Local Society

"Local Society - the role of Councillors and Councils in strong local communities" was an event held earlier this month bringing together thinkers who hold a view and have experience on localism and public sector reform. I came across the blog entry of one of the participants Sam Markey Head of Insight with the LB Barnet. Although I'm sure Sam's job job title would be described by Mr Pickles as a "none job" he did, as they say, 'do exactly what it says on the tin' and bring some insight into the day to someone who hadn't attended.
Here's the link to Sam's blog. To tempt you here are a couple of clips

"Both easyCouncil and Lambeth Coop were mentioned, but one new analogy caught my attention – the Apple iPhone council. In this analogy, the local authority becomes an enabling environment – a platform for hosting apps (services) that are created, run and rated by others. It’s essentially a commissioning role, except that Council simply defines the problem not the solution. Clearly, this model assumes a belief in the market, but it neatly illustrates the gross distance between Apple’s streamlined model and the current experience of most local authorities where providers, stakeholders, users and partners are all using different ‘operating systems’. "

"When it comes down to it, it’s all about courage.

Courage to embrace change.

Courage to open ourselves up to closer scrutiny and challenge.

Courage to our admit mistakes and move on.

Courage to listen to residents and act on what we hear.

Courage to keep going (even when it all seems uphill).

Courage to remember that we are only human."