Publications

Unprecedented financial problems coupled with demographic and environmental pressures call for a fundamental rethink of what the future role of local government should be and how effective services can be provided in the next decade and beyond.

In these times of austerity it is important that councils maximise sustainable benefits from their assets to ensure ‘value for money’, in all sense of the phrase, for local communities. This is why the concept of ‘resource efficiency’ becomes so critical.

As local authorities strive to address the impacts on their communities of the economic downturn and reductions in public spending, a debate is taking place about alternative visions of the future shape of local government itself.

A review of the role of co-operatives and mutuals in local public service provision. The interest in using co-ops and mutuals to deliver public services has never been greater – not least because of the Government’s commitment to creating a ‘Big Society’ through introducing a greater diversity of public service providers.

A criticism aimed at the public sector by its detractors is that it is monolithic, bureaucratic and incapable of change. This report sets out to challenge this myth by demonstrating that innovation and entrepreneurship is alive and well in local government and rather than being a rare commodity, it is flourishing in local authorities up and down the country.

A report commissioned by APSE Wales, through APSE’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership with De Montfort University, that considers some of the practical issues involved in sharing services across local authority boundaries.

With the economic recession having a devastating effect on communities, families and businesses and beginning to impact upon front-line local government services and the future prospects for public spending, the time is ripe to review many of the initiatives and developments that have been at the forefront of local government policy and legislation over the past few years.

APSE has been vociferous in highlighting ways to maximise the local economic benefit of public investment and promoting sustainable energy projects. This report is unique in bringing these two pressing agendas together and exploring the impact of renewable energy on local economies. At a time of austerity and recession, renewables and energy efficiency schemes represent a real opportunity to invest in local economic growth, with a government guaranteed funding mechanism.

The word ‘outsourcing’ is common parlance in both the public and private sectors, but the practice of ‘insourcing’ has received relatively little attention. APSE embarked upon its examination of the trend towards insourcing – or returning to delivery of services by in-house providers – before the effects of the global economic downturn were fully evident.

This research commissioned for UNISON gives the detailed evidence of major contracts being brought to an end and services coming back in-house, benefitting service users, workers, and council taxpayers alike. This report was written by APSE under a commission from UNISON and is free to download.  

A guide to using procurement to achieve community benefits

Global economic and environmental instability and the policy responses to this are focusing minds on what can be done to make communities more resilient locally. As public sector resources are squeezed, there is a need to achieve ever-greater value for every public pound.

Local government in the UK faces tough times. Money from central government is drastically reduced; income from council tax and other sources stagnates. Councils have to make difficult decisions about savings, service reductions, and cuts. Those decisions need supporting with good evidence about value for money, about what works, and about the likely impacts of different decisions.

In the wake of the Coalition Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) 2010 (HM Treasury, 2010a), Emergency Budget of 2010 (HM Treasury, 2010b) and subsequent local government finance settlements (Berman and Keep, 2011; Department of Communities and Local Government, 2010), this report begins to assess the impact of the ‘cuts’ for Sport and Recreation Services (SRS), responses to the ‘cuts’ and the options for SRS moving forward.

Creating a revolving fund for local authority solar energy

While money, unfortunately, does not grow on trees, the financial benefits of protecting the environment are increasingly apparent.

While money, unfortunately, does not grow on trees, the financial benefits of protecting the environment are increasingly apparent.

It is true to say that the Government believes that vibrant and successful local economies play a vital part in shaping the places where we live and work and that local authorities have an important role to play in ensuring the sustainability of local economies through the stewardship of their local areas.

This is the first report in a research programme designed to examine key contemporary issues in the delivery of public services. We have been motivated to embark upon this programme of research by a sense of frustration.

During late February and March 2011 APSE surveyed members using an online system. Although the Decentralisation and Localism Bill, in the context of the ‘Community Right to Challenge’, applies only to English local authorities we extended the survey to ensure opinions and experience could be gathered from across the UK. A total of 140 responses were received.