Global places and local forces - Home | · PDF fileByron Davies Barbara Stocking Jane Knight...

January 2008 SOLACE Foundation �

January 2008

Global places and local forcesEdited by Oonagh Aitken

Clive Grace Steve BullockIvor Wells David KidgerPeter Russell Gillian WalshPhilip Amis

Byron DaviesBarbara Stocking Jane KnightLucy de Groot Hamish DibleyTony ReevesRichard Shaw

Contents

4 Forewordby Clive Grace and Richard Shaw

6 Introductionby Oonagh Aitken

9 Meetingasequals:thenew SouthAfricaby Steve Bullock and Ivor Wells

13 Internationalelectionmonitoring:thelowdownby David Kidger

16 Glasgow’sglobalexpansionby Peter Russell and Gillian Walsh

19 Workingwithoutmoney:CLGFandDfIDby Philip Amis

21 Embracinginternationalapproachesby Byron Davies

PublicThe Guardian119 Farringdon Road, LondonEC1R 3ER Tel:020 7278 2332;Website: guardian.co.uk/publicEmail: [email protected]

Produced by the SOLACE Foundation, distributed by The Guardian©2008 the authors

24 Good,localadministrationaidsbetterservicedeliveryby Barbara Stocking

26 Bringingpeoplebacktobasicsby Jane Knight

29 Themutualbenefitsofaninternationalallianceby Lucy de Groot and Hamish Dibley

33 Localgovernmentandinternationaldevelopmentby Tony Reeves

36 Internationaldevelopment:themissedopportunity?by Richard Shaw

FOUNDATIONI M P R I N T

� SOLACE Foundation January 2008

Foreword

Global places and local forcesby Clive Grace, chair, SFI and Richard Shaw, chair, Local Government Alliance for International Development

The idea that global impacts local is by now a familiar refrain. Climate change for

many may still be a matter of the warmest winter since X or the wettest summer since Y, but all of us now understand that beneath the everyday grumbles about the weather the environment is being shaped by profound global forces which will transform the lives of generations to come and which are also beginning to create some uncomfortable short-term effects for us now.

Global influences are apparent also in the people who we are served by, or work with, or live near, or who marry into our families. And, of course, the very idea of “our” families itself generally means the families of generations of migrants to these islands, be they Saxons or Nor-mans, or from the Caribbean or India. The people aspect of global forces is of special interest and concern to those who work at local level. Migrants (by and large) generate economic ben-efit, create cultural diversity, and (sometimes) add to problems of community tension and cohe-sion. For the most part, people from other coun-tries are present in the UK now as a long-term consequence of Britain’s global ambitions in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. So global shakes hands with local across nearly half a millennium in present day UK communities.

But this relationship between global and local is by no means a one-way street. Local speaks back to global also. The fundamental solutions to climate change of course rest at global level,

but most of what needs to happen calls for ac-tion locally too. This is not just about delivering to communities the policies decided by national governments. The intrinsic value of local delivery and of local government lies in its capacity to generate new solutions and ideas, and to break new ground in tackling problems that go beyond the purely local. It is no coincidence that much of what is accepted in the mainstream of social and political life in the UK in the early 21st cen-tury was championed in local authorities in the mid-1980s – issues of equality and of economic development, of community empowerment, and joined up services. Nor that many developments that we took for granted throughout the 20th century – of clean water, universal education, public health, and social housing – depended on the efforts of local communities and local leader-ship for their development.

Much to learnIn a context such as this, the need for and importance of local government engagement across international boundaries seems natural and necessary. It is not simply that local authori-ties such as in the UK have capacity and skills to offer to others. Nor even that they have much to learn from local authorities in other countries, be they in the developed or the developing world. What ultimately unites local governments across the globe is the common concern for the welfare of the people and the communities they serve. In the UK we now express this in terms of the economic, social, and environmental well- being of communities. For many in the developing world, in particular, the focus comes right back


to basics as expressed in the UN’s Millennium De-velopment Goals. They are to eliminate poverty, to provide education, to ensure gender equality, to reduce child mortality, to improve maternal health, to tackle AIDS and other diseases, to achieve environmental sustainability, and to forge a global partnership for development.

In some ways, and at some levels, these are matters of shared concern to all local govern-ments. There is value in addressing them in partnership between local governments across boundaries whether contributing to or learning from each other, or, as is so often the case, doing both at the same time.

This SFI pamphlet brings together a set of powerful experiences and perspectives about the involvement of local government in international development. It comes at a time when that work has never been more relevant or more neces-sary and at a time when SOLACE is taking steps to strengthen its capacity and leadership in this area. The Local Government Alliance for Inter-national Development (which one of us helped to establish and the other now chairs) has made an important contribution to raising awareness and to bringing people together across UK local government to try and generate momentum and forge direction for its international efforts. This pamphlet shows why that is important, and how it can make a difference. The sponsorship of the Alliance and the work of Oonagh Aitken in bring-ing these contributions together have created a pamphlet which will stimulate and inspire, and we commend it to you.

Clive Grace is also chair of SOLACE Foundation Imprint and the Local Better Regulation Office

Richard Shaw is also chief executive of Surrey County Council

For more information on The Local Government Alliance for International Development visit:http://international2.lga.gov.uk/lg-alliance/index.html

� SOLACE Foundation January 2008

Developing the global agendaby Oonagh Aitken, consultant, public administration

This pamphlet brings together a range of contributions from local government, from the university sector and from national organi-sations to offer a flavour of the kinds of activities that link local

government in the UK to local government in the developing world.

I have always been a champion of the involve-ment of local government in international work whether early in my career as a political lobby-ist for Strathclyde region in Brussels or more recently as chief executive of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), it has not always been an easy furrow to plough. As Richard Shaw mentions in his contribution, people expect their local taxes to be spent on local services and politicians are sometimes nervous of the nega-tive media publicity that surrounds involvement in international work, especially if visits abroad are involved.

However, if I retained any scepticism about the impact local government expertise can have in an international context, it was dispelled by the work Philip Amis and I did together on the evaluation of part of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum’s Good Practice Scheme (GPS). In 2006, I was fortunate indeed to be able to travel to South Africa and India to find out first hand how local government services in the UK were interacting with local government services in these two countries. Philip’s contribution to this pamphlet gives some detail of that work and the continuing impact of the scheme.

Many UK councils have been involved in the GPS. Lewisham, Cardiff, Glasgow and Warwick-

shire have all taken part and give a brief idea in their contributions to this pamphlet of the expertise they have been able to offer overseas councils and the impact of the work back at base.

We thought it would be important to hear voices in this pamphlet from outside local government. Philip Amis from the University of Birmingham makes a powerful case for small to medium-sized funding opportunities in inter-national work and the local impact that such schemes can have. We also wanted to showcase the work done by SOLACE Enterprises in inter-national election monitoring and the promotion of good governance. David Kidger demonstrates how the process works, but also points to some exchange of expertise for all countries involved. Barbara Stocking offers a viewpoint from one of the biggest international aid agencies and endorses the need for engagement with local government specifically in terms of capacity building and resource planning.

Above all, we wanted this pamphlet to answer some questions that are often asked about local government’s involvement in international work and we certainly got these answers from our contributors.

Why should local government be involved?First and foremost are the benefits in terms of local government improvement. As the Im-provement and Development Agency for Local Government (IDeA) contribution makes clear, continually improving services to local people is a key objective for local government and gain-ing expertise and innovative ideas from around the world can contribute significantly to this.

Introduction


Professional and personal development op-portunities for politicians and officers also come high on the list. Making a contribution to social cohesion and community development is also mentioned by a number of contributors. Sir Steve Bullock and Ivor Wells describe an innovative project within their relationship with Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality near Johannesburg, which brought a group of young people from Lewisham to a personally challenging and enrich-ing experience in South Africa. However, it is, in Byron Davies’ words the “power of local places in shaping global forces”, that I believe is the idea to develop in terms of international work and local government. Local government, in its work overseas, can shape the wider and deeper politi-cal agendas and objectives that concern national governments. This is the direction we need to be travelling in.

Which councils are involved in international development work?What kind of council is brave and forward-think-ing enough to become involved in international development work? The councils with articles in this pamphlet exhibit strong, innovative political leadership. They also have officers who believe in the impact local government can have and who continue to champion the work inside the council. They demonstrate a broad vision which allows them to develop international strategies which are able to target resources and ensure that outcomes are achieved. These are councils that have realised over the years that they have as much to gain from international involvement as the councils overseas that they work with. Above all, while continuing to focus on govern-ance and service improvement at home, they are outward-looking and open to new ideas.

How can more councils be involved?How can we encourage more local authorities to get involved in international work? Part of the answer is developing sources of funding. The continuation and expansion of the GPS would be one way. Not necessarily by increasing the individual grants, but by increasing the overall

budget. It is now a well-established and well-respected scheme with a range of expertise and models of partnership working.

Greater engagement from the Department for International Development (DfID) with lo-cal government international work would be a second way. The IDeA is working on a strategy to internationalise the highly successful beacon council scheme. This could be a way to help real-ise national and local objectives in terms of local governance and locally delivered services in the international arena. Lucy de Groot’s contribution on improvement in local government empha-sises this point. It is encouraging to note in Peter Russell and Gillian Walsh’s contribution that the Scottish parliament is contributing to the efforts of local authorities in Scotland on the interna-tional scene.

But let’s not underestimate the level of politi-cal and officer effort and will that is required to make international development projects work effectively. Building sustainable partnerships takes time, and a great deal of personal invest-ment. But the message that all the contributions to this pamphlet broadcast loud and clear is not just the satisfaction of contributing to the improvement of governance or service delivery in another country, but also the wide range of benefits to communities and individuals in the UK. I am convinced that the UK is leading the way in terms of local government involvement in international development work but we need to be confident enough to celebrate this work not just to ensure its continuation but also to encour-age others to get involved.

I would like to thank everyone who agreed to contribute to this pamphlet. I hope that in reading it, some local authorities not yet involved in inter-national work might be inspired to make contact with some of the contributors and find out more.

