Priming for good growth post-budget

In her post-Budget interview at the weekend, Chancellor Rachel Reeves summed up the government’s priorities: “We need to do two things now: we need to reform our public services to make sure they work better, and we need to grow our economy.”

This chimed well with Secretary of State’s Angela Rayner’s address at the recent LGA Annual Conference, during which she made a commitment to transparent dialogue, meaningful programme devolution, and a shift towards ‘partnerships based on honesty and respect’.

At the conference, we spoke to a number of Chief Executives, senior officers, and elected members about seizing these growth and reform opportunities through two unique approaches: the IMPOWER INDEX; and our Priming for Good Growth Framework.

The IMPOWER INDEX is a benchmarking tool with a difference. It grades councils on productivity (outcome value per £) using national and local data, which we use to help our clients develop and deliver good savings and radical public service improvements.

Over the next few weeks, we are visiting councils across the country to showcase the tool and identify how we can help senior council leaders improve what they do. If you would like a demonstration, please get in touch.

With the INDEX focused on reforming what councils already do, our Priming for Good Growth Framework enables us to deliver on the second priority: delivering economic growth.

This was a big topic of discussion at the conference. How do we deliver economic growth that is inclusive and sustainable? How do we grow the local economy by creating secure, well-paid jobs? How do we deliver our contribution to the target of 1.5m new homes through by building well-connected neighbourhoods with well-planned infrastructure and facilities?

As we explained at the packed launch event of our joint report with Localis – ‘Heart of the Matter’ – our new Priming for Good Growth Framework helps councils to: develop a local vision for sustainable and inclusive growth; develop an investable programme; and deliver change on the ground in the form of new homes, jobs, facilities and infrastructure.

With the Index and the Framework, we are helping our clients work on both national priorities: delivering public services more effectively and efficiently through collaboration; and generating revenue through local growth to make services more sustainable in future.

To understand how the Priming for Good Growth Framework or IMPOWER INDEX can support your organisation to deliver public service improvements through good savings, while delivering good growth, please get in touch