• Lifting Burdens

The Lifting the Burdens Task Force was an independent practitioner body that was set up to review the bureaucratic and performance management burdens that exist as a consequence of the relationship between Central and Local Government. It was announced in July 2006 by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and was chaired by Michael Frater (interim Chief Executive of Surrey County Council) until March 2008 and then by Irene Lucas (Chief Executive of South Tyneside Council) until its conclusion in November 2008.

The Task Force conducted a range of reviews over a two and bit 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 were designed to look at any piece of bureaucracy that got in the way of innovative, effective and efficient service delivery or incurred a disproportionate amount of time or resource to collate and produce. This could include; plans, guidance, legislation, approvals, funding streams, or performance indicators.

Please be aware that this site is no longer being updated.
For up-to-date information on these and related topics, please go to www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/performanceframeworkpartnerships.

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.