Small Local Authorities Research Articles

Future‐proofing a local government authority for a post‐mining future

AbstractThe inevitable mine lifecycle sequences of the mining industry and the eventual closure of mines has dramatic impacts on mining communities. The complexities of mine closure and planning for a different future beyond mining demand prescient preparation, preferably long before mines close, to optimise community participation in planning and enhance change management opportunities. Convincing others of the usefulness of imagining a future that is so different from the status quo is challenging, and it is especially difficult bringing an entire community on a long‐term planning journey. The Shire of Coolgardie, a small Western Australian local government authority, has embarked on a long‐term mission to build economic and social resilience, shoring up funds that will assist the Shire to ride out the inevitable mine lifecycle sequences of and diversify its income bases. This article builds an evidence‐based approximation of the economic and social benefits of the initiatives accrued across the Shire, outlining the calculated risks taken by the Shire in its quest to ultimately reorient the local economy to one less dependent on mining income and employment. The article concludes with lessons learned and a discussion regarding the replicability of the successful initiatives for other local government authorities elsewhere, particularly in Australia where the legislative restrictions to generate own‐source revenues are so severely limiting.

Inverclyde Cares: compassionate and resilience communities in the face of multiple disadvantage

Inverclyde is a small local authority in the West of Scotland. There are less than 80,000 people in Inverclyde, and it is home to the most deprived areas of Scotland and the third highest drug deaths in the country. Inverclyde has significant deprivation, generational unemployment, child poverty and problematic drug and alcohol use. In recent years, the undercurrent of these multiple disadvantages has been compounded by the uncertainty and challenges of both a global pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. However, Inverclyde has the first recognised Compassionate Community in Scotland. Compassionate Inverclyde is a social movement underpinned by the values of compassion, helpfulness and neighbourliness. It is ordinary people helping ordinary people with extraordinary results. The juxtaposition between this radical kindness and the severe and multiple disadvantages has led to a new social movement called Inverclyde Cares. Building on the work of Compassionate Inverclyde, Inverclyde Cares recognises the importance of social connections and the role communities, voluntary organisations, the public sector and private businesses have in supporting one another. If supported and nurtured, these inter-dependencies can create communities that offer opportunities for those who are lonely, vulnerable or forgotten to feel valued and included. Inverclyde Cares is an all-system approach to address local social challenges with kindness and compassion.
 The 4 workstreams within Inverclyde Cares include bereavement, Covid remembrance, kindness and stigma. Inverclyde Cares recognises that bereavement is a universal experience. The Programme Lead has supported organisations across Inverclyde to explore how to support staff after a loved one dies, from compassionate policies and procedures to kindness within the language they use with each other. Several organisations have developed bereavement charters and have been awarded the national bereavement charter mark. Similarly, Inverclyde Cares recognises the loss felt throughout our community during the Covid-19 pandemic. Working in partnership with Greenspace Scotland, an artist has been commissioned to consult with the community to capture experiences during the pandemic and gather ideas for a meaningful lasting memorial. 
 Kindness is at the heart of Inverclyde Cares. The Inverclyde Kindness Awards acknowledge the kind actions that happen in every corner of Inverclyde every day, both by individuals and organisations. Along with this, the Programme Lead is supporting organisations to develop a Kindness Charter. Like the bereavement charter, this gives organisations an opportunity to explore how they can demonstrate kindness and the changes they pledge to make, both within their own staff teams and with external partners and communities. Likewise, there is no place for stigma in a caring and compassionate community. So far, there have been 3 Challenge Stigma events, which have explored what lies at the core of all stigma and the importance of positive language. These events have provided an opportunity for third sector organisations, public and independent partners, and communities to sit together as equals to discuss how to address stigma in Inverclyde. We are a group of people, using our collective experience to explore how to work together to solve a problem in our community, because community problems require community solutions.

