills “easyJet” service with top-up charges has been forced to abandon some of its proposals because of legal problems

Mutuals could run social care and housing
[, Dec 15, 2009]

Ministers are examining the scope to enable mutuals to run services in social care, housing and children’s centres, Cabinet Office minister Tessa Jowell has revealed

Co-op network set for 200 schools
[, Dec 2, 2009]

A network has been created to connect the growing number of co-operative school trusts in England. There are now 26 co-operative schools running in 15 trusts - with a further 120 schools in the pipeline.

Essex confirms IBM deal
[, Dec 2, 2009]

Essex County Council has rubber stamped an eight-year contract for IBM to take on a range of its services. The announcement follows speculation that Essex had scaled back their ambitions for the closely watched tie-up, which was advertised as a contract worth up to £5.4bn.

Local solutions for family breakdown
[, Nov 27, 2009]

I strongly believe that local breakdown requires local solutions. As such I was delighted to welcome to the House of Commons on Wednesday a team highlighting Westminster City Council's Family Recovery Programme (FRP)

Voters won't be told what to do
[, Nov 14, 2009]

Politicians have made the startling discovery that there is a new generation of adults for whom choice is a birthright and a way of life, says Janet Daley in Saturdays Telegraph

Joint working can improve services
[, Nov 5, 2009]

The main problem with the current system is that community services do not touch most of the elderly until they see a GP or are admitted to hospital with a serious illness

Overlapping interests
[, Nov 4, 2009]

Total Place is a new initiative to examine how cutting out duplication in public service delivery can improve quality and reduce costs. But is this really a 'magic bullet' solution?

Total Place in Leicester
[, Sep 18, 2009]

Today presenter Justin Webb visits Leicester, where the Total Place pilot scheme is giving local authorities the chance to take over the delivery of services.

Devolve patient transport to town halls
[, Aug 14, 2009]

We propose a transfer of responsibility from the Government over the commissioning of non-emergency patient transport services (PTS), which would see Essex PCTs and ECC become jointly responsible for the commissioning of these services.

Total Place pilots identify £10bn
[, Aug 13, 2009]

Fresh figures have emerged as to scale of public spending across different council areas as the government’s Total Place programme begins to bear fruit.

Care and education to go to private firms
[, May 4, 2009]

Local services face a new wave of privatisation across England as a Conservative council leads moves to put contracts worth billions of pounds out to private tender. Essex County Council is one of a growing number of authorities, mainly Tory-led, that intend to outsource all or most of their service