Local public service reform: Supporting learning to integrate services and improve outcomes

Our briefing paper, Joining Up Public Services around Local, Citizen Needs, identified five perennial barriers that repeatedly hinder integration at a local level, as well as several insights into how to tackle them. Limited sharing of what works (and doesn’t work) emerged as a critical barrier that needs urgent attention. Although variation is crucial in ensuring that public services meet local needs, not learning from what has been tried before, or elsewhere, is costly, time intensive and risks duplicating the progress made in other parts of the country. At a time when capacity within local government is declining, and less money is available for service delivery, we cannot afford to keep reinventing the wheel.

This paper provides much-needed clarity on what would help people involved in integrating public services locally to share experiences and learn from one another to improve outcomes on the ground. An accompanying set of eight case studies provides more detail about the methods and impact of different approaches designed to support learning around local public service reform more generally.

For more information about the project, visit www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/local-service-delivery