Comment

Public managers: your sector needs you

When it comes down to the nitty-gritty of local cuts, who will councillors turn to? Not expensive interim managers, says Blair McPherson, but someone who is politically sensitive to understand all the issues

'The interim manager will save the day and deliver those big savings because they are brave and not afraid to make cuts in services and jobs. Good riddance to those public sector managers too unimaginative to come up with creative alternatives and too timid to act'.

I wrote this in anger. I was responding to an article on Guardian Public written by a senior manager from a management consultancy firm basically saying public sector managers are not up to the task of delivering challenging budget cuts so interim managers should be brought in to do the job.

But wait a minute. If we are talking about local government then how radical, how bold, or how innovative the response is will depend on elected members not managers.

Once the management structure has been streamlined and back-office services rationalised, members will realise that the size of the savings required means cutting frontline services.

Cutting frontline services means closing libraries and day centres, taking home helps from elderly people and removing grants from cherished voluntary groups - all of which will be very unpopular with local people, as will the increasing number of potholes in the roads, the less frequently emptied rubbish bins and the disrepair of local schools.

Once they realise, this it will not be the resolve of managers that is tested. And I don't think members will be inclined to look to expensive interim managers who will not be around to rebuild the trust in local politicians.

I think public sector managers do have what it takes to identify and deliver big savings. They certainly don't lack the" balls" or the ability to be innovative but they do operate in a political environment where decision are not simply based on a strong business case.

Accountable

This is something that those from outside local government often fail to appreciate. Local elected members/councillors are locally accountable to local people. Elections in local government take place more frequently than general elections. In a large county council, for instance, a third of the seats are up for reelection in three years out of four.

The good thing is that it makes councillors sensitive to local options, but it can also inhibit them from taking unpopular decisions that may cost them votes.

Despite this, local councils have shown themselves willing to take unpopular decisions. You only have to look at the closure of local authority residential homes to appreciate the strength of public opinion, the level of interest from the local media and the willingness of pressure groups to resort to the courts in the form of judicial reviews. And yet homes have been closed.

Politics is not simply about following the best financial advice but a judgment about steering a course between conflicting interest groups which inevitably means negotiating a compromise.

Rural libraries may be expensive to operate and the numbers of users compared to urban areas may mean they are not cost-effective but what about wider issues? What if a village school and bank has closed and the village post office is under threat; and what if a political party has come to power on a promise to tackle rural poverty and shift the balance of resources from inner city areas?

Alternatives

It may mean looking at alternatives. A mobile library service can replace the existing service; or the library could be re-housed in a community centre and run by volunteers; or a self-service system could be introduced based in the village supermarket.

Local authority managers need to be politically sensitive and appreciate that they do not simply work to the bottom line. This does not mean that they do not have the wit, the balls or the know how to deliver big budget cuts and radical changes.

Rather than talk of bringing in interim managers as hired guns who will slash and burn - and then leave - we need managers with the skills to influence and negotiate, who will retain the trust of staff and service users through the difficult times ahead.

Blair McPherson was until recently a senior manager in a large local authority

Close