Irwin said: "There must be some rewards for good performance and there must be some penalties for ongoing poor performance. If you are struggling in a certain area – say, repairs and maintenance – you should buy in someone who knows how to do that service well.
"I'm not suggesting that we will force people to do this, but what we will say is: 'Why continue trying to fix something that for you is unfixable? Why not get someone else in that can make it work?'," he said. "If you're not going to get better quickly, you should look at getting someone in to help you."
Irwin has advised poorer councils to approach authorities – such as Camden in north London or Ashfield in the East Midlands – with a view to striking a deal. He declined to name which ones were advised.
Housing authorities could buy a few hours of management time from the good performer each week or, in more serious cases, agree a fee for the good performer to take over a particular service for a certain period.
Irwin said the process was likely to be commonplace in "two to three years" and that it had been made possible by provisions in last year's local government white paper.
This apparently permits excellent authorities to trade. Any money they make – subject to their debt position – can be ploughed back into improving service delivery.
Liverpool council has been trading its services since last autumn. It is shortly to establish a separate business, Newco, to respond to demand from councils eager to learn from Liverpool's expertise in areas such as IT and call-centre work.
A spokesman for the Northern Housing Consortium – which is establishing a service aimed at sharing experiences to improve performance – said: "I could see more and more councils that have done well looking to do this. Poor authorities are going to have to shell out some money to improve, so it makes sense that this should go to another good authority rather than a consultancy."
Source
Housing Today
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