Technology Adoption Among Town Planners in Malaysia

The integration of technology in the planning practices of the Malaysian construction industry has significantly transformed how planners approach the development process. The objective of this research is to examine the extent to which technology has been adopted in planning practices in Malaysia. To accomplish this, a mixed methods approach was used, which involved distributing an electronic survey form to the members of the Malaysian Institute of Planners(MIP). The study has revealed three important findings.Firstly, for software adoption rates, the majority of respondents used basic storage, communication, CAD, graphic design, and GIS software with varying skill levels. On the other hand, hardware adoption rates were lower, likely due to financial constraints, and most respondents had average skills in operating GPS, drones, remote sensing, cloud computing, and 3D printing hardware. Secondly, the annual budget for most organisations was below RM30,000, with software subscriptions accounting for the largest budget allocation. Lastly, financial resources, a lack of skilled workers, and network constraints were identified as the biggest challenges faced by planning agenciesin adopting technology. The research suggests that providing grants for technology adoption for small firms and local authorities, standardisation of systems, and flexible data sharing can increase productivity in planning activities across agencies. In summary, planners must adapt to technology due to the increasing demand for new development. Effectivedata management is required for decision-making. Malaysia’sgovernment and planners are willing to adopt technology for increased productivity, and recent developments such as I-Plan and OSC 3.0 Plus Online demonstrate a commitment to data-driven decision-making. There is still much to learn and improve for planners in the public and private sectors to contribute to the success of the construction industry in Malaysia.

Covenant of Mayors 2020 Achievements: A Two-Speed Climate Action Process

Assessing the world’s collective progress towards the Paris Agreement’s long-term goals is a global priority. Local authorities (LAs), in particular, play an important role in a just transition. This paper evaluates the real achievements of local climate action plans developed in Europe from 2008 to 2020 under the Covenant of Mayors initiative. On average, 85.6% of the GHG reduction targets were achieved way before the year 2020; however, our assessment shows different reduction patterns, with several leading LAs exceeding by 2–4 times their targets and 12% of LAs increasing their baseline emissions. This paper weighs the factors which have a determinant impact on these patterns, investigating the key drivers and barriers towards a clean energy transition under a new population-driven approach. While, for large LAs, the climate experience and the engagement of stakeholders is an asset for increasing their achievements, small LAs are much more conditioned by the political mandate and support from regional governments or external actors. The key factor for climate action planning appears to be the joint partnership between several government levels from a national perspective.

Metagoverning through intermediaries: the role of the Norwegian “Klimasats” Fund in translating national climate goals to local implementation

ABSTRACT There is little knowledge of how policymakers manage governance networks (“metagovern”) within climate policy and especially at non-executive levels of public management. One strategy to metagovern is through using intermediary actors such as funding bodies. However, as novel actors within climate governance, such “climate intermediaries” are under-researched. We address these gaps by exploring the metagovernance through an intermediary actor, namely the Norwegian “Klimasats” Fund. We find that the logic of funding bodies lends itself to “carrots” as opposed to “sticks”, weakening the potential for transformation. Funding bodies can also increase existing differences in climate action between larger and smaller local authorities. However, funding bodies have a beneficial bi-directional functionality, incentivising local innovation whilst feeding lessons both up to and across government. Funding bodies also have the power to make local actors into intermediaries in their own right and can influence policy discourses. Thus, in assessing metagovernance at the non-executive level and using intermediary actors such as funding bodies, we reveal significant challenges, but also surprising opportunities, for the low-carbon transition.

Exploring Local Authority Variation in Looked After Young People’s Subjective Well-being

Abstract There has been growing interest in the Local Authority (LA) variation in rates of admission to care and provision of services but less is known about whether young people’s experience of care varies by LA. Using survey data from 4,994 looked after young people (aged eleven to eighteen years) from thirty-six English LAs, the analyses focused on LA variation in their subjective well-being. There was a statistically small LA variation in young people’s responses to individual survey questions except for a question that asked if young people felt they had a trusted adult in their lives. Between 66 per cent and 100 per cent of young people had a trusted adult depending on the LA caring for them. Positively associated with overall well-being were, being looked after by a non-London LA, a longer length of time in care, fewer placement moves, children’s positive perceptions of a reciprocal trusting relationship with their carer, having a good friend and being male. Counter-intuitively, LAs with an outstanding or good Ofsted social care or education judgement were associated with a higher proportion of their young people having low well-being.

Towards a better understanding of girls on the Autism spectrum: educational support and parental perspectives

ABSTRACT This UK study aimed to elicit parental voices and school Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) views, to work towards a better understanding of sex-specific symptomology in females with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and identify the special educational needs of these girls. SENCos in a small local authority (LA) were sent questionnaires investigating their understanding of ASD and girls. Data were collected from 53 SENCos across the LA. Parental views were explored through a group interview with three parents of girls with a diagnosis of ASD. Results indicate that SENCos have an understanding of male presentations of ASD but lack confidence in both identifying and supporting girls with ASD. Qualitative analysis revealed the following key themes: inconsistent support, paucity of resources, parental emotion and parental initiative. Findings suggest there is a considerable gap between the needs of girls with ASD and current levels of understanding and support within educational settings.