Oonagh Aitken is a former chief executive of Cosla. She has been involved in a range of European and international work within local government. She works at McGill School of Social Work in Montreal and as a consultant in public administration


Meeting as equals: the new South Africaby Steve Bullock, mayor, and Ivor Wells, international partnership manager, London Borough of Lewisham

The relationship between the UK and many parts of the develop-ing world is a long-standing

and complex one. Today’s Commonwealth of Na-tions with 53 member states that once comprised an empire is testament to this. Relationships that have historically been built upon coloni-sation and exploitation have, over the course of time, made the positive transition towards democratisation and tackling underdevelopment, poverty and disease through partnership building and mutual exchange. With a well-established system of democratic engagement and economic development, the UK is well placed to play a pivotal role in addressing the challenges that the developing world faces. It is clear to us that as the sphere of government closest to people, local government has a significant contribution to make in this process.

Local councils in the UK have been very active in this respect in recent decades, and Lewisham is no exception. In the 1980s the council made a number of resolutions calling for an end to the apartheid system in South Africa, and in the early 1990s supported initiatives assisting the coun-try’s transition to multi-racial democracy. Over the past five years, since formalising a friendship agreement with Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Mu-nicipality near Johannesburg, we have embarked on a programme of exchange of best practice in economic development, accessible services, customer care, governance, human resource and performance management and youth engage-

ment. Our partnership with Ekurhuleni, however, is not a one-way street – we meet as equals who can recognise each other’s strengths and weak-nesses, and who can learn together despite being at different stages of the journey.

A different kind of international partnershipAs one of South Africa’s six recently created metros, the service delivery and administrative challenges that Ekurhuleni faces are vast. Form-ing part of what was previously known as the Transvaal, the province which includes Johannes-burg, Pretoria and their urban and rural peripher-ies is now referred to as Gauteng, meaning “place of gold”. The new name draws attention to the significant mineral wealth that the region has contributed to the national economy over the past century. Ekurhuleni was formerly known as the East Rand of Johannesburg and existed in the shadow of Johannesburg, which has always been the heartbeat of the South African economy. Despite this, for almost a century Ekurhuleni was the world’s largest producer of gold and Africa’s most important industrial agglomeration. With over 8,000 industries, 40,000 registered busi-ness and a strong manufacturing and industrial base, Ekurhuleni produces some 23% of the Gross Geographical Product for the Gauteng province.

But the history of South Africa’s economic suc-cesses have often gone hand in hand with a very real and lasting human cost. The most recent census in South Africa, carried out in 2001, put the population of Ekurhuleni at approximately 2.5 million, although it is believed to be closer to 3 million now. According to the Metro’s inte-grated development plan (IDP), a third of the

10 SOLACE Foundation January 2008

Meeting as equals: the new South Africa

population lives below the poverty line and 98% of the poor population are black. Of the 88 wards which make up Ekurhuleni, 71 identify pov-erty alleviation among IDP priority issues and the official unemployment rate stands at 38%, which is significantly higher than the national aver-age of 29%. One of local government’s greatest challenges in South Africa is amalgamating the two economies that apartheid created. With the highest number of informal settlements in the Gauteng province, perhaps nowhere else in the country is the disparity between rich and poor so acutely felt than in Ekurhuleni.

Collaborating on local economic developmentAt first, this might seem a long way from the experiences of a London borough. Or is it? The environments we operate in and the citizenry that we serve may, in many ways, be vastly dif-ferent. But there are many similarities too. Lewi-sham and the wider London sub-region has, over the years experienced high levels of unemploy-ment, skills shortages, declining investment and low levels of business competitiveness. These challenges are very familiar to our South African colleagues and it has taken many years for local authorities, public agencies and businesses in the UK to get to the point where we are today. With funding from the Commonwealth Local Govern-ment Forum’s (CLGF) Good Practice Scheme, both organisations have, over the past two years, embarked on a project entitled “Improving the economy of Ekurhuleni through employment”.

The aim of the project was to exchange best practice in the area of employment and skills development programmes with Lewisham and its partner agencies. However, Lewisham was also able to use itself as a springboard in introduc-ing Ekurhuleni to other regional London-wide agencies, such as the Learning and Skills Council, London Development Agency and JobNet, as well as employment schemes in the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent, Stansted Airport in Essex, the Millennium Peninsula and the Ford Motor Company’s Engineering Centre in Dagen-ham. Ekurhuleni, in turn, used the opportunity to involve the South African Department for Labour

in the project given the potential for better collaboration between national and local govern-ment on creating employment opportunities and engaging with businesses. So far almost 1,000 people have been placed into work through the scheme, which is in the process of being rolled out nationally throughout South Africa.

But Lewisham has also used the project as an opportunity to gain insight into some of the innovative ways in which Ekurhuleni is tackling its economic development challenges. The Metro has a thriving informal economy with numerous small and micro businesses operating in an un-regulated way. With a new political environment and a commitment at all levels to uplift local economies and communities, local government in South Africa is having to respond in creative ways to engage with communities in providing business support. Many small businesses lack the capacity for example to tender for services that the Metro procures. Working specifically with catering and construction firms to provide procurement sup-port, while also working to improve standards, Ekurhuleni’s approach has demonstrated to us that internal mechanisms and procedures can in fact be made more flexible and responsive to the needs of the communities we serve. The South African experience underlines the fact that the barriers to community empowerment are all too often a lack of understanding of culture on behalf of top-down approaches taken by service providers. Ekurhuleni’s more horizontal approach, targeting hard-to-reach groups and incorporating this into corporate procurement policies has high-lighted the challenge that UK local authorities are faced with when attempting to respond creatively to diversity and challenging cultural dynamics in service delivery.

Creating opportunities for disadvantaged young people The technical exchange of best practice between the two councils at both officer and member level has brought about significant benefits on both sides of the partnership. But we also wanted to explore ways in which more vulnerable citizens could benefit from our work in Africa, and an

January 2008 SOLACE Foundation 11

opportunity for a pioneering youth project arose. Young people leaving the British care system receive a wide range of services from their local authority when they make the transition to inde-pendent adulthood. However, local authorities, as “corporate parents” are often poor substitutes for real parents. As well as providing support with housing, training, career development and guid-ance, a parental role is also about exposing our young people to a wider world and challenging them to think big and dream. This is ultimately what the process of leaving care is about – pre-paring our young people for the big, wide world.

In February 2007, 11 young care leavers from Lewisham went to South Africa for two weeks to visit social development projects in Ekurhu-leni and volunteer at a conservation centre. The South East London to South Africa (SELSA) project was the first time that a UK local author-ity has taken care leavers so far and on such an ambitious project. The project, which was about promoting a culture of youth voluntarism and good citizenship, provided a group of disadvan-taged young people a chance to learn news skills, develop teamwork and interpersonal skills, face the challenges that new environments and cross-cultural working can bring, discover the wider world and consider their place within it.

The young people all had to secure educa-tion, employment or training, as well as to take part in the fundraising effort and attend regular meetings to qualify for the project. They suc-ceeded in raising the £32,000 cost of making the project happen, which included donated flights from Virgin Atlantic and the personal support of Sir Richard Branson. Their journey was filmed for a Channel 4 documentary, Into The Big Wide World, which aired in October 2007. The project is also used as a case study as an example of in-novation and creativity in the government’s 2007 white paper on children in care: Time for Change.

The SELSA project has been a pioneer-ing extension to the services that the council provides to a vulnerable client group. SELSA was ultimately about challenging paradigms. Many middle-class youngsters in their early adulthood from stable backgrounds have the opportunity

to travel abroad for gap year experiences. This exposure adds to their confidence, skill set and employability. Such opportunities are simply not available to the vast majority of care leav-ers. SELSA demonstrated that the service we provide to youngsters entering adulthood can be drastically improved by offering a challenging in-ternational experience which builds self-esteem, teaches new skills, showcases different cultures and creates some positive memories of their time as teenagers.

The young people’s South African experience was a positive step forward in achieving the aims of the Every Child Matters principles; their time doing voluntary work and sticking to a regular routine promoted a healthier lifestyle, the group became a safe and supportive environment that challenged attitudes to discrimination and anti-social behaviour, they were empowered to enjoy and achieve great things against a backdrop of many obstacles, they built new and positive relationships and made a contribution to the wider community, and they were challenged to think seriously about their future employment and career plans.

Since returning to the UK, the changes in the lives of some of the young people have been remarkable. Several are now either off ben-efits and working full time, back in education or volunteering as peer mentors to younger looked-after children in Lewisham. As one of the 18-year-old SELSA participants said, “for me, the experience was like being part of a family. The South African way of life has shown me a bigger world and has inspired me to have goals, even though I haven’t had many up until now”. SELSA was not just about seeing Africa, but also about giving something back. Despite the fact that the young people had faced significant hardships, they were encour-aged to take volunteering and service to others seriously. After returning home, Jamaal, 19, has completed his training to be a peer mentor to another looked-after child in Lewisham. He says: “if I can go overseas and volunteer there, then I also need to do something for my own people here in England”.


ConclusionLewisham and Ekurhuleni’s collaborative efforts these past few years demonstrate the point that our efforts do not take place simply in a vacuum of goodwill and enthusiasm, as important as that may be. We are also part of a wider strategic collaboration between our two countries – one that has the commitment of our government leaders and is grounded in a real determina-tion to bring about a better life for all in South Africa’s communities, the empowerment of its citizens and the eradication of the legacies of an unequal past. But the strongest relationships are equal ones where both parties grow and benefit together. While UK local government has a lot to contribute to the international develop-ment agenda, it also has huge amounts to gain from opening its doors to new ideas, creative approaches and the benefits that follow when risks are taken and pioneering ventures encour-aged to flourish.

Sir Steve Bullock is the first directly elected mayor of Lewisham. With experience in both local government and the NHS he uses the knowledge and skills acquired in both to develop partner-ship working across the public sector. He leads the Labour group of London boroughs and on the national stage he chairs the Local Government Employers Organisation. Recently voted amongst the 50 most influential people across UK local government, he was knighted for services to local government in June 2007

Ivor Wells manages the international partner-ships that Lewisham Council has with authorities in Berlin, Paris and Ekurhuleni, South Africa. This includes co-managing a Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) project on skills de-velopment and job brokerage, as well as the UK’s first international volunteering project for young people leaving care. With a background in interna-tional relations, Ivor recently completed a Masters in International Development which included research into South African local government reform, democratic engagement and public participation

Meeting as equals: the new South Africa


International election monitoring: the lowdownby David Kidger, independent election monitor

In looking at the transfer of skills between local governments as a consequence of international election monitoring, a few words about the background to election monitoring would be useful, as

many know that it happens, but do not under-stand the system. Many election observation missions are organised by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), some by the Council of Europe and others by the EU.

