By Geraint Day

1. DIRECTORS ’ VIEWS ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Institute of Directors
Business Comment
Introduction
Directors of businesses and other important organisations have to relate to a range of external public bodies.
These extend beyond central government and the European Union. Local authorities have responsibilities
ranging from planning to environmental health to some aspects of health and safety. To local government have
been added the devolved administrations of Scotland and Wales and – suspended at present –
Northern Ireland. The Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) have been established in England,
together with regional chambers or assemblies. Directors know that their organisations have to keep up to date
with the increased number of bodies that not only dispense advice but also, in some cases, act as regulators and
decision-makers in their own right.
Directors’ Views on Local Government and Other
Bodies
We included some questions about local government in the third quarter Business Opinion Survey which was
conducted by computer-assisted telephone interviewing for the IoD by NOP Business between 31 August and
30 September 1999. As well as local government, we covered a few aspects of the devolved bodies and the
RDAs. The survey participants were 500 randomly selected IoD members, chosen with quotas to represent the
Institute’s membership profile in terms of business sector, size of organisation and geographical region. The
percentages reported from the survey are those that have been weighted to reflect the membership profile.
Directors’ Dealings with Local Government
Directors were asked about the standards of performance that their organisations had experienced from the local
government bodies with which they had had contact:-
ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE BY VARIOUS FUNCTIONS
(WHERE EXPERIENCED)/ % OF NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS
Function Very good Good Neither good nor bad Poor Very poor Don’t know Number of respondents
Business rates
collection 6% 34% 46% 7% 2% 6% 396
Economic
development
advice 5% 22% 30% 32% 7% 5% 327
Education and
training 2% 35% 34% 21% 2% 6% 365
Environmental
health 4% 43% 38% 12% 1% 3% 338
Fire and rescue 13% 64% 18% 1% 0% 4% 317
Health and
safety 3% 46% 39% 8% 1% 4% 388
Planning 2% 20% 30% 33% 12% 3% 370
Roads and
highways 2% 24% 29% 35% 10% 1% 437
Trading
standards 5% 37% 43% 8% 2% 5% 282
Waste disposal
and collection 4% 51% 24% 12% 6% 3% 410
Proportions may not total 100% because of rounding
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2. DIRECTORS’ VIEWS ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Fire and rescue received the highest positive ratings (a total of 77% very good or good), followed by waste
disposal and collection (55% very good or good). Planning and roads and highways received the highest levels of
dissatisfaction; rated at 45% and 44%, respectively, as poor or very poor (compared with 22% and 25%, respectively, rating
good or very good). Economic development advice came out none too well – with 39% thinking it poor or very poor and
only 27% good or very good – although 3% mentioned that financial assistance from local government had a positive
effect on their organisation.
Nine percent of respondents told us that they had people who were local councillors among the employees of their
organisation (87% did not have any and 4% did not know). Those organisations in the public sector (government,
education, health or personal social services) or financial services seemed more likely to have employees as serving coun-
cillors. Also, the larger organisations (over 100 employees) appeared more likely than smaller organisations (100 or fewer
employees) to have sitting councillors on the payroll.
Out of the 44 who knew of councillors on the payroll, most (31, or 69%) thought that that had no effect on their
organisation. On the positive front, three (7%) said that it actually enhanced the organisation’s reputation, and four (9%) that
it demonstrated community involvement by the organisation. Two (4%) mentioned that it caused difficulties because of
time off work by councillors to perform their public duties. No doubt this point would tend to apply in the wider world to
smaller organisations, which have a smaller ability to cope with even temporary staff shortages. Interestingly, four (1%) of
the 500 directors interviewed were currently serving councillors, and a further 17 (3%) had been councillors.
Diversity or Distraction?
One of the features of local government is that there may be elements of diversity from one part of the country to another.
This may add to the tapestry of life, as it were. The structure of local government can be quite complex – and even the set
of administrative tiers is not uniform across the United Kingdom. This can lead to difficulties. For example, 50% of the
directors interviewed were in organisations with sites at more than one location in the UK. Of those, 79% had to deal with
different local government authorities covering its different sites.
OPINIONS ON DEALING WITH COUNCILS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY
Causes no problems Causes some problems Causes major problems Don’t know
46% 45% 5% 5%
198 respondents. Proportions do not total 100% because of rounding.
Of the 99 (50%) who said that there were such problems, 48% specifically mentioned different standards and practices and
44% said that there were different interpretations of rules and regulations. There will be extra costs of having to keep up
with the diversity, but there does seem to be unnecessary variation arising from different interpretations of rules.
Effect on Business
On the whole, the participants in the survey were quite favourably disposed towards local authorities, as may be seen from
the following table.
