Developing best value in a scottish local authority

Abstract

Best Value was introduced as a local government policy in 1997, after the election of a New Labour administration. The policy was designed to reconfigure service delivery by local government, with local authorities assuming the role of enablers rather than service providers. In order to help achieve this change, Best Value was constructed around a balanced scorecard approach. As a result, local authorities are examining organisational structure for a number of reasons. Internal management information requirements have changed. Best Value has also occurred at the same time as a number of other local government reforms, which are emphasising strategic decision making; accountability; transparency; sound governance and an awareness of the citizen’s perspective. Consequently, the traditional committee structure is being examined in many local authorities. This paper examines organisational changes within one local authority as a result of Best Value, which are designed to produce a more efficient, citizen focussed, and quality‐driven organisation.

Corporate governance: Implications of ownership, performance requirements and strategy

“…Inundated in most instances with regulatory responsibilities, these organisations have introduced competitive tendering for services and have refocused on delivering quality and value (Carley, 2000;Eckhart et al, 2001;Sheffield and Coleshill, 2001). Along with reconfiguration of organisation structures to support these changes, attention is being paid to corporate governance practice and organisational performance.…”

“…In addition to budgetary constraints and the need for greater efficiency in resource use and service delivery, issues that have led to reforms have stemmed from a lack of public involvement with local government and include low local government election turnouts, disenfranchisement of the electorate, the low regard with which local government has been perceived, and the need actively to engage the public in societal decision-making processes (Sheffield and Coleshill, 2001). In the UK, US and other Anglo-Saxon economies, local government has been relatively powerless compared with the central governments of those economies and markedly less dominated by political groups than local and regional governments in Western Europe, where public involvement has also been greater.…”

Exploring infrastructure procurement by Australian state governments

“…However they note some of the methodological difficulties in this area, with variable accounting practices meaning reliable cost data is difficult to obtain and hence, comparisons between jurisdictions are difficult. Domberger and Rimmer (1994) conclude where public services have been tendered, and public providers are required to bid against private providers (see Sheffield & Coleshill 2001) that the process of competitive bidding rather than simply transferring functions from the public to the private sectors is the key source of widespread efficiency gains.…”

The congruence of quality values in higher education

“…The role of 'specifier'and 'purchaser' is therefore combined under the banner of 'purchaser' for the purposes of this discussioh. organisational mechanism that can be used to stimulate change, Sheffield and Coleshill (2001). This will, as described elsewhere in this thesis, require organisations to identify those core (difficult to change) and peripheral (easier to change) values within their value systern.…”

“…So, for a variety of reasons, quality matters". Value for Money, Best Value Policies, (refer Sheffield and Coleshill, 2001), and Product Quality within learning programmes have now become the norm. Currently, the United Kingdom Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, an independent body established in 1997 to safeguard standards in higher education, produces subject benchmarks for all kinds of higher education programmes and the intermediate levels within them.…”