The majority of the larger election monitor-ing missions in Europe and Asia are organised by the OSCE through their Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and calls for secondees to participate in the election ob-servation missions are made to the Foreign Office (FCO) about 10 or 12 times a year. The FCO sends about 10% of the total contingent requested, and is seen as a strong supporter of the princi-ples enshrined in the OSCE/ODIHR constitution and treaties.

The range of skills and knowledge brought to an election observation mission is extremely eclectic and varied. SOLACE Enterprises has over 1,000 associates on its register, ranging through (in no particular order) former ambassadors, chief executives, election administrators, army officers, civil servants, lawyers and a mixture of people who have a serious interest in democracy. This last element is paramount whatever the background of the individual.

ExpectationsSome observer applicants want to participate because they have been to the country previ-

ously either as a peace-keeper, peace-builder or as part of the reconstruction of the institutions of that country. All have individual and particular reasons for applying and have differing expecta-tions when chosen for the first time. There are some who do not apply further after their first experience. If observers are expecting to change the way that elections are organised in the country they are visiting then they will be disap-pointed. If they hope to have an influence, then their expectations may be realised.

Observers must be seen to be independent. It is important to differentiate between how observers translate their own view of their inde-pendence and how it appears to others. Observ-ers have a strict code of conduct when observing, and deviation from this code can damage the credibility of the mission, the participating coun-try and the individual. The code does not allow for interference, or direction of election activities in the country being observed.

It is not for observers to seek to impose the standards which may apply in their own country, nor even to compare the two. Observers are there to monitor the application and transpar-ency of the codes and laws of the country they are observing

RealisationsIf a UK observer is or has been a returning officer or an elections administrator they will have an expectation of openness, fairness, impartial-ity in all aspects of election processes in the UK which is mainly left entirely in their hands, without political intervention. This process will bear no comparison to the process adopted in


International election monitoring: the lowdown

many countries, particularly those in the former Yugoslavia, Albania or the newly democratised countries which have emerged from the former Soviet bloc.

At a UK election each polling station generally has a presiding officer and a poll clerk or two. They are appointed independently of politics by the returning officer, who is also independent of any politics. Indeed direct involvement with a candidate or a political party can exclude an individual from appointment to any post within the administration of the election. Electors cur-rently do not have to produce identification, nor do they yet have to sign for their ballot paper. The presiding officer has only to account for the papers issued to the polling station, and in the ballot box.

In most countries where larger scale monitor-ing takes place, this relative simplicity is far from normal. If such a system were to be suggested to the governments or the political parties in the countries being monitored they would reject it out of hand. The parties, of which there are often 12 or 13 on the ballot paper, do not believe that anyone can be free of a political bias – this often stems from ethnicity and cultural differences. These beliefs go back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. I lived in Macedonia for a short time and monitored much of the north-west of the coun-try, nearly all of which was formerly Albanian ter-ritory. In a discussion with my interpreter, I tried to stress that I was not in his country to change anything, but just to watch the application of their rules. I explained that we in the UK had our own problems. He countered by saying that our particular problems went back only 300 years, theirs went back 3,000!

A differing scenarioIn Macedonia, and indeed in many other coun-tries polling station boards, or commissions, are appointed because of their party political al-legiance. This results in 12 or 13 people, each one representing one of the parties standing in the election, comprising the polling station board. Electors generally have to produce identification, which is often examined by each member of the

board before a ballot paper is given to them. The elector usually has to sign for the ballot paper. There are strict rules of procedure the interpreta-tion of which is vocally debated at regular inter-vals. Signing and countersigning of the various documents, and the minutes of the board when settling disputes, is constant. Disputes are often settled by the person who shouts louder than the rest, and to watch and hear this process, when being used to the relative peace and calm of a UK polling station, is disquieting to say the least. Polling stations display signs prohibiting guns.

However, their system works for them. We as monitors watch a voting process which, to many, if not all of the electors in that country, is quite new. It has been developed often with outside help to get the country back to, or at least towards, a democratic society. The inter-national community is there to assist and guide, not to impose its own disparate standards which may well be at odds with the traditions of the country.

Because of the rigorous imposition of the rules, and the involvement of all parties in the resolution of disputes, the chairman of the poll-ing station board has an onerous task, and has many forms to complete at the end of polling. International monitors are trained to have an expectation of correctness and adherence to the highly complex rules by, for instance, a Macedo-nian hill farmer which is greater than we would seek from our own UK presiding officers.

Some monitors unfortunately have a pre-conceived idea that the election, the parties and all involved are corrupt and go out into the field with the sole intention to find fault. Most, however, accept that those appointed by the par-ties to undertake the polling station duties, do so with good intentions. It is obvious that the poll-ing station board members often feel very proud to have been chosen to participate.

Can we transfer skills?Albania is a good case to consider. Albania had for many years counted the ballots at the polling stations, with the result of the poll, known as the protocol, being delivered to the central elections


commission, tabulated there and a provisional result known quite quickly, certainly within a few hours of the polls closing. In 2007, the ballot boxes were delivered to a central location for each “constituency” as in the UK.

The process adopted at this central count emulated that which had taken place at polling stations, with each ballot paper being examined by a representative of each party. The counting was still going on four days later.

This happened simply because of a mismatch of two processes coming together from opposite ends of the spectrum. One being trust in the in-dependence of those administering the election, the other from a belief that everyone is biased towards a party, or ethnic background.

Who are we then to say that our way is the best, or even that our way is better than theirs? We, as monitors, can influence and encourage, we cannot direct.

What we can doMonitors are drawn from over 30 countries, including the US and Russia; their ways are not always our ways and we should respect those dif-ferences and seek to build on the independence of the countries to which we offer assistance. We can and do transfer skills, but they are more the skills of understanding and encouraging open-ness and participation in a wider field, than of how an election should be administered.

When we look at elements of our own proc-ess, the trust in the honesty and transparency of postal voting has been irreparably damaged by a few individuals who thought that they could manipulate the outcome of an election. Now we are comparing dates of birth and signatures on applications and security statements.

We may soon have to sign for our ballot papers. Some of the basic principles embodied in our rules are being challenged, and perhaps eroded. Looking at the turnout in some elections, here in the UK and abroad, we may ourselves have much to learn from others about participa-tion in the democratic process.

The views expressed in this article are those of David Kidger alone and do not represent an official view of either the FCO or SOLACE Enterprises.

David Kidger is a director of David Kidger Associates Ltd, and works with SOLACE Enterprises Limited in fulfilling contracts for international election observation missions for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. He has been involved in elections for over 40 years, and has undertaken 25 missions and has organised many more


Glasgow’s global expansionby Peter Russell and Gillian Walsh

Local government is, by defini-tion, local – so why should coun-cils be involved in international work? And why should they play any role in international develop-ment? These are questions that

Glasgow city council has been asked – and which indeed were asked internally as we set out to create an international strategy for the city.

Two essential facts lay behind these delibera-tions. The first was Professor Michael Parkin-son’s finding that the most competitive cities in Europe are those which have a civic international agenda or “foreign policy”. The second was the realisation that for many UK cities, so-called “international policy” extends no further than EU structural funds. Meanwhile, many cities elsewhere in Europe have extensive international strategies, despite never having been eligible for those funds. So focused international activity by cities contributes to competitive performance and cities outside the UK are looking to increase their global profile.

To try to position Glasgow among those com-petitive cities, three headline objectives were set for our international strategy:� Enhancement of the city’s image, impact and presence in Europe and internationally� Creation of the best possible conditions for Glasgow’s European and international economy to prosper� Ensuring that Glasgow’s urban policy agenda is heard at all levels in Europe

These objectives represent three clear strands of the competitiveness agenda: global reach; eco-nomic advantage; and urban regeneration. These

are all pursued through a number of programmes, for example in international networks such as Eu-rocities, where Glasgow has increased its involve-ment, as well as through twin city activities and inward delegations and outward study visits.

Not least among these activities has been the “Small World” international development programme. This was originally seen as part of the competitiveness programme, for the obvious reason that the notice which it would attract would offer a favourable image to the world, and would build on earlier “altruistic” project work by the city council, for example in the former Yugoslavia and in Russia.

However, it quickly became apparent that the benefits could be wider and could repay further attention, and this was especially the case as opportunities became available for work in Malawi and South Africa. No one could deny that southern Africa, one of the poorest regions on earth, afflicted by HIV/AIDS and famine, is a cause which should be supported by the affluent north. But the task then revolves around how to undertake such work, and whether it is possible to create mutually beneficial outcomes.

How can councils be involved in international work?First, much of this type of work has been made possible through charitable fundraising endeav-ours; like others, Glasgow city council, through the office of the Lord Provost, has been very successful in raising funds for worthy causes. The council was originally invited to participate in a visit to Malawi in 2004, organised by the Univer-sity of Strathclyde and also involving representa-


tives from the NHS Greater Glasgow. The aim was to review projects previously funded through the Malawi Millennium project – an earlier initiative of the university. Having visited Malawi and seen at first hand the desperate poverty and daily struggle for survival endured by so many Ma-lawians, Glasgow city council was quick to react, using the Lord Provost’s charitable resources.

The first project was the construction of a maternity clinic in Lilongwe, undertaken in partnership with these organisations, and others including Bell College, World Emergency Relief, and Glasgow the Caring City, with the council making a significant financial contribution from these charitable funds. During this initial visit, the Lord Provost met with a number of key individuals in Malawian local government and the health and education ministries. This personal leadership at political level has proved invaluable in identifying areas of need where the council can make an effective contribution.

Since 2004, the council has pursued a number of initiatives in partnership with Malawian colleagues. Glasgow has also been successful in attracting funding from the Scottish gov-ernment’s international development fund. This was launched in 2005 to enable Scottish local government to participate in international development activities. The council was awarded funds over a two-year period to pay for shipping containers of useful goods to Malawi. These include donated medical and IT equipment, as well as counterfeit clothing confiscated in the council’s trading standards operations.

In addition to sourcing the finance needed to undertake the various projects with Malawi, the council also relies heavily on a team of dedicated volunteers. In the main, these are council IT employees who are headed up by a former direc-tor of environmental services, now retired. The council also made available a warehouse facility for storing the donated goods.

What has been achieved?Recent projects with Malawi have included the construction of a HIV/Aids clinic and an exten-sion to office facilities at Chikwawa Hospital.

