Publications

Maximising the contribution of local council services

A guide for councillors and local government officers.

This report outlines how local authorities must not only be aware of how their actions can influence and improve the way we look after the UK’s plants and trees, but also provides examples of best practice in meeting this responsibility.

The latest findings from APSE Performance Networks.

Survation were asked by APSE to provide a public opinion survey of attitudes to local neighbourhood services in 2023, covering the range of council services that would appear in their local area. Survation also polled Councillors in Great Britain, to gauge their opinion on levels of funding, financial health of councils and their priorities for protecting services.

A new report by APSE has delved into the dynamics behind the working relationships of councillors and officers.

The report, a collaboration between the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) and Society for Innovation, Technology and Modernisation (Socitm), makes five recommendations on how local council frontline services can benefit from better adoption and use of digital, data and technological capabilities.

This report, conducted by APSE on behalf of NACC, shows vital Meals on Wheels services on the brink of collapse. 

This report contains both useful case studies on practical approaches to making space for nature in our burial grounds, but also puts the historical context of the link between cemeteries and the natural world in perspective.

This report builds on previous APSE-TCPA reports and continues to track the housing crisis. But it also considers the role local councils can play and are playing through their planning and housing responsibilities to support the delivery of complete, compact and connected communities.

Explore barriers to, and opportunities for, greening the RCV fleet. 

Results of the 2021/2022 survey data sets

Survation's latest public opinion survey for APSE finds that local councils remain the most trusted to deliver essential services in people’s local areas.

To enable more urgent action at the local level for this critical yet neglected service, a new report by APSE titled ‘Local authority education catering service: More than just a service’ makes five recommendations for national governments.

The School Food Report was conducted by APSE on behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on School Food.

Designed in the wake of the late 2021 HGV driver shortage crisis, the aim of this survey of APSE’s member authority refuse teams was to gather accurate real time data on the pay rates of refuse workers: HGV drivers, non-HGV drivers and loaders. The survey also includes questions and analysis on retention and recruitment issues in the sector. 

APSE Performance Networks therefore made a decision to track these impacts to provide a robust data analysis. Following the reports produced in 2020 this latest report, a summary of data collated across frontline services in 2021, provides some explicability to changes in costs, quality and productivity.