Councillors and coproduction: time to get serious

While councillors are uniquely placed to support coproduction initiatives, they are not as involved as they could be. Sceptical in the past, austerity means that many councillors are now open to working in new ways with citizens. But, if we want councillors to be more involved, additional support will be needed to help them move into new roles from the traditional ones they currently have.

Ten years ago councillors were, on the whole, unimpressed and interested in coproduction. Writing nearly 10 years ago, in a report called Why Coproduction is an important topic for local government, Elke Löffler argued that, although there was plenty of coproduction happening, there was also:

…some research which indicates that this reality is still not well appreciated or understood by local authority professionals, managers and councillors — and that, when they do become more aware of it, they sometimes resist it strongly.

But now coproduction is very much part of the mainstream, things are changing. Reports like the more recently published 21st Century Councillor, for example, show an awareness of coproduction amongst councillors and a willingness to embrace it.

So, things are changing. But do they need to change faster?

Uniquely placed

Councillors are in a really interesting position when it comes to coproduction. Uniquely, they are involved on both the professional and public sides of the coproduction equation.

On the professional side councillors are an integral part of the policy environment that surrounds coproduction activity. As decision makers they allocate resources and set the strategies that can allow activity to flourish. In scrutiny roles councillors ensure accountability and public assurance.

On the public side of the equation councillors have a closeness to the public that most professionals would struggle to match. As the recent report The Voice of the Councillor highlighted, this closeness has a number of important benefits:

…proximity to the public is something which provides councillors with intelligence about local issues, insights into local problems and views about council policy and networks of community organisations with which to work.

All of which make councillors potentially valuable contributors to coproduction.

And it’s not just direct contacts with the public that define the councillor role. Don’t forget that when it comes to the community and voluntary sector, councillors are networkers par excellence. Active as member of boards and as trustees, linked in to schools, community centres and charities.

Furthermore, as the 21st Century Councillor report highlights, working with citizens is what matters most to councillors and the thing they are most likely to talk about when asked about their role.

Austerity is changing the game

In the past, many councillors were uncomfortable with the concept of coproduction and were suspicious (perhaps rightly so) that it was just another buzz word to add to a growing mountain of local government jargon.

However, as the recent 21st Century Councillor report suggests, austerity has changed things for councillors and many now recognise that the traditional ways of doing things simply aren’t going to work in the current context. Increasingly this means thinking about how services can be redesigned and working in a more entrepreneurial and innovative way.

More than this, the relationship between councillors and the public is changing with councillors having to explain to people that, as the council is forced to do less, so the public will need to do more. As Councillor Sir Stephen Houghton, quoted in the Kirklees Democracy Commission report, puts it:

There is a need to move from leading and managing the council to leading and supporting places. This requires a new relationship between the council and its citizens, moving away from a state of paternalism and dependency to one of co-production.

So, while some will always cling on to the old certainties and their traditional roles, ten years of austerity have changed the mindsets of many. There are also now a significant number of councillors who know nothing else, and for whom coproduction is a natural proposition.

New roles for old

In a recent research article, Facilitating coproduction: the role of leadership in coproduction initiatives in the UK, Bussu and Galanti highlight the different styles of leadership needed for coproduction in contrast to traditional services. They argue that relationships are much more important than formal structures and that what’s needed is a collective approach rather than strong individuals. Leaders need to be facilitators with strong professional and public connections.

In this context councillors it makes perfect sense to invest in councillors as sponsors of coproduction activity. As Bussu and Galanti argue:

The role of politicians as sponsors (which entails acting not only as policy entrepreneurs but as actual ‘guides’ in the policy process) can encourage innovation by stimulating connectivity between staff and other stakeholders (beyond traditional partnerships on an institution-to-institution basis); by protecting the collaborative space from political and financial pressure; …and by taking responsibility for risks in order to shield frontline staff from fear of failure and manage their resistance to change.

In many ways these new roles feel like the familiar old roles of local councillors; acting as a bridge between professionals and public, championing projects and being the publicly accountable figure for success and failure.

And, as many councillors are already involved in promoting coproduction it makes sense to work with these ‘keen beans’. The point being to show what can be done to make the policy context more supportive and how councillors can be coproduction champions rather than wallflowers.

P.S.

By the way I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to All In This Together: A Celebration of Coproduction in Wales on the 5th July (some tickets available I think). I’ll be hosting a workshop on how we can get councillors more involved in that agenda and I’m really looking forward to learning loads from the participants about how councillors can be better supported when it comes to coproduction.

Photo credit Ben Lee. Picture is one of the ‘morals of the story’ from the Seven Stories of Localism event 2014.