A Game Theoretic Approach for Energy Sharing in the Italian Renewable Energy Communities

With the Clean Energy Package, the European Union introduced the concept of Renewable Energy Communities: groups of citizens, small and medium enterprises and local authorities that decide to join forces to equip themselves with systems to produce and share energy from renewable energy sources. The Italian legislation recently started an experimental phase in which renewable energy communities receive an incentivising tariff for the energy produced and shared within the community. This paper faces the problem of creating a new renewable energy community in two steps. First, a mathematical model of the energy flows among the members of the community is characterised according to the Italian schema. This model is used to find the optimal portfolio for the energy community, given energy requests and local source availability. Secondly, the Shapley value, a particular solution of cooperative games known to be the most fair method to allocate costs and profits of shared infrastructures, is proposed to distribute benefits among community members. The methodology has been applied to a case study based on a real low voltage network, and the economics for consumers and producers in participating to the project have been evaluated. The proposed solution, simulated adopting real economic parameters defined in the Italian regulatory framework, results to be economically viable from the point of view of the investors with a profitability index of 1.36 and, at the same time, aligned with the social purposes of the energy communities.

New Policy Approaches for Increasing Response to Climate Change in Small Rural Municipalities

Although nearly half of the world population lives in rural small municipalities, research on climate change policy at this level is widely neglected. Frequently climate change adaptation is not a policy field in these small municipalities, which is both a problem and a risk. This paper aims at analyzing the climate policy of small and medium-sized local authorities with specific focus on adaptation. It presents results from a comprehensive survey among approximately 400 small municipalities in Bavaria, Germany. The study analyzes the perception of climate change risks and the perceived need for response, the fields of action, the triggering and influencing factors in the political process, and the people and bodies involved. Our findings reveal that in most cases small municipalities do not follow a strategic and holistic approach for climate change adaptation. Especially among small and very small municipalities, the study shows a gap between discussing climate change and setting up mitigation or adaptation measures. In conclusion, we present three policy implications for increasing the adaptive capacity of small municipalities. These address the increase of awareness of adaptation needs, effective management structures and the mandatory integration of a climate strategy into the long-term local political agenda.

Economic Return on Investment of Parent Training Programmes for the Prevention of Child Externalising Behaviour Problems

Economic models to inform decision-making are gaining popularity, especially for preventive interventions. However, there are few estimates of the long-term returns to parenting interventions used to prevent mental health problems in children. Using data from a randomised controlled trial evaluating five indicated parenting interventions for parents of children aged 5–12, we modeled the economic returns resulting from reduced costs in the health care and education sector, and increased long-term productivity in a Swedish setting. Analyses done on the original trial population, and on various sized local community populations indicated positive benefit–cost ratios. Even smaller local authorities would financially break-even, thus interventions were of good value-for-money. Benefit–cost analyses of such interventions may improve the basis for resource allocation within local decision-making.

Merger Melancholia: An Empirical Analysis of the Perceptions of the Residents of the Forcibly Amalgamated Manilla Shire Council

ABSTRACTNotwithstanding cogent reasons for the continued existence of small local authorities in the sparsely populated Australian hinterland, compulsory council consolidation has been a recurring theme throughout the history of Australian local government. Despite its ubiquity, especially in rural, regional and remote Australian communities, its local consequences have not yet been fully examined by scholars or policy makers. The present paper seeks to remedy this neglect with an exploratory study of the social and economic consequences of forced local government amalgamations through the lens of the ‘lived experience’ of the small rural community of Manilla, which was forced in merge with the much larger Tamworth in 2004.