This was undertaken by a group of builders from City Building (Glasgow) LLP working alongside and training local builders. Most of the build-ing materials used were donated by companies contracted by City Building and were shipped to Malawi using funding from the Scottish government’s international development fund. During the same two-week period, a team of IT specialists from Glasgow city council installed IT equipment in four teacher development centres in other smaller towns, as well as providing IT training to teaching staff.

Both projects were initiated and coordinated through the Lord Provost and International Office which manages the council’s links with Malawi. Future projects include continuing the shipment of goods to Malawi, a potential exchange of good practice project in solid waste management with Lilongwe city assembly, further IT initiatives and a sports scholarship project.

The council has also been working with col-leagues from Amathole district municipality (ADM) in South Africa. Following a fact-finding visit by elected members to South Africa in 2004, links were established with ADM. Discussions between the relevant officers from Glasgow and ADM led to a project, aimed at establishing and strengthening Amathole’s Local Economic Development Agency and their urban renewal programme.

This project was funded through the Com-monwealth Local Government Good Practice Scheme (CLGGPS). This was launched in 1998 and enables local government staff from across the Commonwealth to share experiences and good practice and to pool resources by working together on practical projects to address poverty. It is funded by the Department for International Development (DfID). Again, at the heart of the scheme are personal contact, the exchange of technical expertise, joint working and learning and practical activity, within a clearly identified set of aims and objectives. The programme can fund exchange visits, work shadowing, pilot implementation of new initiatives and related activities, within the overall objective of poverty reduction through more efficient local service


provision. The CLGGPS is managed by the Com-monwealth Local Government Forum who have been an invaluable source of advice and guidance in the development of the project.

This project drew on the skills and expertise of both partners to find sustainable solutions to local problems and aimed to impact on other councils in South Africa facing similar situations. During 2005–2007 there were a number of exchanges between Amathole and Glasgow involving work shadowing, presentations, workshops and visits to relevant organisations. Management and coordi-nation of the project was again undertaken by the Lord Provost and International Office.

Future plans for Glasgow’s relationship with Amathole include formalising the relationship between the two local authorities with a techni-cal partnership. It is anticipated that this would facilitate the drawing down of further funding from the CLGGPS and help to sustain contact between officers.

Why should local government get involved?According to the UK Local Government Alliance for International Development, the benefits to local authorities of working in international development: making a global difference; improving service delivery; staff development and training; and promoting stronger commu-nity partnerships. The following examples are Glasgow’s experiences of the benefits gained in southern Africa.

Making a global difference:� Glasgow has helped the UK meet internation-ally agreed targets such as the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals

Improving service delivery: � IT and building trades staff involved in the project reported an improvement in partnership skills, managing relationships and problem- solving � Sharing information and experience with overseas partners helps local authorities improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of their own services

Staff development and training:� Council officers who worked on challenges associated with resolving technical issues in Amathole reported an improvement in their own understanding of different cultures. This has enabled them to work more effectively within their own community� Staff appreciated the innovative training op-portunities and experienced an improvement in a number of subject areas ranging from manage-ment development to practical skills

Promoting stronger community partnerships:� The project included visits to a number of community partnerships in Glasgow. The interest shown by the Amathole officers in the work being undertaken by local people encouraged those involved to look more closely at their achieve-ments and helped to boost civic pride, commu-nity self-esteem and personal confidence

Glasgow’s work in southern Africa shows that councils can make a real impact in the lives of some of the poorest people in the world. At the same time, councils can increase the global impact and profile of their area. Moreover, they will increase the human capital of their staff, who will be more resourceful and adaptable in their everyday jobs on their return. Finally, councils can create a benefit for their citizens and their communities which can increase confidence and help to combat social exclusion.

Taking these win–win advantages into ac-count, local government should not be asking why councils should be involved in international development work but, rather, “why not?”

Peter Russell is deputy adviser to the Lord Provost of Glasgow and was formerly principal of its International Office. In this capacity he was responsible for the development and implementa-tion of Glasgow’s International Strategy 2004–07

Gillian Walsh is an international officer in Lord Provost & International Office, Glasgow City Council. She is responsible for the council’s “Small World” international development programme

Glasgow’s global expansion


Working without money: CLGF and DfIDby Philip Amis, University of Birmingham

At the International Develop-ment Department (IDD) at the University of Birmingham, we run masters’ programmes in international development and in poverty reduction and develop-

ment management. These programmes encour-age and facilitate students to do fieldwork in the developing world as part of their dissertation. This is an excellent opportunity for students from the North – mainly the UK, Europe, Japan and the USA – to gain some welcome hands-on experi-ence in the developing world. Recent interesting examples include considering the role of radio stations in civic education in Kenya and evaluat-ing the impact of US policy on Uganda’s HIV/Aids policies.

When advising my students I always warn them that I have two experiences of develop-ment and access to government sources. My most recent is working for either multilateral (UN and the World Bank) agencies or bilateral agencies (DfID and the Danish aid agency Danida) as a well-paid consultant. In these cases access to government individuals, interviews and the like, was usually organised by some official but was basically guaranteed because I was associ-ated with agencies which had large amounts of money. Nobody wanted to talk to me as an individual, but they were very interested in the funding agency and mechanism that at any given point I might be representing (or fronting). Thus my programme was effortlessly organised and I was able to glide between meetings.

However, this is not the only way of working that I have experienced. The alternative is most

clear when doing research. Very few busy govern-ment or aid officials are interested in talking to someone doing “research”. Why should they? What do they have to gain? They may deny this but, sadly, all my experience of 20 years confirms it.

The results can be interesting; my own doctor-al thesis would not have been so focused on the conditions of the residents of Kibera in Nairobi (now apparently the largest slum settlement in sub-Saharan Africa) if some government official had talked to me. In the end, there was nowhere for me to go to find information but to work directly and talking to people living in the slum. I should just note here that fieldworkers should try to get the informed consent of the people they talk to and interview: ethics in research is extremely important.

Working for the CLGF (Commonwealth Local Government Forum)However, the work of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) is an interesting and a useful contrast. One of the key features of the CLGF work is that it is poorly funded and therefore has very limited resources to offer anybody to collaborate or form partnerships. The Commonwealth is still a highly respected and powerful door opener. The result is that people work with CLGF primarily because they want to do so, rather than because they are “bribed” to do so.

This summer (2007) I have been involved with CLGF in supporting a workshop to review the “Aberdeen Agenda” in Uganda. The Aberdeen Agenda comprises 12 principles of local demo-cratic governance that have been ratified by all of


the Commonwealth member states. As an outsider – and having worked extensively in Uganda for other development agencies – what was so striking about the process was the extent to which the study was locally driven by the Ministry of Local Government, Uganda Local Government Associations and the other stakeholders. Indeed the workshop was clearly locally owned and organised and unusually, in such an aid-dependent country as Uganda, did not feel that it was a donor-driven event. There was an impressively frank exchange of views between the study consultants and other local stakeholders.

A similar example is the CLGF good practice scheme which partners UK local authorities with local authorities in developing countries. A good example is the partnership between Oxfordshire county council and NkonKobe municipality in South Africa. This involves a range of exchange visits and capacity-building exercises primarily around issues of heritage tourism and conver-sation. Such schemes work best when you get practitioners from both partners working side by side and exchanging very practical knowledge “so you solve this problem this way”. This is a long way from the flummery of grand twinning arrangements. There is no question that the fact that individuals do the activities on a voluntary basis explains this enthusiasm. The CLGF has very limited funds to support these activities.

Some reflections on international aidIt is interesting to think about development part-ners in terms of two dimensions: resource avail-ability and reputation. Thus one might charac-terise some multilateral and bilateral agencies as often in the high-resource/low-reputation box. The best agencies and depending upon context are sometimes in the high-resource/high-reputa-tion box. DfID since 1997 has been moving in this direction. Overall, the NGO (non-governmental organisation) community could be located in the low-resource category, varying between low and high reputation. The CLGF is in the low-resource/high-reputation box. This is a very enviable posi-tion and accounts for the very high levels of local

ownership that the CLGF’s activities achieve.I am not here implying that everybody should

work on absurdly minimal budgets but am sug-gesting the importance of small- and medium-sized funding arrangements. Unfortunately DfID is finding this increasingly hard to implement. DfID is under considerable pressure to reduce administration costs, while increasing its overall spend. New methods of disbursing aid (such as SWAPs and general budget support) are to some extent a response to these pressures.

At IDD we recently carried out a large evalu-ation of budget support as a new aid modality*. One of the main findings of this study was that donors should have diverse funding mechanisms. There are concerns within DfID that pressures to spend more money with less staff may under-mine the generally impressive reputation that DfID has developed since 1997. This reputation has been primarily based on the quantity and technical ability of its advisers in the field. The dangers are that these pressures to spend more money with less could move DfID back towards a high-resource/low-reputation position – a position that perhaps characterises the EC’s aid programme. The challenge is to be able to reconcile these competing trends but it seems that recognising the importance of working with relatively small amounts of funds is an important part of the process.

* Websitesgov.uk/aboutdfid/performance/evaluation-news.oecd.org/dac/evaluation)

Philip Amis is senior lecturer in the Interna-tional Development Department, University of Birmingham. He has worked extensively on urban development and poverty, local government and aid management both as an academic researcher and as a consultant. He has experience of both sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

Working without money: CLGF and DfID


Embracing international approachesby Byron Davies, chief executive, Cardiff Council

The increasingly interdepend-ent world in which we are living presents huge opportunities for local government. It seems that barely a day goes by when we are not reminded that the world

is changing. Globalisation, new migration flows, demographic challenges: all of these insist that local government develops new ways of doing business, in economic, social and environmental arenas. One thing remains certain throughout: local communities are profoundly affected by global forces.

This year’s SOLACE annual conference was held in Cardiff in October and explored some of the themes connected with a thinking global, acting local agenda. Through my role as presi-dent of SOLACE for 2007-08 and vice president of the European Federation of Local Authority Chief Executives (UDiTE), I have witnessed this agenda becoming a mainstream element of the work of local authorities across England, North-ern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

It was therefore encouraging that Hazel Blears, the secretary of state for Communities and Local Government, gave the SOLACE confer-ence a clear message in responding to questions relating to the relevance of internationalism to local government. She had no hesitation in con-firming that it was a mainstream responsibility of local authorities to embrace internationalism and to assist in managing the economic, environmen-tal and social affects of global forces on behalf of their citizens and communities.

