A radical approach to localism is not just about scaling back bureaucracy and central control. Realising its potential means re-thinking the role of government at all levels, and actively developing the right tools and methods to structure activity. Will the localism bill deliver this?
If you take one thing away from this series, it’s the insight that the only way to make savings sustainably is to start from how services can be better, not from how to save money.
An important challenge now for chief executives and service leaders is how to create the right environment for radical innovation across the organisation, supported with the right balance of risk and reward. But this doesn’t mean creating an innovative culture for its own sake, but a culture where staff feel empowered and supported to affect change and adapt their own practice.
Look at your services through different eyes – where are you wasting resources that could help you be more effective?
There’s a perception of innovation as something that’s expensive, or only the task of experts. This doesn’t need to be the case. We’ve come across countless examples of innovation in public services driven by the staff who work in them using low-cost tools and speedy processes.
Last week’s Comprehensive Spending Review has made the challenge critically clear: how can we save money in public services without significant harm to society?
Yesterday, the team at Patient Opinion hosted mypublicservices, a conference to reflect on how the web is transforming public services and what more it could do in the future.
Nowadays we want flexible, adaptive services that can respond to local demands... but with the assurance that national standards will still apply; we want an NHS guided by fairness, but understand the value of local provision.
Health is more than a question of institutional provision, it is also a social issue shaped by social conditions and collective behaviour
![Twitter icon [original]](http://admin.nesta.org.uk/library/images/Twitter-button_34x35.jpg "Twitter icon [original]"){kind=small}
Follow our daily updates on Twitter @nesta_uk
![Linked in icon [original]](http://admin.nesta.org.uk/library/images/LinkedIn_button_34x35.jpg "Linked in icon [original]"){kind=small}
Take part in the discussion on our LinkedIn group
![Facebook icon [original]](http://admin.nesta.org.uk/library/images/facebook.jpg "Facebook icon [original]"){kind=small}
Share your views on our Facebook page
Sign up for our regular updates for the latest news and opportunities.
T +44 (0)20 7438 2500
F +44 (0)20 7438 2501
Nesta Operating Company, a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales with company number 7706036 and charity number 1144091. Registered as a charity in Scotland number SC042833.