Exploitation of Local Assets: Prerequisites for Success

Natural and Cultural Heritage, including intangible cultural heritage, are precious assets for local development in many districts and local communities which could be significantly beneficial for them. In many cases, Local Authorities use funding programs from the State, European Union or other sources for investments to exploit such assets. Such public investments for exploitation activities are planned and incorporate description of parameters of sustainability, feasibility analysis and many times master plans, place branding plans, marketing plans and business plans. In many cases, especially in small and medium size local authorities, but not only, it is found out that such approach remains theoretical and although it could be realistic, it is distant from the actual performance. In this paper, we examine a case where a local authority did proceed with such an investment to exploit a specific mixed natural and cultural asset and we determine factors that are prerequisites for the successful and sustainable tourism development related to that asset. Success factors include a holistic approach, the devotion of appropriate people in the management and marketing of the asset, a road map linked to the deployment of the short and medium term marketing plan, the selection of the appropriate indicators and methodology of measuring. Furthermore, we do examine the importance of the involvement of all stakeholders, without exclusions.
 
 
 Keywords: local development, sustainability, cultural and natural heritage

Multilevel governance of sustainable energy policies: The role of regions and provinces to support the participation of small local authorities in the Covenant of Mayors

Worldwide, there are an increasing number of transnational networks on climate actions driven by non-state actors. There is a wealthy literature analysing models of multilevel governance of climate change focusing mainly on the engagement of cities and local governments. To a lesser extent research has focused on the collaboration between regional administrations and local governments. Against this backdrop, we introduce the multilevel-governance model observed in the Covenant of Mayors (CoM) framework, named Covenant Territorial Coordinators (CTCs).The CoM initiative has more than 7600 signatories as of October 2017, covering 238 million inhabitants from European, Central Asian and South Mediterranean cities. The peculiarity of CoM compared to other transnational initiatives, is the engagement of small and medium cities (less than 10,000 inhabitants) in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with almost 66 % of signatories, mainly small cities, supported by CTCs.In this article we present, analyse and discuss the role of regions and provinces acting as CTCs in supporting smaller local authorities for energy-climate planning, presenting examples of successful collaboration between different levels of government. Finally, we identify and discuss in which EU countries the multi-level governance model based on CTCs as observed in the Covenant is likely to be successful.

AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF ADMINISTRATIVE ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY IN SABAH LOCAL GOVERNMENT: A DEA APPLICATION

Malaysian local government reform has been addressed through various public policies aimed at improving its performance over the decades. An important question which arises is whether these technological and management programs have translated into performance gains, particularly in the corporate centres of local authorities (LAs). Using a panel data of two inputs and four outputs from 2000 to 2012, a two-stage double bootstrap Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method is employed to estimate administrative technical efficiency (TE) in the corporate centres of 17 LAs in the Malaysian state of Sabah. The results showed an overall inadequate mean of TE scores and minor fluctuations in TE scores over the years under analysis, illustrating the rigidity of management performance. On average, the LAs recorded TE scores of 0.52, which implied that the LAs should be able to increase output by 48% while maintaining the same amount of input. The big urbanLAs performed better with the TE scores of 0.60; while the small urban LAs recorded lower TE scores of 0.43. Further analysis demonstrated that the environmental variable, urban population bore a negative relationship to the TE scores. Several public policy recommendations are proposed.

Management of stage II and III rectal cancer in British Columbia: Is there a rural-urban difference?

BackgroundThis study assessed management of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer from rural, small and large local health authorities (LHA) in British Columbia (BC), Canada. MethodsWe analyzed patients from 2004-2009 using a prospective database. Patients were defined as living in rural, small or large LHA using Statistics Canada definitions. Differences in treatments and outcomes were analyzed using chi-squared and log-rank tests, respectively. ResultsAmong 1964 patients, 13% lived in rural, 22% in small, and 66% in large LHAs. There were no differences in rates of abdominoperineal resections in rural (33%), small (39%) and large (35%) areas (p = 0.30). The proportion of patients who received radiotherapy (86–88%, p = 0.80) and adjuvant chemotherapy (56–57%, p = 0.89) were similar. There was no difference in 5-year disease-free survival (84–86%, p = 0.98) or overall survival (57–59%, p = 0.99). ConclusionsThe management and outcome of locally advanced rectal cancer patients seems to be comparable for rural and non-rural BC.

Teachers’ views on recognising and using home languages in predominantly monolingual primary schools

ABSTRACTThe use of home languages has previously been advocated in highly multilingual UK classrooms. However, drawing on the home languages and cultural insight of children who use English as an Additional Language (EAL) may also have important social and academic benefits in contexts where monolingualism is the norm.Conducted in a small local authority in England with low numbers of children who use EAL, this study investigated (1) primary teachers’ views on implementing language awareness activities, using pupils who speak languages other than English as a linguistic and cultural resource, via interviews and questionnaires and (2) the amount and nature of references made to home languages during classroom observations. Although the teachers did not refer to or use home languages on a day-to-day basis, they generally showed willingness to consider implementing certain activities which incorporated them. However, largely, the teachers had not previously contemplated such practice. They did not reference any academic benefits to promoting linguistic diversity but were more aware of the potential social benefits. They also lacked confidence in particular areas (e.g. linguistic knowledge) as well as showing a strong awareness of issues such as the importance of English.