Local government practitioners have a com-mitment, above all, to their citizens and com-

munities, and this is served through engagement with the wider world. There is no doubt that sig-nificant benefits can be gained through allowing local government practitioners to look outwards and to use their expertise in sharing best practice to assist in the ongoing development work of international partners. But sceptics remain. How, then, can we best counter the argument that developing an international agenda is merely an optional extra for local authorities?

One practical example is the role that Cardiff, as the capital city for Wales, has established for itself as a player on the international stage for a number of years.

PartnershipsThe city has developed international partnerships with cities in Europe, China, India and the USA. Cardiff council’s international policy, which was published in 2006, focuses on the development of city-to-city links, strategic city networks and transnational cooperation, and seeks to go be-yond traditional twinning links in furthering the city’s economic connectivity and competitive-ness. This approach focuses on the importance of developing people, sharing best practice, and influencing trade opportunities through innova-tive approaches to service delivery.

The international policy also identifies priority cities based on an assessment matrix linked to a number of key criteria. This assists in establish-ing the potential for joint projects that can draw on EU and other funding sources to help share knowledge and experiences, and to turn the chal-lenge of globalisation into something positive for local people and the business community.


It is an approach which has, to date, delivered significant economic, social and environmental regeneration benefits to the city. I believe that some of the work we have done in Cardiff helps to provide an answer to the question of why local authorities should work internationally.

The economic arenaIn a globalised world, new trade and investment opportunities abound. With the interconnected nature of national economies, small changes in one country can have significant effects in another. Local authorities with a broad vision and a pioneering attitude will be able to reap the benefits of imaginative approaches to interna-tional projects.

The regeneration agenda that has been progressed in Cardiff over the past 20 years is an excellent example of this. When working on plans for the regeneration of Cardiff Bay, the city drew on expertise gained through its work with the American city of Baltimore. Our partners in the US had considerable experience in maritime regeneration and Cardiff was able to learn from them. Similarly, Cardiff’s work with the Canadian city of Toronto was instrumental in the success-ful development of the Millennium Stadium at the heart of the city centre, and we continue to work closely with international partners to exchange expertise and knowledge.

In economic terms, one of the key strands of Cardiff’s approach to furthering the city’s international activities involves a promotion of the city’s assets – among them the Millen-nium Stadium, the Wales Millennium Centre and Cardiff University – to enhance Cardiff’s growing reputation as an international capital city with a genuinely global outlook. Ongoing develop-ments, such as the International Sports Village in Cardiff Bay and the £675m St David’s 2 initiative, a major retail, leisure and residential develop-ment opening in 2009, will further contribute to Cardiff’s development as a world city.

The social arenaThe broad diversity of the UK’s towns and cities necessitates a clear awareness of international

social matters among local government practi-tioners. New migration flows are combining with changing patterns of consumption to create an array of challenges and opportunities for local government. World events echo in UK neigh-bourhoods and the potential implications for public services are significant.

In order to fully play its part in this agenda, Cardiff Council has been involved in the Com-monwealth Local Government Forum’s good practice scheme, which supports the exchange of experience and expertise between local au-thorities across the Commonwealth. The scheme promotes the delivery of local authority services, particularly to poor and disadvantaged groups. As part of the scheme, Cardiff is partnered with the city of Cochin in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The two cities have worked closely together to identify sustainable solutions to is-sues relating to economic development, tourism, master planning and waste management. The relationship continues to grow in strength and both partners are committed to sharing good practice that will inform their respective ap-proaches to working with their own citizens and communities.

The environmental arenaThe environmental agenda impacts upon a number of issues relevant to local government. Once again, we see a need for local practitioners to look to the world stage to tackle the issues which impact upon their own communities.

The issue of climate change is an example of a key policy area in which local decisions can have profound global significance. Furthermore, initia-tives to improve the environments of our local communities can be enhanced through learning from our international partners.

In Cardiff, we have welcomed the recent in-vestment by a Californian company, G24i, which makes lightweight, flexible solar cells to provide sustainable energy sources. The company has sit-ed its £60m production plant in the city and this major investment will create 300 highly skilled jobs, with the aim of producing the UK’s first zero-carbon manufacturing facility. This inter-

Embracing international approaches


national company, with its combination of high skills, environmental sustainability and global presence, is representative of the type of modern business that Cardiff is seeking to attract.

Localism and globalism: reaching a tipping pointAt the SOLACE annual conference, Blears declared herself to be “really inspired by the ‘lo-calist movement’ we’re enjoying today”. We are certainly seeing the emergence of a policy proc-ess to which a genuinely bottom-up approach is required. In local government systems across the world, local communities are influencing local authorities, with this impact passing upwards to central government. In addition to this, the prin-ciple of subsidiarity requires that decisions within the EU should be taken at the closest practical level to the citizen.

The American academic Malcolm Gladwell published a book in 2000 in which he explores the phenomenon of The Tipping Point. The book discusses the spread of ideas and aims to identify reasons why some ideas become social phenom-ena, whilst others seem to wither on the vine. The answer lay in the attainment of critical mass. Gladwell concluded that when an idea takes root among a particular number – and a particular type – of people, its momentum makes it unstop-pable. It reaches a “tipping point”, beyond which its spread is unstoppable.

There is a powerful message to be drawn from this work. The “tipping point” approach is of considerable relevance to local government, as it is, above all, concerned with the manner in which local thinking can create a global impact. Ideas which at first seem small can lead to profound changes, and things happening at grassroots level today can have the potential to change the world tomorrow. From a local government perspective, this illustrates how citizens and communities can make a real impression upon the global stage.

We are living in devolutionary times. To those who claim that the needs of a locality cannot be served through working in the wider world, a straightforward response can be given: never

underestimate the power of local places in shap-ing global forces. Far from being the “helpless victims” of globalisation, citizens and communi-ties are increasingly taking control of their own destinies and playing their own part in shaping the bigger picture. This bottom-up approach has underpinned the international policy initiatives that we have taken forward in Cardiff and it will continue to do so as the international agenda grows in significance for all of us.

Byron Davies is chief executive of Cardiff Council. He is president of SOLACE UK and vice president of the European Federation of Local Authority Chief Executives (UDiTE). For two decades Byron has been at the heart of the regeneration and transformation of Cardiff. He has made a contribu-tion to the professional development of public services as a long-serving chief executive, and is continuing this work through his role as president of SOLACE UK


Good, local administration aids better service deliveryby Barbara Stocking, director, Oxfam GB

Local government in the developed worldI come from a background in healthcare, from inside and out-side government systems. Before joining Oxfam I was the south-

east England regional director for the National Health Service, responsible for the health serv-ices for eight million people and with then (and it would be much more now) a budget of £5bn a year. The experience only reinforced in me the need to have a management and delivery system in place that stretches from top to bottom. Of course, central government in any country must define the nature of the system, how it is to be financed and what it is to deliver whether this is for health, education or waste disposal. However, anyone who thinks that the services can be deliv-ered without a more local management structure in place will soon learn a hard lesson. Whether it is provided by government, non-government agencies or the private sector, you need people at a more local level to assess needs (for example how many children are there, of what ages) and decide on appropriate locations, volumes and assess quality of services.

Different countries have taken different ap-proaches about what they want to hold to the centre and what they want to devolve – whether that is in resources or in decisions. There is no one right way although you can be sure that unless the decision-making and resource alloca-tion decisions are aligned you are in trouble, as a mismatch of expectations results. There are also a variety of models of political governance sometimes local government is elected, some-

times, as was the case when I was in the NHS, the local administration was an appointed system, as part of the civil service, responsible to central government. So, again, there can be variety, but there has to be clarity about authority.

The need in developing countriesLocal administration is as vital in developing countries because that is the way the services will be delivered. Yet in visits to these regions this is often where I see a yawning gap in local capacity, especially, but not only, in countries coming out of conflict, where state building is so critical. At best, support goes in to help central government develop. There may be money, technical support and perhaps accompaniment for central government yet local government is badly neglected. Then people seem surprised about what happens. In one African country that has put a lot of effort into healthcare and trained a significant number of doctors and nurses, I visited a health centre with a doctor and a few beds. The doctor had been there a month and was thinking of leaving (all his predecessors had left similarly). Why? because he could do so little. There was a very poor drugs distribu-tion system so he ran out of basic drugs quickly, there was no budget to employ cleaners. There was no house for him in the village. For him and many like him to stay you need a system which is overseeing the totality of requirements which make up delivering a good service. Similarly, in a conversation in the central education ministry in Afghanistan, it was clear that the donor budget was grossly under spent because there was sim-ply no way of spending the money sensibly. At


the provincial level, there were virtually no staff (just one person for the whole education system for one province I visited) who could assess needs, decide where schools should be built and make some estimate of the numbers of teachers needed. Without this information, those in the central ministry had little way of knowing how many teachers needed to be trained and what sort of supporting policies might be needed to get them to teach at local level.

Getting the funding rightAbove all, local government is needed so that the people receive the services they need. If that is achieved it fosters a belief in government and its ability to deliver, an especially important belief in countries emerging from conflict and in failed states. Also for the donors they need to have con-fidence that their money will be spent and spent well if they are prepared to maintain their support in the long term. Instead what often happens is that donors only fund short term, the money does not deliver for the people, the government knows the funding is short term and unlikely to be sustained so it does not invest in the training of hundreds of doctors and nurses because they are concerned about how they will pay them in future years. Recently, led by the UK govern-ment, there has been a welcome development of donor governments committing to long-term sustainable financing when a developing country puts forward a plan, in this case for its healthcare system. For this to become a virtuous cycle rather than the more usual catch-22, it will require that the plans include substantial investment in local administration. Good management, especially at local level is, in my view, grossly under-rated in development thinking. It needs to be tackled as donor aid increases or once again there will be serious disappointment in how aid can truly help support development.

Barbara Stocking joined Oxfam GB, a humani-tarian, developing and campaigning agency, as director in 2001. She has led Oxfam’s response to humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, for the Tsunami and the Pakistan Earthquake


Bringing people back to basicsby Jane Knight, councillor, Warwick District Council and One World Link

A new kind of partnership is slowly growing at local govern-ment level. It is one with po-tential benefits for local citizens and council staff in different parts of the world. These new

international partnerships are between councils not just within Europe but also in Africa, Asia and Latin America. They promote mutual support and understanding between citizens and officers. Their ultimate aims are to improve efficiency, to encourage collaboration on global issues such as poverty and environmental degradation, to strengthen local democracy and to raise global awareness. They also test the skills of all kinds of professionals and bring them back to basics.

