Morgan Finlayson reflects on her experience as a civil servant and how successful policy implementation hinges on three pillars that must be in balance. She argues that central and local government need 'bridge-builders’ to achieve smooth and timely delivery.
With nearly ten years of civil service experience under my belt, I'd covered a real variety of roles - policy, delivery, commercial, Ministerial offices, Special Advisers, correspondence, learning and development. You name it, I've probably spent time in it. My diverse roles and experiences has meant I've seen first-hand the challenges of translating ideas into reality and 'making ideas happen'.
I've learnt that successful policy implementation hinges on three core pillars that must be carefully balanced:
Clear policy output: what's the problem to solve, and what do we want to do about it?
Commercial simplicity: what does it cost, and how are we going to pay for it?
Realistic project delivery: what's the best way to deliver it, and who will deliver it?
Balancing these pillars is crucial, as any imbalance can lead to frustration within both central and local services. Overemphasising project management and the commercials can dilute the policy's purpose. But insufficient focus can cause costs to spin out of control. If the policy intent is unclear, projects can become unwieldy, expensive, and face repeated delays. Conversely, where policy intent is overly rigid, projects can come up against resistance due to lack of flexibility for local nuances or face incomplete implementation, and therefore fail to achieve the original goals.
In my experience, navigating these complexities has underscored the need for ‘bridge-builders’ who understand both sides’ strengths and can navigate between them seamlessly.
Central government's strengths lie in holding the central perspective on 'wicked problems', setting the long-term strategic ambition to fix them, and using comprehensive data and historical insights to inform priorities for action - and having the power to legislate to create the laws and regulations that give local government clear mandates in which to operate.
Local government's strengths lie in their detailed knowledge of their own local communities - letting them understand where to tailor national policies to fit local circumstances more effectively. They are also close enough to communities to be able to gather direct feedback on local services, and their management of day-to-day operations means they understand how to shift their structures to pilot innovative approaches within the parameters of national policy objectives.
By working with, and navigating between these strengths, bridge-builders can foster collaboration and trust between central and local government through open and transparent communication, and help ensure the delivery process is agile, iterative and responsive. In this way, bridge-builders can work with both sides to make sure the three core pillars are in balance.
Recently, MV have acted as the ‘bridge-builder’ on the DFJ Trailblazers - Reducing Time to Family Court Pilot Programme. Building on our previous work assessing the impact of delays in care proceedings, we were commissioned by the Department for Education to work alongside five 'Trailblazer' areas to pilot solutions aimed at tackling the key drivers of delay in the family court.
The project targets a clear problem: the unsustainable levels of delay in care proceedings. These delays negatively impact vulnerable children and their families, who are left in limbo for years while awaiting resolution to their cases. It also has knock-on consequences for local services. The policy intent is also clear: to reduce family court delays, create efficiencies in the family justice system, and enable quicker decisions to reduce the negative long-term effects on the children and families involved.
While central government has defined the policy intent and output, the five ‘Trailblazer’ areas trusted to design and deliver the work within the parameters of the policy intent, and the delivery partner moves between the two to ensure that both sides can be agile, iterative and responsive during delivery, without causing delay. This collaborative approach not only grounds national policies in local realities but also allows for continuous refinement based on real-time feedback and evolving community needs.
The journey to reset this relationship will not be overnight - it requires commitment from all levels of government (central and local), a willingness to embrace change, and a focus on continuously improving and working better together.
Read more about our work on the relationship between central and local government, and the role of 'bridge builders' here.
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