OPINIONS ABOUT THE EFFECT OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES ON BUSINESS
Great benefits to be gained Some benefits may be No noticeable Produces bad effect Produces very bad Don’t know
by working with them effect gained by effect either on business effect on business
working with them way
7% 38% 45% 7% 1% 3%
500 participants. Proportions do not total 100% because of rounding.
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3. DIRECTORS’ VIEWS ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Directors whose organisation dealt with different local authorities at its different sites seemed more likely than the others
to think that local authorities had bad or very bad effects on business.
The notion of working together for a positive outcome appealed to 28% of the 225 directors to whom there seemed to be
potential benefits. Of the 39 directors who said that local authorities produced bad or very bad effects on their organisation,
11 (27%) mentioned that local authorities did not understand their needs.
Will Mayors Make Things Better?
The Government has borrowed some ideas from the United States of America. Some UK cities and towns may find
themselves with directly-elected mayors, with far higher administrative powers than the present titleholders of this office
in the majority of local councils. Up to now, mayors have been chosen by the councillors themselves from among their
number. The mayor’s main work has included various “civic duties”, such as opening new premises and officiating at
various lunches and dinners. They may also chair council meetings. The new-style mayors will not only be directly
elected. They may also have considerable powers of patronage, albeit with duties to work with the body of elected local
authority members for their authority. In London for example, this will mean appointments to city-wide bodies such as
Transport for London.
Survey participants were asked for their views on the performance of local authorities if they were to have new-style
mayors:-
IF THE LOCAL COUNCIL(S) YOU DEAL WITH HAD A DIRECTLY ELECTED MAYOR, WHAT
DIFFERENCE DO YOU THINK THIS WOULD MAKE TO
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COUNCIL PERFORMANCE?
Great improvement Some improvement Would make Make things worse Make things much worse Don’t
no difference know
5% 26% 48% 8% 2% 11%
500 respondents.
Although few said that directly elected mayors would make things worse or much worse, there did not seem to be immense
enthusiasm for the possibility.
There appeared to be a regional variation in opinion. In the north of the UK (here including Northern Ireland and
Scotland), 30% of 115 directors felt that there would be improvement resulting from having a directly elected mayor. In the
midlands area – including Wales for purposes of data aggregation – the equivalent figures were 19% out of 95. In the south
of the country (this being the south of England including London) 35% of 290 directors thought that there would be
improvement.
Devolved - and Other Regional - Matters
The government has given new roles to new public bodies. Fairly few of the organisations of which the respondents were
directors had had any contact with individual devolved or regional bodies, although 118 (24%) had had some contact with
at least one of them. Thus 6% had had contact with the office for the Scottish Parliament and 3% with the office for the
Welsh Assembly. Four percent had had contact with the Northern Ireland Office and 15% with an English RDA.
The main purposes for contact with any of the new entities had been business advice (23% of the 118), economic
development advice (21%) and planning matters (12%).
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4. DIRECTORS’ VIEWS ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Assessments of standards of service experienced were given as follows:-
OPINION OF STANDARD OF SERVICE GIVEN BY DEVOLVED AND REGIONAL BODIES
Body Very good Good Neither good Poor Very poor Don’t know Number of
nor bad respondents
Scottish
Parliament
office 9% 21% 29% 10% 5% 26% 32
Welsh
Assembly
office 16% 31% 31% 0% 4% 18% 17
Northern
Ireland
office 21% 36% 13% 0% 8% 23% 20
An RDA 6% 21% 39% 16% 11% 7% 76
Proportions may not total 100% because of rounding.
In general, it appeared that directors were quite satisfied with these bodies, although the numbers making
contact with most were small. There may be cause for concern over the RDAs, however; 28% said that the
standard was good or very good and 26% that it was poor or very poor. It is early days for the RDAs, but they did
not seem to be impressing senior people when it came to actual contact with business and other organisations.
Main Points
In general, directors surveyed seemed reasonably content with the performance of local government. That
being said, areas such as planning, roads and highways and economic development advice left room for
improvement. There was also much concern at the different interpretations placed on rules and regulations by
different local authorities.
Delays over planning procedures have been a bugbear of business for many a year. Procrastination leads to real
costs. The Government has stated its intentions to modernise and streamline the planning process. The IoD
supports this aim, if it can make a real difference. Road repairs and congestion are topics of perennial concern to
all IoD members.
On the economic front, the RDAs are intended to have a meaningful role in the English regions. Thus it is of
concern that a quarter of the directors who had had contact with an RDA thought that the standard of service
was poor or very poor. The RDAs are new bodies, but it must be very important to focus on dealings with the
outside world, including business.
The idea of having directly-elected mayors in some urban areas did not seem to greatly excite directors. As far
as business is concerned the interest will come when considering the real effects produced by local authorities
in the course of their work.
Geraint Day, Business Research Executive
April 2000
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