Equitable and efficient service delivery is at the heart of local government’s mandate. The resources in this section focus on the management and delivery of key strategic, corporate and technical services, ranging from those for which local government has direct responsibility, to shared service provision, and services for which local government is a partner.
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Democratic decentralisation through ‘conventional’ institutions of local government is facing increasing challenges, whether from financial pressures, questions of representativeness, difficult central-local relations and from a perhaps growing belief that local government has failed to realise its potential and there may be better ways of achieving societal goals. It is clear there is need to contemplate quite radical change to ensure local government becomes or remains ‘fit for purpose’.
This collection of papers illustrates the way in which the role of local government is evolving in different parts of the Commonwealth and provides practical examples of new local government at work. It showcases emerging practice, and highlights success stories from new ways of working and challenges confronting local government in both developed and developing countries.
Author: Edited by Graham Sansom, Peter McKinlay Publisher: Commonwealth Secretariat Publication year: 2013
The final (third) phase of the Commonwealth Local Government three year capacity building
programme, the Good Practice Scheme, funded by the UK Department for International
Development (DFID) came to an end in late 2011. The programme partnered councils and
local government associations from six targeted Commonwealth countries - Jamaica, India,
South Africa, Sierra Leone, Pakistan and Ghana - with their counterparts in South Africa,
India and the UK with the objective to exchange good practice and generate innovative
solutions to challenges faced by local governments.
A total of 34 projects were active during the Scheme’s lifetime and contributed successfully
to having a positive impact on the ground for local communities. The dissemination of the
project activities through national workshops in partnership with national local government
associations meant that the successes and lessons were shared with local governments
throughout the countries concerned.
A new focus of the third phase of the GPS was to promote south-south partnerships: six of
these partnerships were set up, three of them being tripartite, two having a northern
hemisphere partner, with the remainder, both dual and tripartite, being south-south.
Despite partners’ diverse cultural, socio-economic circumstances and administrative
practices, this methodology of technical support and exchange of ideas allows partners to
share and compare their challenges and reflect on own approaches. The south-south
partners, with varying cultural beliefs, learnt that cultural practices should not be ignored in
advancing new initiatives: traditional norms and practices are a way of life for the majority
of communities especially those in the agricultural, small scale farming sector.
Author: Rachael Duchnowski Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2012
The Market Towns Initiative (MTI), a UK community-led development programme, operated throughout rural England from 2000 until 2005/6. It was designed to help local people, with professional support, identify – and then capitalize on – the economic, environmental and social strengths and weaknesses of small country towns.
This paper explains the origins and ways of working of the MTI. Examples of the topics explored and participants’ views are given, and conclusions drawn. The opportunity is also taken to explain how interest in the roles of England’s small country towns grew in the years following the Second World War, and how this led to the development of the MTI.
Evidence suggests that the programme worked well. It demonstrated that local people have the enthusiasm, skills and knowledge to take a lead in the development of the places in which they live; something which, until local government reforms changed roles and structures, was largely taken for granted.
Author: Gordon Morris Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2012
This paper investigates the emergence of community strategic planning in the New South Wales (NSW) local government sector, against the backdrop of a series of broad influences ranging from increased interest in participatory democracy through to sustainable infrastructure provision. It provides an understanding of how community strategic planning has evolved over the past few decades to embody these influences. The paper concludes with reflections on some common challenges and opportunities experienced by local councils in NSW that have undertaken voluntary community strategic planning or are in the process of developing community strategic plans. Given underlying similarities in the emergence of participatory long-term strategic planning in local government around the world, many of the experiences associated with the preparation of community strategic plans in the NSW context are likely to be of relevance to those undertaking similar processes in other jurisdictions.
Author: Jason Prior, Jade Herriman Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2010
This paper examines cases of low-level non-compliance in a municipal waste collection
services and a state owned railway to identify some of the factors that could be
contributing to reoccurring workplace corruption. The analysis suggests that a major
factor in repeated workplace corruption is the failure to monitor and implement reforms
recommended by investigations and existing organisational integrity systems.
Author: Ray Plibersek Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2010