The number of council chiefs making demand-focused service transformation a ‘significant' element of corporate planning has increased fourfold since 2011, a new study has reported today.

Research issued by consultants iMPOWER suggests the overwhelming majority – some 98.4% of local authority senior directors and chief executives surveyed this January – believed demand management would either be a ‘heavy focus' (36.1%) or a ‘significant focus' 62.3% of future plans.