Given the potential of technology to drive public service reform, the fear is that there remains limited vision at a local level, even with the new opportunities for real decentralisation, which now exist. The fragmentation of councils across regions, as well as poor or limited experience with technology, poses significant obstacles to progress, especially with open source technology now driving change in the private sector. This too was also an observation of Labour’s Digital Government Review, published in November by Chi Onwurah MP, which argued in a clear and concise way for increased collaboration between central and local government digital experts to enable reform.
The digital revolution is impacting public services by driving improvements in efficiency and productivity and developing new forms of citizen self service and engagement. At a national level, the work of the Government Digital Service is starting to really transform Whitehall through the concept of ‘government-as-platform’, and now attention is finally moving to local authorities. The Small Pieces Loosely Joined report by Policy Exchange points out that progress within local authorities has been variable and sets out a series of challenging recommendations to improve data sharing and develop a new marketplace for public service IT products.
The Policy Exchange study reflects a growing common ground for the potential of huge reform through digital change.
The sort of shift needed at a local level is actually bearing fruit in Whitehall, through the work of the GDS. Underlying their work is a discussion not confined to techies about systems, but the nature of the state and how services are designed and delivered. GDS design principles are as good a place to start as any if you want to link purpose with delivery. GDS director Mike Bracken expanded this to a world view of civil service reform in his recent speech ’On Policy and Delivery’ to the Institute for Government – a must read for any minister preparing for government.
The success of GDS in Whitehall is down to a variety of factors. Attracting the right talent and leadership is certainly one. The use of spend controls on all governmental IT expenditure is clearly another. Over time this has meant government departments have to think strategically about what systems they introduce and give meaningful attention to concepts such as data sharing.
Currently there is a discussion for and against a local government GDS. Like others Policy Exchange argue not for a new institution, but for a real opening up of the technology market for public services – an aim we should all support.
To support truly technology enabled government, we need to accelerate reform and that requires new understanding and leadership to champion the move from old systems to a world of open systems developed collaboratively. To achieve critical mass we need to develop the open source thinking and its take up in local government. The Open Systems Alliance, is currently being driven by officers in Bristol and Camden councils and the next stage is getting buy-in from elected decision makers as well.
The prize offered by this, during this decade of austerity budgets, are not just technical and financial. It is also constitutional and delivery-focused, both Whitehall and localities have struggled to join up spending. But looking towards the future, digital technology will increasingly assist English local authorities to move towards more effective outcomes-based budgeting with other local public services and the private and voluntary sectors.
This is just the beginning.
Through ‘big data’, data sharing and the use of technology to meet and reflect user needs, we can start to decentralise spending on housing, welfare, adult skills and regeneration and growth initiatives to their most appropriate level – be they city regions, councils, or down to neighborhoods themselves.
In my opinion we are on the cusp of being able to design a new, data-driven principle of subsidiarity between Whitehall and (English) local government, community groups and the people: in Jon Cruddas’s words, a new digital state. Data will help us assess whether any activity can be performed more effectively by a more decentralised entity: the contention being – if it can, then it should be.
Unlike previous attempts at devolution which often mimicked SW1 structures but were not by any means universally accepted, digital platforms can bring new accountability without being ‘top heavy.’
So when people get excited about technology and public services – these are the reasons why.
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Theo Blackwell is cabinet member for finance and technology policy at the London borough of Camden. He tweets @CamdenTheo
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