Report suggests councils use citizens to improve services

A new report by New Local Government Network has suggested that councils must use the energy of their most active citizens to help improve services, engage communities and save money.

'Changing Behaviours - Opening a new conversation with the citizen' draws on evidence from innovative behavioural change pilot schemes and charts a practical approach to behaviour change.

It demonstrates that a traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’ model of public services both accumulates cost and leads to a mismatch between public service provision and what citizens ultimately want and need and that focus must therefore shift to developing an in-depth understanding of how to engage with the public’s underlying values and motivations.

Also, that re-designing services in ways that fit with citizen motivations, local government can significantly reduce the costs of services – cost reductions emerging from projects detailed in this report are yielding 15-20 percent and that the practice of government must change radically to enable these discussions to take place, to communicate effectively with clients and to understand where citizens may be ready to play a part.

The report states: "As this research paper will show, the argument is not about whether or not the state should try and change the way citizens behave."

"Instead, we need to learn more about how government can use these techniques to develop a new, more sustainable operating model for public services."

Further information:
New Local Government Network