Let councils sharpen commercial edge to level up locally

A new report has advised that councils should have the confidence to engage in well-run commercial activity that benefits residents, improves local public services and generates much-needed revenue independent of central government.

The paper, from Human Engine and Localis, argues that when carried out professionally and with risks properly-managed, council commercialism can unlock immense latent place potential and deliver many clear benefits to galvanise economic and social recovery.

In reframing the debate on local government commercialism, councils are advised to apply five common themes of commercial maturity around strategy and alignment; supply; demand, market intelligence and organisational culture. The report also sets out a suite of recommendation to inform future commercial decisions aimed at local government leaders, town hall scrutiny members and central government partners.

Jonathan Werran, Localis chief executive, said: “Councils have historically always been involved with commercial activity in some shape or form in creating revenue streams that improve residents’ lives and deliver better local services.  This is a golden thread and is one worth preserving into the future. To maintain this tradition of strong self-government built on local investment and use this agenda to continue to deliver innovative public services into the future will require a shared language and understanding of how commercialism should work in practice across local and central government.

“Renewing the agenda will also rightly require a fresh approach to local scrutiny and governance and the immense rewards of capturing greater public and social value should be measured to encourage best practice across the sector.”