As we have seen time and time again, the true strength of local government is demonstrated in our response to crises when the convening and co-ordinating role of councils allows them to step into action and step up on behalf of those who require support. We saw it during the pandemic, we see it when there are extreme weather events and we saw it again in relation to this summer's riots.
Whether it is mobilising the local network of category one responders, volunteers and third-sector partners, advising the public, or undertaking efforts to bring communities together, among many other duties, councils are critical in relation to not only ensuring an effective response in the immediate aftermath of a major incident, but longer-term recovery too. And while there are an abundance of exceptional examples of crisis management, such as the response to the Manchester Arena bombing, there are always lessons we can learn.
While persistent funding cuts have ensured local government is one of, if not the most efficient parts of the public sector, the lean nature of local authorities' resources hinders our ability to respond to events while continuing to deliver business as usual effectively
But one aspect of learning possibly not cemented into the consciousness of central government, is that operating on a shoestring, while it may be ‘efficient', comes with risks, especially when a crisis hits.
Not only can these incidents take a huge financial and emotional toll on those involved in the immediate clean-up operation – we all saw the dedicated work of communities after the recent riots to restore the public realm – but often the intensive work to resolve community tensions, restore cohesion, heal the psychological impact on our places and then create and maintain healthy and integrated communities, continues for months and years after these events.
This work can be particularly challenging within the context of tight financial constraints and the ‘societal black hole' that the Prime Minister recently described.
After years of funding gaps for local government, many of our discretionary services that help sustain community relations have been cut, and there has been widespread outsourcing of community initiatives to the voluntary and community sector, which is often stretched to capacity itself.
These cuts have undermined the resilience of our communities and their ability to recover from these shocks. It also impacted on our capacity to prevent the polarisation, division and discontent that often lead to these incidents.
While persistent funding cuts have ensured local government is one of, if not the most efficient parts of the public sector, the lean nature of local authorities' resources hinders our ability to respond to events while continuing to deliver business as usual effectively. It is simple maths that if you are always operating at capacity, there is little room for manoeuvre when you need to mobilise large portions of your staff away from day-to-day tasks when a crisis hits. And with workforce challenges looming large for many local authorities, this challenge is even more pertinent.
This can mean other important work takes a back seat, especially the long-term, strategic planning essential to deliver impactful change. Even without the occurrence of emergency events, local authorities face barriers to this activity due to short-term, unsustainable funding settlements, the misalignment of financial planning timelines between local government and other parts of the public sector and the need to meet rising demand for statutory services.
Without sufficient resources to cover normal operations and crisis recovery, effective, long-term planning can slip. This is to the detriment of the council and the community's resilience.
Planning to maintain and improve social infrastructure and prevention initiatives is not only important for councils, but also to the broader public sector and the economy.
When precious resources are diverted from one part of the system, this is likely to have knock-on effects on other public bodies which will have to deal with the adverse consequences further down the line, often when the problems are more acute. This reduces the capacity of the public sector and costs the public purse more. Nor is this good for the economy.
When services are cut and capacity is stretched across a system tackling ever-more complex needs, our people will inevitably become less healthy, less productive and less resilient to the disruptive and persistent winds of global change. Investment in our local public services is vital for a strong, stable and inclusive economy.
We must learn the lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic where it quickly became apparent that having little spare capacity in the system is the ultimate false economy, and that local services must be trusted and resourced to not only respond to critical events, but also put in the investment to build resilience for future events.
While local government will always seek to find efficiencies wherever possible and ensure each public pound spent is well spent, it is a false economy to make cuts to projects that have the potential to deliver savings and improve outcomes for communities in the long-term.
Local government must be provided with a sustainable multi-year settlement that closes the funding gap and enables truly effective investment in our social infrastructure and preventative capacity. This is essential to ensure our people and our places remain resilient, whatever the future holds.
Kath O'Dwyer is Solace spokesperson for leadership and learning and chief executive of St Helens BC
