• Lifting Burdens

The Lifting the Burdens Task Force is an independent practitioner body that has been set up to review the bureaucratic and performance management burdens that exist as a consequence of the current relationship between Central and Local Government. It was announced in July 2006 by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and is chaired by Irene Lucus, chief executive of South Tyneside MBC.

The Task Force is conducting a range of reviews over a two year period to examine the nature of the relationships between individual Departments of State and Local Government with a view to identifying specific recommendations for change in the way in which local services are monitored, regulated and held to account by sponsor departments. Task Force reviews look at any piece of bureaucracy that gets in the way of innovative, effective and efficient service delivery or incurs a disproportionate amount of time or resource to collate and produce. This can include; plans, guidance, legislation, approvals, funding streams, or performance indicators.

The recommendations of the Lifting Burdens Task Force are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or proposed policies of Communities and Local Government.