Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 19th September, it had agreed that a report providing details on the current position of the Local Government Association and what its expected position and influence would be post-Review of Public Administration be submitted to the Committee for its consideration.

            The Director of Core Improvement reported that the Association was firmly established within the decision-making process and implementation structures which had been established to take forward the Review of Public Administration process.  The Association facilitated the nomination process for the Review’s Strategic Leadership Board and Policy Development Panels and provided Joint Secretariat support, alongside officials of the Department of the Environment, to those structures.  The Joint Secretariat was contributing also to the development of policy and discussion papers which were being submitted to the aforementioned Board and Panels for consideration.  In addition, the Association had established an internal Review of Public Administration Working Group on which the Council was represented.

            Whilst it was important to recognise that the Association was one key component in supporting the Review of Public Administration, Local Authorities, at both Elected Member and officer level, were a constituent part of the process and it was important that the implementation of the Review was owned by the whole sector.  Therefore, it was suggested that the Council could use its strengthened role within the Association’s Executive and its direct Member and officer interface with the Association to further reinforce its engagement and overall influence within the Review of Public Administration process.  The establishment of a more formalised link between the Association and the Council and a structured approach to liaison between both parties would enable the Council to inform the ongoing agenda in terms of planning and policy development within the Association.  Such advice provided by the Council to the Association would benefit the wider Local Government sector, particularly in the context of the Review of Public Administration process.

            The Association had taken also a leading role in advocating on behalf of the Local Government sector and in co-ordinating the development of sectoral position papers on key policy areas including the Review of Public Administration, Local Government modernisation, European affairs, health and environmental issues, planning and e-government.  The Association had established a series of working groups to take forward detailed consideration of those important issues and the Council had been engaged within that process.  With a view to enhancing its capacity, the Association had strengthened recently its senior management team with the appointment of a Director of Improvement, a Director of Policy and Strategy and a Director of Communications.  These posts had been funded by the Department of the Environment.

            The Committee was advised that, while the future role and remit of the Association post-Review of Public Administration was somewhat uncertain at this stage, the Association itself had indicated that it would be subject to review in the lead up to the new Local Government structures to be put in place in 2011.  This was being considered within the context of the ongoing discussions at the Review of Public Administration’s Policy Development Panel A, which was reviewing the future of central/local government relations within Northern Ireland.  The Panel was reviewing currently the Welsh Local Government Association model as part of that process.  The Council had documented previously the need for a remodelled Association which was highly-attuned, responsive and accountable to its member Councils and which provided a coherent single voice for the Local Government Sector within Northern Ireland.  Within the context of a smaller number of Councils post 2011, there was a real opportunity to develop a more focused and effective role for the Association as the representative voice of Local Government.

            The Committee noted the information which had been provided and agreed that, if changes were being made to the Council’s current membership on the Northern Ireland Local Government Association and/or its working groups, these be reported to the meeting of the Council scheduled to be held on 3rd November.