Your services, your say

From street cleaning to schools, from housing to home helps and from parking to parks, local councils are at the heart of communities, providing essential services that we all rely on. Most local councils are working hard to do this better. To help and encourage them, the Government has brought in best value.

What is best value?

Best value means:

better quality services at reasonable cost; and
more say for local people.

Raising standards

Local councils will have to:

review all their services over five years;
set tough targets for improving them; and
publish a best value performance plan every year to show how they're doing.

Reviewing council services

Best value reviews will ask searching questions about what the council and its contractors offer local people. Councils will have to ask these questions:

Challenge Why do we do this? Can we do it a better way?
Consult What do local people think? How do the council's employees think they could do things better? What do other organisations that could provide the service think?
Compare Do other councils or similar organisations give a better service
Compete Could the work be done better or more cheaply by another contractor? Do opportunities exist for partnerships with other public bodies, businesses or voluntary organisations

Giving local people a say

Councils must consult local people, so you will be able to say what you think of their services and suggest how they could be improved.
Councils will publish their best value performance plans, so you will be able to see what progress they have made.
Best value performance plans will be audited. This means there will be an independent check.

Getting involved

Have your say! Contact your local councillors. Reply to consultation and questionnaires. Many local council meetings are open to the public.

Local councils use different ways of keeping in touch with residents and businesses. Some publish newsletters. Some have one-stop shops giving information and advice. Many councils will publish their performance plans on the Internet. And all local councils will have to give you a summary of the key points.

Local businesses and voluntary groups

Councils will consult local businesses and voluntary organisations. Both are important to the life of the community. Best value should open up opportunities for closer co-operation in providing local services. There will be real partnerships and many more of them.

To find out more

There is further information within this section of Communities and Local Government website.

Or contact your local council to find out what they are doing.

Information on how and where you can obtain this leaflet and other publications produced by Communities and Local Government is available from Communities and Local Government publications page - see link above right.

IDeA - Improvement and Development Agency

Local Government Association - the LGA website