Yesterday, Pivotal attended the Northern Ireland Local Government Association's annual conference, to launch our latest research report. The future of local government in Northern Ireland was commissioned by NILGA as a future-facing report to inform their strategic plan ahead of the next mandate.
With upcoming Assembly and Local Government elections, this is a significant time for the sector, and for Northern Ireland more widely. Councils are operating in a constantly changing environment, facing rising service demand, emerging challenges and evolving citizen expectations.
With all this in mind, Pivotal asked the key research question: how can local government thrive over the next five-to-ten years? We uncovered a number of important themes through a literature review, undertook 13 semi-structured interviews with sector experts across the UK and Ireland, and our findings were reviewed and stress-tested by a focus group of Northern Ireland councillors, who offered their own experiences and perspectives.
Pivotal's findings
1. Local government starts from a position of resilience
There is a success story to tell about local government in Northern Ireland, one of stability, resilience and delivery. The sector does not suffer from the collapses that the Northern Ireland Executive does, and compared to other parts of the UK and Ireland, it does not struggle under the financial strain of expensive, demand-led services like social care, education or housing. Its proven ability to deliver and maintain key services, even while responding to emergencies such as COVID, storms and flooding, shows the unique abilities and skills within the sector.
Stable and resilient finances and reserves give councils a strong foundation to tackle emerging challenges over the next decade.
2. Democratic leadership is an under-used strength
Local government has a vital democratic leadership role, with councillors the closest representatives to the electorate. They have strong local knowledge and relationships and are trusted in their communities. They offer the key connection between ordinary citizens and strategic decision-making. However, councillors are increasingly dealing with difficult and complex issues, making effective leadership harder. Local government should build on this important strength.
3. Substantial external and internal challenges facing local government
Our research found this distinction is useful for the sector in considering the nature of the challenges, and how it responds.
External challenges include an ageing population, climate change, social cohesion, tight public finances and low economic growth, and wider global instability which impacts the cost of living and of doing business. Internal challenges include workforce pressures, demonstrating value for money, supporting and empowering councillors as strategic decision-makers, and moving towards shared capacity across councils where appropriate.
Our report considers each of these challenges in detail.
4. Local government is entering a period of change across the UK and Ireland
The sector as a whole is in a period of flux. Across the board, financial pressures are rising on councils, making it harder to deliver essential services and forcing difficult but necessary conversations about transformation.
Ireland’s Local Democracy Taskforce has offered a new approach to local government. Scotland has recently announced plans for large-scale structural reforms to councils, and the Prime Minister’s devolution agenda could change the face of local government across England and beyond.
Northern Ireland should keep a close eye on these reforms, and can learn valuable lessons from them, including how to adapt to and implement positive change that improves outcomes for ratepayers.
5. There are unresolved questions about the future of local government
What does all of this mean for Northern Ireland? What appetite is there for further reform, additional powers, and new approaches to revenue raising? Can the sector come together and speak with one voice on promoting the principle of subsidiarity and its role in co-design? Does it have the governance, skills and shared infrastructures to use new and emerging technology safely and effectively? How does the sector lead change, grow in confidence and firmly establish itself as a trusted and valuable part of the public sector landscape?
Recommendations
1. A reset in relations between central and local government: making sure councils are involved early enough to shape policy and public service reform, rather than just being asked to implement decisions already taken.
2. Sector-led transformation: a model and approach driven by peer-learning, and support, and focused on improved outcomes.
3. Democratic leadership: access to specialist and strategic development and training opportunities for councillors to be able to lead on complex, new and emerging challenges.
4. Collective approaches: make the case for regional collaboration where scale matters to improve value for money, share specialist skills, and improve outcomes.
5. Sustainable workforce: consider the talent pipeline in key transformation areas of digital, data, climate and more.
6. Local leadership, resilience and prevention: emphasise the need for greater support for and recognition of the council’s ability to convene partners, co-ordinate resilience efforts and maintain community confidence.
7. Governance, accountability and trust: effective scrutiny, accountability and decision-making will increasingly be needed across new and existing issues.
8. The future of the sector: develop a shared view of the future role, powers and contribution of local government to inform conversations with central government.
9. Sustainable local government finance: develop a shared position on financial sustainability, rates policy, fiscal autonomy and revenue raising opportunities.
10. Implications for NILGA: this work should provide an evidence base for NILGA’s next Corporate Plan and engagement with the sector, central government, and other partners.
You can read the report here. Pivotal would like to thank NILGA for commissioning us to undertake this research.