Identifying the costs and benefits of educational psychology: a preliminary exploration in two local authorities

This article provides an account of a small-scale pilot study of the cost and perceived benefits of the educational psychology services in two comparably small local authorities in England. This study is preparatory to a more detailed examination of the costs and likely benefits of state provision of educational psychology services in England. The work is contextualised by acknowledgement of the growing pressure on local authority services to trade and for schools to directly commission the services of educational psychologists. Provisional findings indicate significant differences between the impact of the two services that participated. The authors offer speculation on the effects for local authorities and schools, and ways in which the study might be developed to provide more satisfactory answers to the questions of “what is the value of educational psychology in practice” and “how best to deploy educational psychology services?”

“Thinking about drinking”

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore perceptions of alcohol held by schoolchildren using the “Draw and Write” tool, to inform the planning of alcohol education in the classroom setting. Design/methodology/approach A specifically designed “Draw and Write” booklet was used with 169 children aged nine to ten years (Year 5) across seven primary schools in a small Local Authority in North West England. Written responses were thematically coded. Findings Results demonstrated that the children had a good basic understanding of alcohol, including who drinks, where it can be purchased and the range of products available. Participants were aware that alcohol could be harmful and held mainly negative views. Findings suggest that alcohol education at this age is both appropriate and necessary to help children explore, understand and clarify their perceptions and misconceptions in a safe classroom environment. Practical implications The range and depth of responses from the children demonstrated that Draw and Write can be used successfully to explore children’s perceptions of alcohol. The tool can be used as a baseline assessment to inform classroom-based alcohol education for primary school teachers and those supporting delivery at local level, in line with national policy recommendations. Originality/value This paper adds to the existing literature on the use of “Draw and Write” in personal, social and health education, demonstrating that it can be used specifically to investigate children’s knowledge and attitudes about alcohol.

Water Quality in Selected Small Drinking Water Systems of Missouri Rural Communities

Small drinking water treatment systems (serving <10,000 population) in rural communities frequently encounter multiple challenges in water quality and federal regulatory compliance, especially the disinfection byproduct (DBP) regulations, due to source water variations, limited resources, and aging infrastructures. Unlike most studies on the DBP control using synthetic water in laboratory settings, this research aimed to identify the major water quality issues confronting small systems in the state of Missouri (MO), the United States of America (USA). Three small systems were selected based on source water and geographic locations. Water samples were collected quarterly from each major treatment process during the period of May 2012 to March 2013 and analyzed to identify the treatment effectiveness and potential water quality issues in each small system. Results of water quality characterization showed that the major water quality issue in the selected small systems was the low efficiency of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal, especially the DOC species that are considered as the DBP precursors. Most collected water samples had a higher trihalomethane formation potential (THMFP) than the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) maximum contaminant limit (MCL) (80 μg/L). Based on the analysis of the treatment efficiency in each system, several strategies for water quality improvement were recommended, and a few of which have been implemented in the small systems, leading to improved drinking water quality and compliance with the USEPA DBP regulations. This study would provide a valuable aid to small system operators and local water authority in context of water quality improvement and the regulatory compliance.

Is local authority procurement supporting SMEs? An analysis of practice in English local authorities

ABSTRACTThe UK coalition government wishes to improve the access of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to public procurement, in recognition of their importance to the economy and for the benefits they can bring to public procurement and the wider public sector. Local government provides a significant opportunity for small firms, spending £84 billion of the total procurement spend of £230 billion. However, about two-thirds of both small businesses and local authorities think that SMEs face barriers in successfully accessing public procurement. This paper examines how councils are supporting SMEs in the procurement process by analysing 67 entry forms to the ‘Best Councils to do business with’ competition. This unique data source has provided insight into councils’ attitudes and procurement practices, and demonstrates that although a wide range of supportive actions are being employed there is considerable diversity across councils. Ambiguities and tensions in policies, between local and central government, have also emerged.