We publish major new report on Public Service Reform

Government must concentrate on prevention, localism and thinking long term if it is to achieve its aim of making the state smarter and more responsive. Because of their scale, cities make a natural environment for reform roll out.

And despite the financial pressures many city councils are under, some great work has been going across areas like children's services across the Core Cities.

There is also a prize with public service reform, it could raise city region's productivity by a third, a potential gain of £230bn.

These are just some of the recommendations of Future Preventative Public Services, a new report from Core Cities UK, Metro Dynamics and the Centre for Progressive Policy launched at the 2024 Local Government Association Conference.

Its findings include:

• Introducing ten year prevention plans and a prioritised list of place based services that can be shifted towards prevention.
• Giving NHS and schools a duty to co-operate at the level of place. 
• Devising prevention deals, using 'gainshare' from the savings derived from public service reform.
• Giving local government some immediate flexibility to turn the tide and spend money to meet urgent challenges like temporary accommodation.