New approachOne example of this new approach is to be found in Warwickshire. Warwick District, Warwickshire County and Leamington Town Councils are all linked with Bo City Council in Sierra Leone as part of a 26-year relationship (called the One World Link), which was originally started by members of the local communities in Bo and Warwick. It was supported from the outset by Warwick District Council (WDC). Bo City Council came on board in 2004 when Sierra Leone had its first truly democratic local elections since the 1970s.

Over the past five years, since the end of the civil war in Sierra Leone, local council involve-ment has slowly grown as the benefits to both partners have become clearer. Towards the end of 2007, waste management and finance officers from Warwick went to Bo, and Bo City’s chief ad-ministrator visited Warwick. These visits have set

the stage for a long-term plan of co-operation. On top of this, Leamington Spa is now officially twinned with Bo at council level.

The origins of a global partnership between local actorsSo what started this innovative approach to strengthening local government? And what are the expected outcomes? It all began in 1981, when the One World Link was set up to try and foster understanding of life in an African country and of the very different culture and environ-ment in which Africans operate. The emphasis was on individual relationships and practical matters, rather than fund-raising and aid. The initiative was supported and assisted by district councillors, but there was no formal civic link initiated at that stage. The informal relationship has continued ever since. However, until 2004, the local council in Bo was composed of central government appointees and they were not very interested in the link.

The war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s was tragic not only because of the human cost but also because of the destruction of the country’s fragile infrastructure. Throughout the war the friendship link survived, but without much prac-tical exchange. So in 2001, after the ceasefire, the mayor of Leamington, decided to find out if the partnership could be restarted and whether the local councils could play a stronger role. Then with support from the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF), the deputy town clerk of Bo visited Warwick. He met officers from the district and town and county councils. This opened up fruitful contacts in Warwickshire


County Council (WCC), which later employed an officer of Sierra Leonean origin to explore poten-tial partnerships.

The partnership develops In 2004, a Warwick district councillor partici-pated in a CLGF workshop in Freetown, which was organised to enable Sierra Leone’s new local council mayors and administrators to work out plans for the future and develop the resources needed to implement those plans. This was fol-lowed by the county council approving a policy to explore a development partnership with Bo. Warwick District Council also agreed (across the parties) in principle to one of their members taking up and promoting their partnership with Bo council as long as there was no cost to council tax payers.

Further visits were made to Bo to investigate possibilities for cooperation. Water and waste management and financial management were identified as themes for action. As a result, a survey of Bo’s water needs has been carried out by one of the Warwickshire County Council’s partners (ARUP) and a waste management audit has been done by a Bo City Council staff member. Both showed that any development work will be starting nearly from scratch. There is only one vehicle to collect rubbish in Bo, a town of 170,000 people, and water has to come to town in a tanker from a river seven miles away or from wells. It is also evident that not many people in Bo are willing to pay local council tax. Staff in Bo’s city hall are barely trained in financial management. Electricity supply is irregular and IT is very limited. Only mobile telephones work; landlines are virtually defunct. Roads are poor and only a few main streets are paved. Wages are sometimes not paid to council workers for two months at a time.

So was it possible for council officers from UK to really make a difference? The answer looks positive following a visit in November 2007 to Bo by an accounts manager and sustainable waste manager from WCC, the chief environmental health officer from WDC and the ex-president of the Royal Town Planning Institute. They spent

two weeks learning about the implementation of their specialised service areas in Bo City Council and agreed a three-year action plan with Bo. With such a severe lack of the resources they are used to, the officers had to go back to the very basics of their respective professions. All ended up being convinced that this focus on fundamen-tal matters and principles enhanced their skills. Meanwhile, Bo City Council and the mayor were glad to have affirmation of their plans to serve the people of Bo.

If funding can be found for an initial waste management project for Bo City (and this looks promising), hopefully the full action plan will be initiated in the next three years. Even if no money is forthcoming, there are procedures and practices which can be changed in Bo which will improve accounting, sanitation and waste management.

What has been learnt from the Bo-Warwick partnership?Exchange visits are essential for fostering per-sonal friendships and for building up understand-ing and trust. The Warwick–Bo experience has shown that expectations at each end of a long-distance partnership can be different, and prior sensitisation of visitors from either side is vital. Thanks to the preparatory work done in advance of their November visit, when the officers arrived in Bo they were ready and willing to listen to and learn from Bo colleagues. The action plan was led throughout by Bo’s mayor and Bo officers’ recommendations.

One World Link has developed strong roots in local schools and community organisations in the UK and in Sierra Leone, and benefits from many strong individual relationships between members of the two communities. The local authority partnership is therefore built on firm and sustain-able foundations. It is not just a technical link but has significant educational potential for those concerned and for the community at large.

Institutional supportThis partnership has been supported by the CLGF and the Local Government Association in the UK.


Bo has been working with the CLGF and with their government Decentralisation Secretariat officer and the Ministry of Local Government. The British High Commission and British Council in Freetown have also provided welcome support. There have been negotiations between a consortium of Sierra Leone officials and the World Bank, EU (European Union) and the UK’s Department for International Development about funding initiatives which come out of the officer exchange visits.

There is also now a national task force for Sierra Leone set up by CLGF and the UK Local Government Alliance for International Develop-ment. As well as Warwickshire, Hull, West Dun-bartonshire, Southwark and Hastings councils all sit on the task force. Developing partnerships with overseas councils is slowly being recog-nised in local authority circles as an important element in staff development. As well as the kind of benefits described above, such partnerships also help council staff to better understand the backgrounds of people in their local community who have come from overseas.

ConclusionIf the world really is a global village, local links between its people will play a vital role in en-couraging positive attitudes to different cultures. Cooperation and partnership are increasingly recognised as vital ingredients in the sustainable development of the planet.

Jane Knight is a councillor on Warwick District Council. She spent 17 years working for Oxfam. She was the first Link visitor to Bo City, Sierra Leone in 1981

Bringing people back to basics


The mutual benefits of an international alliance by Lucy de Groot, executive director, IDeA and Hamish Dibley, senior policy analyst, IDeA

Since its incep-tion in 1999 the Improvement and Develop-ment Agency (IDeA) has been

at the forefront of local government change. Many of the challenges faced by English local authorities are mirrored by their overseas counter-parts. These include the impacts of globalisation, economic and demographic, climate change and rapid rate of technical transformation.

At local level this requires focused leader-ship, strategic partnership working and effec-tive community engagement to tackle complex cross-cutting issues. While the Agency’s remit is to support improvement across English local government, the IDeA has sought to engage with partners in seeking to learn from and spread good local government practice internationally. Working particularly with our partner organisa-tion in England, (previously the Local Govern-ment International Bureau and now the Local Government International and European Unit based at the LGA) we have developed comple-mentary roles. The value of working interna-tionally is recognised and shared by many local authorities across the UK. A common narrative of international cooperation is that it allows local governments in different countries the opportu-nity to learn, develop and share practice through exposure to other systems and ways of working.

The UK Local Government Alliance for Interna-tional Development’s survey of councils in 2004 found that nearly two-thirds (65% ) questioned were involved in partnership arrangements with

countries in eastern Europe and throughout the developed world1. Over a third of respondents said that they were involved in some form of collaboration working with countries in the developing world. Types of partnerships range from town twinning to economic development and good practice exchanges.

Relationships between local government here and abroad go much wider than this. In addition to relationships between councils, there are many study visits and learning programmes involving individuals and groups. There are a variety of programmes to share methodologies and ap-proaches. Increasingly there is recognition that there is crucial learning from south to north rather than some of the traditional assumption that the developed world has all the answers. Examples of such south to north exchanges include participa-tory budgeting (pioneered in Brazil) and other innovative forms of local democratic engage-ment. Practitioner learning exchanges also involve political models such as elected mayors as well as management and accountability techniques such as performance management. At an even broader level, policy approaches have for many years ricocheted around the world, from public service agreements (PSAs) to best value and the ‘new public management’ to ‘reinventing government’.

Below, we outline some examples as to how local government’s international activities can contribute to sectoral improvement in general.

1. Rosalie Callway/UK Local Government Alliance for International De-velopment (LGIB), UK local authorities and international development: 2004 survey results analysis (LGIB: London, 2004), p. 6. Core members of the UK Local Government Alliance for International Development are the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF), IDeA, LGA, SOLACE and the National Association of Local Councils (NLGC).


The mutual benefits of an international alliance

Generic Local Government BenefitsThere are a number of purposes for and benefits of international relationships for English local government many of which have direct relevance to local concerns, service delivery and councils’ core purpose. These include learning from good practice, helping spread good practice as part of international development and increasing aware-ness of global issues of relevance for dealing with issues such as global economic competitiveness and community cohesion. There are benefits in terms of broadening perspectives, confronting the not invented here view and challenging taken-for-granted assumptions. Innovation and creative solutions to difficult problems come from stimu-lating ideas for new approaches to service delivery and personal development for individuals.

Local authorities are charged with delivering continuous performance improvement, adapt-ing to changing circumstances, responding to rising expectations for greater personalisation of service within tight resource constraints. International links demonstrate a willing-ness to learn from good practice of others and share information and experience in a number of service delivery areas. This can allow local authorities to develop technical assistance and compare approaches to solving particular problems.

We must also recognise the importance of global and European factors. Globalisation means local authorities operate in an increasingly international and inter-dependent landscape. Councils benefit from engaging and understand-ing the wider world, whether the impact is the effect of international competition on local busi-nesses and the local economy, the local effects of climate change or dealing with the effects of migration.

The influence of the European Union is an-other important factor as EU directives impact directly on local government activities. For ex-ample, around 80% of EU environmental legisla-tion affects local authorities. And inter-municipal cooperation also benefits officer and member development. International cooperation can provide for innovative training and development

opportunities for officers and members alike.2 Until recently, English local government

improvement has tended to be dominated by top-down drivers such as inspection, regula-tion, target setting and financial incentives and constraints. Increasingly though central govern-ment is seeking to devolve more responsibility for improvement back to local government. And in doing so there is more onus on internal drivers emanating from within the sector. Conversely, in many European countries there is less emphasis placed upon external evaluation of local public services. Take community engagement and empowerment approaches. Here many good in-ternational practices exist which are transferable to a UK context, such as the developed practice of participatory budgeting in many countries.

Experience shows that IDeA activities which support local government improvement are often of real interest to local governments in other countries. Alongside the LGA European and International Unit, the IDeA works in collabora-tion with and through the Council of Europe and the British Council to make aspects of the local government improvement agenda available to the international community. This improvement agenda is driven by the adoption of success-ful and innovative approaches that the Agency offers. The following short case studies illustrate cooperation between the IDeA and its partners.

