Strategic Improvement or Service Measures? Best Value in UK Local Government
| Author | Mairead Maguire,Rodney McAdam |
| Date | 01 October 2004 |
| Published date | 01 October 2004 |
| DOI | 10.1177/095207670401900404 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Strategic
Improvement
or
Service
Measures?
Best
Value
in
UK
Local
Government
Rodney
McAdam
and
Mairead
Maguire
University
of
Ulster
Abstract
In
1997
Best
Value
was
introduced
as
part
of
the
UK
government's
policy
to
modernise
local
government.
The
Local
Government
Act
1999,
more
commonly
known
as
"Best
Value
",
subsequently
came
into
effect
on
1
April
2000.
Since
then,
there
have
been
a
number
of
studies
on
the
effectiveness
of
Best
Value
at
service
delivery
level.
However,
there
is
a
paucity
of
research
studies,
which
investigate
the
strategic
impact
of
Best
Value
in
local
government
organisations.
The
aim
of
this
article
is
to
examine
the
introduction
of
Best
Value
at
a
strategic
level
by
using
a
case
organisation
analysis.
The
research
reveals
that
the
strategic
approach
taken
to
the
Best
Value
planning
process
contributed
to
an
improvement
in
services.
Moreover,
the
strategic
approach
led
to
more
consistent
action,
enabling
customers
and
other
stakeholders
of
the
case
organisation
to
experience
the
longitudinal
benefits
of
Best
Value.
Thus,
the
need
for
over-reliance
on
service
delivery
to
demonstrate
value
was
reduced.
Introduction
There
is
a
relentless
thrust
for
increased
service
quality
and
lower
costs
in
the
UK
public
sector
organisations
(Wisniewski
and
Stewart,
2001).
Successive
UK
governments
have
stressed
the
need
for
improvement
in
both
areas,
rather
than
accept
arguments
of
a
dichotomy
between
the
two
goals
(Dorsch
and
Yasmin,
1998).
Hence,
the
Best
Value
programme
was
introduced
as
part
of
the
Modernising
Local
Government
agenda.
It
is
a
concept
that
underlines
the
continuous
process
of
improvement
by
focusing
on
quality
service
delivery
at
an
acceptable
cost
within
finite
resources.
There
are
twelve
guiding
principles
and
a
performance
management
framework
for
Best
Value,
however,
the
emphasis
within
these
is
on
creativity
and
implementation
(DETR,
1998).
Public
Policy
and
Administration
Volume
19
No.
4
Winter
2004
57
Successive
Government
improvement
initiatives
have
created
negative
effects
in
addition
to
positive
benefits
in
their
search
for
the
'excellent'
organisation
(Bovaird,
1997).
One
of
the
main
criticisms
of
such
initiatives
is
that
they
are
operational
rather
than
strategic
and
that
managers
in
the
public
sector
are
given
a
'fait
acompli'
that
requires
implementation
of
acontextual
procedures,
rather
than
insightful
strategic
development
and
implementation
(Black,
2000).
This
disassociation
between
strategic
planning
and
operational
implementation
can
result
in
lack
of
ownership
(Kakababse
and
Kakabadse,
2002),
lack
of
involvement
and
commitment
(Martin,
1999),
various
forms
of
resistance
(Holloway
et
al.,
1999)
and
inappropriate
application
of
methods
(Curry,
1999).
These
problems
have
been
encountered
in
successive
waves
of
change
in
the
public
sector
(Bovaird
and
Loffler,
2002).
Thus,
it
is
essential,
as
stated
by
Martin
(1999, 2000),
that
Best
Value
policy
makers
and
managers
learn
from
these
mistakes
and
enable
local
government
organisations,
in
all
their
diversity,
to
strategically
develop
and
implement
Best
Value.
A
strategic
perspective
on
Best
Value
raises
a
number
of
questions.
For
example,
how
can
strategic
latitude
be
enabled
at
local
government
level?
Are
there
opportunities
to
fundamentally
develop
Best
Value
to
suit
different
local
government
contexts
(Stoney,
2001)?
Assuming
there
is
strategic
latitude,
how
can
the
devolvement
of
Best
Value
strategy
take
place
throughout
local
government
organisations?
These
types
of
question
are
distinct
from
much
of
the
existing
studies
on
Best
Value,
which
focus
on
operational
service
based
issues
and
meeting
targets
(Martin,
2000).
The
aim
of
this
article
is
to
examine
the
introduction
of
Best
Value
at
a
strategic
level
by
using
a
case
organisation
analysis.
In
particular,
the
study
focuses
on
the
strategic
approach
adopted
by
a
case
organisation
to
strategically
plan
and
implement
Best
Value.
A
subsidiary
aim
is
to
analyse
whether
a
strategic
approach
(as
opposed
to
the
focus
on
fundamental
performance
reviews
of
services)
secures
the
level
of
commitment
and
involvement
necessary
from
managers
to
obtain
the
organisational
improvements
required
under
Best
Value.
Best
Value
-
A
Strategic
Improvement
Concept?
Geddes
and
Martin
(2000)
state
that
Best
Value
needs
to
be
understood
in
terms
of
the
'diversity
of
internal
and
external
environments
within
which
local
government
is.
Thus,
the
strategic
context
must
be
contextually
interpreted,
rather
than
operating'
having
over
reliance
on
a
list
of
targets
(Martin,
1999).
Filkin
(1998)
reinforces
the
need
for
studies
on
the
strategic
aspects
of
Best
Value
by
stating
'Best
Value
will
require
greater
changes
in
local
government
than
Compulsory
Competitive
Tendering
ever
would',
not
least
because
its
impact
extends
beyond
the
'defined
activities'
to
which
Compulsory
Competitive
Tendering
applied
(Martin,
1999).
Evaluation
of
Best
Value
in
authorities
in
the
UK
has
revealed
that
it
has
been
more
challenging
than
they
had
anticipated
(DETR,
2001)
and
has
had
a
Public
Policy
and
Administration
Volume
19
No.
4
Winter
2004
58
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