Time for forward thinking

摘要

There isn't a week that goes by where efficiency doesn't dominate the agenda. Last month in this column we talked about the likelihood that your local council is, in fact, probably more efficient than the largest company in the UK (Tesco). This month, I was torn between talking about our annual awards (which showcased the very best of local authority improvement and efficiencies), and the news story of the month - the possibility of new legislation that makes it a criminal offence for social care services to miss signs of child sex exploitation. So, with a certain sense of editorial self-satisfaction, it must be said, I'm going to link the two subject seamlessly. Ish. The iESE awards recognised 30 public service teams from an entry list of more than 150, highlighting innovations from shared services to partnership projects and service redesigns that have yielded huge savings for their organisations, while improving or maintaining services to the public. That's our mission at iESE - to become the voice that champions the work being done by local authorities to save money and deliver better outcomes, and to evidence on their behalf the fact that local government remains by far the most efficient area of government.