How we support member authorities to improve

Local government is the most efficient part of the public sector. We receive central government funding to help improve the performance of local government. We work with local authorities and their partners to develop and share good practice. We do this through networks, online resources, and support from councillor and officer peers.

Through our approach to self-regulation and improvement, we offer:

• five days free member peer support for all councils undergoing a change of control
• the Knowledge Hub's new web-based services, creating a single window to improvement
• data and transparency through the LG Inform service within the Knowledge Hub to access, post and compare performance information
• leadership support for the development of political and managerial leaders, including one subsidised place for every council for each of the next three years
• learning and support networks.

With our Peer Challenge programme we are making an offer to all councils and fire and rescue services to provide, free of charge, one peer challenge until April 2014.

Our new flexible peer challenge will be tailored to meet the needs of your local situation, but there will be an emphasis on corporate capacity and leadership because we know how important they are for continued improvement.

The Local Productivity programme

The Local Productivity programme brings councils together to share innovation and learn from each other and encourages central government and partner organisations to do things radically differently.

It will focus on ‘3 Big Wins' covering areas where councils can make the biggest productivity gains. These are procurement (capital and assets), children, adults and families, and future ways of working.

We will:

• use the leverage and power of the sector to achieve big savings for everyone – for example, purchasing from national suppliers
• work with local authorities to remove obstacles and barriers
• use the Knowledge Hub to publish reports and tools to help councils apply good productivity ideas
• run events to share latest thinking on shared services, procurement, new ways of working, and workforce and skills issues
• explore ways to take cost out of the system in the ‘big spend' areas while sustaining social outcomes
• offer practical help to individual councils who want it.

We are also providing support from councillor and officer peers to councils preparing to, or who already, share chief executive and joint management arrangements, helping them to deliver more productive and efficient local services.