Case Study 1: Peer WorkingPeer Reviews which are a core part of the IDeA’s sector driven approach to improve-ment allow for experienced and accredited local government councillors and officers to support and challenge individual councils to improve themselves. The IDeA conducts both council-wide and service specific peer reviews. Since 2000 more than 400 reviews have been delivered, with satisfaction ratings of 85%. Last year, there were 650 experienced mem-

2. The LGA European and International Unit, formerly the Local Gov-ernment International Bureau (LGIB) leads on work with the European Union (EU) and other international bodies, and provides information and support to councils for them to deal effectively with the EU and international regulation that affects local services. The LGIB became the LGA European and International Unit in January 2007. For more information see http://international.lga.gov.uk/index.html


ber and officer peers working in over 170 local authorities, nearly 50% of all English councils. Bringing together peers, fellow practitioners who can relate to each other on an equal basis, to challenge and share experiences have been one of the IDeA’s most effective mechanisms for change. The methodology, but also the broader principle of learning from each other can be equally applied to international relations be-tween local government in different countries.

There have been some examples of a cross-country approach to such reviews, including reciprocal reviews between Westminster City Council and the city of Baltimore in Maryland, which had developed the ‘citistat’ approach to managing and improving its performance�. In late 2006 the IDeA assisted the Council of Europe with a European Union (EU) funded project to support local democracy and institutional capac-ity building with the roll-out of a peer review process in Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia. The IDeA helped facilitate the peer training in these eastern European countries via a series of one-day workshops which included access to a number of senior UK local government officers.

The IDeA’s Peer Clearing House has also provided support for the creation of a practition-er’s database for the Local Government Good Practice Scheme. The Good Practice Scheme funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) and operated by the Com-monwealth Local Government Forum is intended to support the exchange of experience and expertise between English local government and local authorities in developing countries4. Indeed, from the evaluation conducted of the capacity-building work internationally, there is a clear understanding of the role that peer elected members and officers perform in the context of local government improvement and how exchanges of expertise can improve the capacity of politicians and officers5. The IDeA has also been working with Warwick Business School on

� See http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/news/citistat/index.html4 For information on the Local Government Good Practice Scheme see http://gps.clgf.org.uk/� Philip Amis and Oonagh Aitken, Commonwealth Local Government Forum Good Practice Scheme Evaluation (June 2006).

translating peer review methods and practices for Italian local authorities.

Case Study 2: Beacons SchemeThe IDeA enables councils to share good practice through the national Beacons scheme. Beacons provide a focal point for good practice across a wide range of services via publications, seminars, workshops and conferences, peer support and mentoring. Research by the University of War-wick found that approaching 80% of participants who attended a Beacon event went on to imple-ment improvement in their own local authority.

Since 2005/06 in partnership with the Organi-sation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe, the IDeA has helped develop a Beacon Scheme for municipali-ties in Bosnia and Herzegovina which was inspired and created with the assistance from the English Beacon Scheme. In terms of the assessment and selection process the scheme is closely modelled to the English variant, with its aims being to acknowledge and promote good practice6.

There have also been research visits to the Beacons Scheme from countries including Holland, Finland, South Africa, Serbia, Japan and Australia. With particular reference to the Beacons scheme, the opportunities of working with municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina are that it helps to raise the Beacons scheme’s international profile internationally and with central government departments, while offering the potential for the interchange of new ideas and perspectives. Conversely, working cross-culturally provides its own unique challenges, and experience teaches us that when working internationally there is a need to adapt, rather than adopt wholesale schemes to the different policy environments.

Both case studies demonstrate the genuine exchange of trans-national learning. In particular, English local government can continue to learn from countries with different democratic engage-ment, constitutional, governance and service

6 OSCE, Beacon Scheme, Bosnia and Herzegovina Beacon Scheme Pro-spectus 200�-2006 (OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, August 200�). Testimony to its continual success September 2007 saw the launch of the Third Round of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Beacon Scheme.


approaches. The greatest value of international working is the opportunity that such projects allow practitioners to engage and exchange ideas directly with counterparts in the respective partner authorities.

One benefit is the importance of such partner-ships for mid-career UK local government officer development. In particular, many UK local gov-ernment officials benefit from a greater under-standing of improvement and development work and the historical, political and social context within which they operate.

Conclusion and RecommendationsThe overarching lesson to be learnt from the international activities that local authorities and the IDeA have been engaged in, is that it is vital to recognise such work as a two-way process. With the advent of globalisation, English local government has much to gain from the two-way exchange of experience, ideas and good practice internationally. That said the limitations of spreading English experience of ‘what works’ in local government improvement have to be ac-knowledged. It is not possible to simply transfer domestic approaches and techniques into differ-ent cultures, regimes, governance and politics. When working cross-culturally there are ground rules that need to be established about how to effectively engage host partners and manage expectations of what can be achieved. Some of these cultural issues can exist in any shape or form when working across English councils and across the UK. International cooperation presents a useful opportunity for English local authorities to share experiences whilst learning from new approaches outside our daily experience.

Key Messages� International work is a two-way process: it is important to learn and develop as well as share prevailing practice through experiencing other systems and ways of working� Importance of peer working for promoting im-provement in these complex and changing times� Need to think and learn internationally, particu-larly in the context of globalisation

� Learning new approaches – opportunity to see how robust domestic approaches are in different circumstances� Provide for the opportunity to challenge exist-ing approaches while new perspectives allow a re-assessment of our own methods � Recognise the challenges involved in import-ing domestic practice to countries with different cultures, institutional regimes, governance and political arrangements � Need to establish ground rules on both sides over effective engagement and the management of expectations

Lucy de Groot is executive director of the Improve-ment and Development Agency (IDeA) Her career has ranged across the civil service, local govern-ment and the voluntary and community sectors, including roles as director of public services in HM Treasury, chief executive of Bristol City Council and head of policy for the London Borough of Lewisham

Hamish Dibley is a policy analyst with the Im-provement and Development Agency’s (IDeA’s) policy unit.The Policy Unit’s remit is to lead Agency thinking on cross-cutting policy issues; offer a policy briefing and analysis service; provide strategic support in developing new and evaluat-ing existing products and services and offer sup-port to the LGA in lobbying Government and other agencies, where relevant to improvement issues

AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to thank Oonagh Aitken, Richard Masters, Ruby Dixon, Alison Gardiner, Annette Stansfield and Craig Titterton for their assistance in the production of this essay

The mutual benefits of an international alliance


Local government and international developmentby Tony Reeves, chief executive, City of Bradford Metropolitan Council

The Ministry of Justice’s Govern-ance of Britain consultation pa-per published in July 2007, and the far-reaching proposals in the Treasury’s sub-national economic development and regeneration

review, have important implications for local au-thority relationships at the regional, sub-regional and national levels.

These new constitutional arrangements will change and stretch the nature of local author-ity leadership and create a range of ‘leadership roles’ from the local level to the national and beyond. Within this new interface between local government and Westminster (the ‘twin pillars of UK democracy’) key relationships will need to be brokered between strengthened regional agencies and increasingly influential city regions and other sub-regional groupings of local authorities. And local authorities will no doubt also need to reflect at some stage on how relationships with their twin-towns, sister cities and international net-works may change as a result of improved regional and sub-regional influence and joint-working.

This essay looks at the main factors influenc-ing Bradford’s involvement in international activ-ity and highlights the potential opportunities and challenges to the city.

Bradford is the fourth largest metropolitan council in the UK with a population of approxi-mately 481,000 covering 141 square miles. 60% of the district is rural and 67 languages are spoken. The 2001 census showed that one in five people have a cultural background other than white, with 15% of the population classifying themselves as Pakistani.

Historic legacy Any outline of the reasons why Bradford Council values international cooperation must begin by acknowledging that the Bradford of today has been shaped mainly by the past economic supremacy of its textiles and engineering indus-tries. From its origins in the second half of the 19th century Bradford quickly developed a truly global influence in both supplying these finished goods world-wide and attracting workers to sus-tain these key industrial sectors. The disruption of two world wars did nothing to diminish this international inter-dependency. Increasing glo-balisation of trade and the creation and expan-sion of the EU since the 1960s helped maintain a steady flow of people from overseas seeking a better life and prospects for their children, even though our key industries no longer required the labour previously demanded.

So the historic evidence clearly demonstrates the very strong mutual dependency we have between this region and the rest of the world.

However, the reasons for a strong local authority role in promoting international links are as much about responding to the challenges of the future as they are to any past legacy. In Bradford, we recognise that our international links make a vital contribution to our challenge of creating an outward-looking and tolerant soci-ety, well served by local government that works with the national and other tiers of governance. As part of our local leadership role we know it is important to take up our responsibilities as key players in the emerging world community.

So we have given strong support to our very active twin-town and friendship association links


with over 20 cites and towns over four conti-nents, building on the historic twinning charter signed in 1920 between Keighley and Poix du Nord – the first official twinning link in the UK. Over the decades these links have seen us share in the grief of conflict and tragedy, as well as success and fulfilment. Conflict as witnessed when our sister city of Skopje, the capital city of the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, endured the destabilising effects of the Bosnian war resulting in large numbers of refugees from Srebrenica and Kosovo. And tragedy when our friends in Mirpur, Pakistan suffered the horrors of an earthquake in 2002 … not forgetting our own disaster of the Bradford City fire back in 1995.

HighlightsHowever, the strength of our international part-nerships always endure. Recent highlights have included:� Providing technical assistance with the UK gov-ernment to Skopje to move towards EU member-ship by providing examples of how we promote equal rights in the workplace, provide modern water treatment and supply systems and plan for more integrated public transport � Through the work of a strengthened Mirpur Friendship Association a major aid project was delivered, while in the past three years police links with Mirpur to promote more effective policing has been a spectacular success.� With our newest twin town of Machu Picchou in Peru, the small town of Haworth (synonymous with the Bronte sisters) is taking the lead in pro-moting fair trade in spite of the repeated failures of the World Trade Organisation to broker a new deal on trade � Through the sterling work of our youth service, we have used our international links to promote a sense of pride and achievement in our young people as Bradford citizens, many of whom have different ethnic backgrounds and traditions. For example we ran a young people’s exchange project with groups from Lithuania and Poland to increase awareness of and celebrate the different cultures and ethnicities within Europe; the “Jamaican Exchange” where a group of deaf young people

took part in fund-raising to support similar groups of young people in Jamaica; and the “Experiment in Living” project, running since 2003, has involved youth groups from the USA visiting a number of UK cities, including Bradford, for a project focus-ing on culture and diversity and creating a filmed record of their journey on the way

We also have a major responsibility to ensure that the benefits of an increasingly global econo-my are fully maximised. This means making sure that our local economy adapts to the demands of the new knowledge or design-based sectors that are emerging as the UK’s major contribution to the world economy.

