Even more radical review is needed

A gloomy picture of Boston’s future is painted by Acting Chief Executive Richard Harbord in the latest issue of the online Boston Bulletin.
He says the high level of national debt will mean cuts, which in turn mean it will be eight or nine years before we see any real growth in public sector investment.
He also expects a freeze on council tax increases.
While county or metropolitan authorities have some room for manoeuvre, district councils have very little flexibility at all.
“Typically over 80% of district council budgets are on staffing and 10% on contractual commitments, leaving little manoeuvre for financial management of the budget,” he says.
”Central Government believes that there is enough money in the public sector as a whole to maintain current levels of services but to ensure that happens requires a complete cultural change in the way the public sector operates.”
Mr Harbord cites research done in Cumbria a couple of years ago where they found that a very large sum was spent on back office tasks such as paying salaries and bills, collecting taxes, personnel, legal and the like.
From this study came something called “One Place,” which argues that if one organisation paid all the salaries or provided other back office services for everybody it would save considerable sums of money.
Whilst the government is keen for this to happen, Mr Harbord says it is not easy to set up – and Boston can’t wait for these new ways of working to be put in place.
“We have therefore set in train a major review of everything we do and how we do it. Each service will be examined to see if there is any duplication of work or
whether all we currently do is necessary, we have already carried out a review of the top management structure of the authority which now just has a Chief Executive and two Directors.
“We will be looking at purchasing and procurement, better IT support and at staffing costs throughout the organisation. The whole purpose of this is to maintain and improve the service we offer our residents and customers whilst being as efficient as we possibly can.
”This programme is currently in it’s (sic) early stages. Ideas and views of staff and members are being sought on areas for particular review. These items will go to Cabinet in July for discussion and we will then prioritise and programme our work to ensure we can balance our 2012-13 budget and beyond.
Boston Eye thinks that all of this is fine as far as it goes.
But the diminishing role of the borough council in recent years means that its very existence ought soon to be called into question.
In broad brush terms, district authorities are responsible for collection of council tax and non-domestic rates, environmental health, housing, leisure centres, local plans and planning applications, public conveniences and waste collection.
Boston has already relinquished responsibility for housing and leisure facilities, and is thinking of farming out environmental services to a private contractor.
The borough’s budget is around ten million pounds.
Eight million of this goes to pay the wages of the people who manage the people who collect the council tax on behalf of Lincolnshire County Council, keep the borough clean-ish (at present,) deal with planning applications (most of which are governed by rules which mean they could be dealt with anywhere) and running a handful of public loos.
Looked at like this, it seems a huge sum of money for very little. The borough exists to pay for its existence.
A handful of staff could manage the few minor remaining responsibilities for a fraction of the cost.
As we said, whilst the borough is taking the right approach, it needs to think really radically, and if that mean signing its own death warrant, then so-be-it.

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