Let councils write their own iob specs

摘要

This week's National Audit Office (NAO) report makes for stark reading. Even though local government is acutely aware of the financial pressures it faces, and the fact the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has been largely oblivious, the NAO has laid it out for all to see. The extent of DCLG's ignorance is threefold. Firstly, it will always just assume local government is whining unnecessarily - which let's face it, has happened in the past. Secondly, it has assumed there will be service cuts rather than fall scale financial failures - but thus far local government has worked hard to keep services going. Thirdly - and crucially - it has to rely on other departments, inspectorates and the Local Government Association to tell it when things are going wrong.