Mutual Ventures’ Post

Building resilient local public services: Service demands on local government continue to grow. This, alongside the continuing need to deliver in line with statutory standards, means local authorities face an increasing challenge when it comes to delivering reliable services and meeting citizen expectations. Find out more about our services here: https://lnkd.in/e45Z7azB #Buildingresilient #Creatingbetter #Localgovernment #Localgov

Is your municipality contributing to Reconciliation and build stronger government-to-Nation relationships? Read our factsheet to find tips, strategies and successful real-world examples to inspire your own journey. Find out more:  https://lnkd.in/eetpBYWz 

How can you ensure ongoing success when shifting to project-based delivery of IT projects? 💻 Learn what strategies you should be implementing in our latest federal government report, here: https://lnkd.in/gW8p7R8a #federalgovernment #workforcestrategy #governmentleaders #publicservice

How can bridge-builders capture and share learnings between central and local governments? As part of our Prioritising Public Services campaign series, Anya Kemble explores the answer and highlights the pivotal role bridge-builders can play in this process, offering insights from past programmes and facilitating live feedback loops during delivery. In this article, you'll discover: 💡How bridge-builders capture and share learnings from past programmes, ensuring valuable knowledge isn't lost 💡 The importance of a robust learning and feedback loop during programme delivery, improving implementation and optimising outcomes 💡 Key lessons for future policy and programme development, informing the design and delivery of future policy interventions. Discover Anya’s insights on the opportunities a new government brings and how fostering stronger relationships between central and local authorities can lead to better outcomes for all in the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eTQ73jKr #PublicServices #PolicyImplementation #LocalGovernment #BridgeBuilders #PrioritisingPublicServices

📝 Road Selection: 👉 Initial Identification. The initial identification step is the preparation of a list of proposed roads to be improved or maintained. This initial list will, in most cases, be prepared with the involvement of local communities or their political representation. Generally, the proposed roads must meet pre-determined criteria set by the program management in collaboration with the planning and funding authorities. The proposed roads that meet the program criteria are then forwarded through the local authorities (i.e. district and provincial development committees) for further discussion in terms of priorities and coordination with other local development activities. Afterwards, the list with the proposed roads is forwarded to the implementing agency for screening.

New in LGS@50: in 'The struggle for linking strategic and front-line outcomes in local government service delivery' joyce liddle & Steven Parker consider the growth of an outcomes-based approach in local government #openaccess https://lnkd.in/eD9pDkvY

📢 Federal Funding & Grant Overview FY 2023 📊 Last year, the U.S. federal government awarded approximately $759 billion in contracts across industries, an increase of about $33 billion over the previous year. This funding was distributed across various sectors with the following breakdown: 💼 Department of Defense (DoD) – 61% of the total, fueled by procurement programs and international support. 🏥 Health and Human Services (HHS) – Major investments in medical supplies and healthcare services. 🚧 Department of Transportation – Significant contributions to national infrastructure projects. 🌍 Department of Energy – Investments in energy and environmental initiatives. For those interested in federal funding insights or industry-specific data, platforms like USAspending.gov offer tools and reports to dive deeper into these investments. Understanding this landscape is essential for businesses and nonprofits seeking opportunities or preparing for upcoming procurement cycles. #FederalFunding #Grants #GovernmentContracts #DoD #HHS #Transportation #Energy #Infrastructure #USAspending

This was arguably the key theme at UKREiiF - everyone wants the single pot. Having been part of some of the early conversations with West Midlands Combined Authority when I was at the West Midlands Growth Company, I understand why - the promise of the single pot is not only certainty and efficiency, but an opportunity to think and operate differently. So I'd say the single pot is necessary, but I'd also ask whether it's sufficient. For one, the single pot is not unfettered - there will, perhaps inevitably, be ties back to departmental outcomes. Such an approach helps with certainty and efficiency, but places different constraints on beneficiaries that hold them back from delivering against locally-determined priorities. Sure, there's a single pot - but it still has to serve central mandates. Essentially, it amounts to devolved governance - rather than genuine regional government. Greater local accountability over central government money is a step in the right direction, of course, but true devolution will only come when places have the means to raise their own revenue (and are more accountable to the local electorate for both how much they raise and how it's deployed than they are to Westminster and Whitehall). Now, you might argue that mayors have the ability to levy a precept (true) and that very few of them have opted to do so (also true) - so why do they need additional tax-raising powers they evidently don't need? The challenges with the precept are that a) its revenue-raising power is limited - while it provides a means against which mayors can borrow, without a genuinely stable fiscal base, additional borrowing is a dead-end for local and regional government; and b) it is raised through council tax, which falls squarely on the shoulders of residents - meaning mayors will have to expend a lot of political capital for relatively little return. Through council tax alone, there is no direct link to growth and productivity - it is based solely on price bands that were set 35 years ago. So if not the precept, then what? Predictably, Europe has a plethora of options that merit consideration from the tourism taxes that many of us will recognise from our summer holidays, to more localised forms of income, corporation and property tax. Taken together, they provide a suite of measures that enable local and regional policymakers to focus on the productivity and growth of their places - knowing that judicious taxes on local economic activity will provide the means for further investment in the local economy. Of course, it's not perfect and I'd hear you out on any number of arguments. But this is how we truly end the "begging bowl" culture - not by focusing on the size and contents of one bowl, but placing greater accountability in mayors (and their electorates) to shape their places.

Central government’s over-reliance on competitive bidding to fund local and combined authorities is not working for anyone and inhibits local growth. Our new report from Rebecca McKee and Thomas Pope warns that the next government must end "begging bowl culture" of local growth funding. It sets out how the government can simplify the funding landscape for all local and combined authorities, not just the most developed mayoralties. 📖 Read the full recommendations https://lnkd.in/eewR86AA #localgovernment #regionaleconomicgrowth #localgrowth #ukgovernment #publicfinances

Securing funding is top of mind for municipalities this year. What else is impacting their day-to-day? Find out in our 2024 State of Municipalities Report. Download your copy here: https://lnkd.in/g43w8vi6