At the same time as accommodating economic change, we must also play a major part in helping the people of Bradford respond positively to the social changes involved in achieving a global marketplace. We have worked with local partner and community organisations to make sure that Bradford provides services to new arrivals from overseas on a fair and consistent basis which minimises any risk to community relations. We have also had the opportunity to work with our colleagues in the Department of Peace Studies at Bradford University to develop the Peace-ful Cities Programme which helps city leaders and public administrators develop strategies to promote positive community relations in areas of potential tension.

Bradford Council is constantly seeking out efficient and effective ways to take the lead in promoting a better physical environment and a society where individuals have mutual respect and achieve their living, learning and working aspirations. Our international work has made a significant contribution by:� Exchanging personnel and best practice to im-prove equal opportunities policies and practice, energy conservation and urban and rural service planning � Developing educational and cultural links to pro-mote the learning of foreign languages and formal and informal education and lifelong learning� Promoting a positive image of the city as force for peace and reconciliation and as a place to live, study, work and visit

Local government and international development


Future achievementThe proposed new regional and sub-regional arrangements offer the prospect of stronger individual and collective leadership by local authorities and a stronger influence on external policy and resource decisions.

The multi-tasking role of council leaders within this new constitutional framework will in many cases involve a strengthened profile in supporting international work and linkages, with a more sustainable basis for this role emerging through the new regional structures.

For instance, improved trade through overseas links depend on strategic fit and critical mass – regions, city regions and core cities have a great opportunity to promote such strategic links, so local authorities should seek to make an input through these mechanisms.

The growing role of RDAs could involve greater support for such links at least in terms of strategic economic linkages. For example, RDAs could pro-vide additional support to help business sectors, working with local government and other partners like universities and colleges, to maximise the economic benefits arising from globalisation by strengthening existing and promoting new strate-gic links between regions and/or city regions.

The LGA can assist by helping to provide a more effective mandate and support framework for UK local government to promote democracy and de-centralisation within agreed spheres of influence.

Within the terms of current performance man-agement systems, fuller recognition and support for the leadership and member development benefits of international cooperation needs to be recognised.

With a more strategic role, council leaders (and the people they represent) should benefit from the deal-making skills and opportunities that international networking and a stronger regional remit will provide.

Tony Reeves began his career in local government in 1989. Before joining Bradford Council as chief executive in September 2006, he had worked in Barnsley and Wakefield, in the fields of housing and major urban regeneration


International development: the missed opportunity?by Richard Shaw, chief executive, Surrey County Council

The voluntary sector in the UK has long made an outstanding contribution to international development, with major chari-ties leading the way. Central gov-ernment, too, a long standing

funder, is now upping its contribution. The De-partment for International Development (DfID) has doubled its budget in the last six years and is alone in Whitehall in expecting to double it again in the next six.

But what about local government? Why has it been overlooked? Does it not have a role to play in international development? I believe it does, and the failure to engage local government in a systematic manner is a huge missed opportunity.

Why is international development relevant?Local residents expect their council tax payments to be spent on local services, meeting local needs, and they hold local government directly to account for the way in which it spends their money. But international development is rel-evant to us all locally. In our ever smaller world, sustainable international development is not just a moral issue that cannot be ignored, it is a mat-ter of local self-interest. Our continued security, stability and prosperity depend increasingly on our success in helping achieve security, stability and prosperity internationally.

Many of the problems that afflict poorer countries are not contained within their borders. Emergencies, whether induced by nature or hu-man conflict, give rise to international refugees – and it is local government that helps them inte-grate into communities here. Conflict can spawn

terrorism, not just overseas but in communities in this country. Weak governments overseas can fail to control international crime and illegal trade – in drugs for instance.

Diseases such as HIV, AIDS and pandemic flu are no respecters of international boundaries. The impact of climate change in the UK, its pace and scale, will be determined by the nature of the development that occurs in Asia and Africa, as will the scale of international migration that will be driven by climate change.

All these are problems that local government has to respond to and to plan for in the UK. Our best defence against them is not so much to react when they hit us here as to help prevent them arising in the first place. And local govern-ment in the UK has many of the skills that are needed overseas.

Skills in demandTake governance. The role of local government in developing countries is vital. It is local govern-ment that fosters community development, helps build community capacity, provides es-sential services. Without a strong local govern-ment sector, central governments overseas will flounder and waste large quantities of money. There are many skills that mature local au-thorities here can share. It is not just that local government in the UK has been running elections for well over 100 years. We have deepened our understanding of community leadership. We have become skilled at engaging with our communities, understanding and responding to their needs. More than that, we understand the importance of nurturing the capacity of the


voluntary and community sector in order to build strong communities that can articulate their own needs and draw on their own resourcefulness to help meet them.

Importantly, local government in the UK is experienced in working with the private sector – leveraging the resources that the private sector can bring to public service provision. In the more centrally-controlled economies that are often found in poorer countries, the role of the private sector is inadequately developed, and this holds back funding of public services and innovation.

It was local government that pioneered the concept of peer reviews – an approach only now introduced into Whitehall by Sir Gus O’Donnell. We have a long track record in supporting better governance through constructive peer challenge, and a pool of accredited peer reviewers in the IDeA peer clearing house. What a fantastic source of expertise of a kind that is in high demand in many developing countries. As conflict resolution gives way to post-conflict reconstruction, these skills are invaluable in reviving and consolidating democratic institutions in countries that are high on the government’s priority list.

Contingency planning is another critical area. Local government has long been skilled at prepar-ing for the worst – for the catastrophic accident, the petrol shortage or the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. Increasingly now we are prepared for floods, pandemic flu or the effects of a terror-ist atrocity. Poorer countries can be more vulner-able to emergencies and less well prepared to respond to them – as we know from the Tsunami, which prompted such an unprecedented response of volunteering from British citizens, including many in local government. The most effective contingency planning is done locally not centrally, and it is local government in poorer countries that most needs to develop this capacity.

Or take specialist skills. Roads and bridges are the kinds of infrastructure that are critical to economic success in developing countries. The challenges of waste collection, treatment and disposal are tangible in many rapidly growing cities and townships overseas, where they are a concern for health as well as amenity. And

social care is an increasingly important issue. I was struck on a recent visit to south India by the increasing life-expectancy amongst both urban and rural populations. Dementia was a rare condition a generation ago, but is becoming increasingly common now as increasing numbers of people survive into old age. Increasingly, local authorities and local voluntary groups are mak-ing efforts to support people with physical and learning disabilities in their own communities. Local government is rich in professional skills that could be shared with other countries.

And, of course, education – when I taught in India, my small rural school catered for chil-dren who had dropped out of mainstream state education. Teaching methods in state primary schools were so unimaginative that only the children of literate parents stood much chance of learning and making progress. In a nearby school, the drop-out rate was 90% by the end of the third year. What a waste of human potential! But things are changing, and better teaching methods are spreading. There is now greater use of visual aids and of learning through song and play. Literacy rates are increasing all the time. And more and more young people are emerging successfully from school with skills that they can bring to their local communities and economies.

On a recent visit to a village school in Nepal, as part of the Whitehall capability review of DfID, I was delighted not only to be garlanded (some-thing that is unfortunately not a daily occurrence at county hall in Kingston upon Thames!) but to see the lively and imaginative teaching meth-ods in use, and the evident enjoyment that the bright-eyed, engaged young children displayed in their learning. This excellent learning environ-ment was the product of an international ex-change of teaching expertise that had stimulated local teachers and helped them become aware of new teaching methods.

What’s in it for local government?Local government in the UK has a huge amount to offer international development. But we have a lot to learn from it too. Sharing of expertise is never a one-way street.


From my early days on the staff of VSO, I have believed that UK experts working overseas learn as much if not more than they teach. They return enriched – not financially, but in character and understanding of human nature. Secondees or peer reviewers from overseas countries have valuable skills and perspectives to offer us here too, and many local authorities overseas have in-novative ways of approaching problems that we would do well to learn from.

There can be few better groundings for the modern local government worker, required to respond to diversity and to operate in multi-cul-tural communities here, than to grapple with the complexities and diversity of other cultures over-seas. There can be few better ways of learning the sensitive arts of communication, consultation and community engagement. I am in no doubt that UK local government stands to gain enor-mously from the perspective and experience that are to be gained from purposeful relationships with local authorities overseas.

What’s the way forward?So what in practice should be the role of local government in international development? Capacity building in local government overseas is critical to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and UK local government can play an important role in this.

As DfID moves increasingly into “broad pipe” and multilateral funding mechanisms, the potential role of UK local government may fall below its radar. And as the government’s latest comprehensive spending review squeezes local authority budgets even tighter, there is a risk that councils will increasingly view overseas links as candidates for cuts. Yet the potential contribution of local government needs to be recognised and developed. It can be a valuable and value-for-money component of the UK’s international development programme.

Many UK local authorities have already devel-oped relations with local authorities in develop-ing countries. So, too, have schools and volun-tary groups such as rotary clubs. These links are valuable but ad hoc. With the right framework

and support, sharing of local authority skills and expertise could become a meaningful part of the UK international development programme.

A structured approach would also encourage human resources departments in local govern-ment to recognise opportunities for service over-seas as part of personal development planning. VSO for example actively recruits professionals in mid-career, sometimes for relatively short post-ings overseas, and the benefits of the experience for the individual and their home organisation can be very substantial. But shorter periods of work overseas, on a peer review for example, could bring valuable new perspectives to local authority staff and members.

There has in recent years been a renewed em-phasis on the role of local government not just as a provider of public services, but as a community leader. A contribution to international develop-ment could and should be a part of community leadership.

Richard Shaw spent the early part of his career working in international development in north Africa, the Pacific and India. After nine years as a civil servant, he joined local government in 1997 and is now chief executive of Surrey County Council. He was a member of the Whitehall Capability Review team for the Department for International Development (DfID)

International development: the missed opportunity?

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