The local government response to austerity in a small devolved country: the case of Wales

Figures & data

Table 1. Strategies to manage austerity.

Strategy	Component	Example
Efficiency	Reduce ‘back office’ and ‘fixed’ costs	Reduced support functions
	Redesign front-line services	Smarter working using technology
	Income generation/loss reduction	Increase traded income via selling services
	Seek savings from external providers	Re-commission existing contracts
Investment	Encourage economic growth	Attract investment or jobs
	(Accelerate) capital investment	Growth-orientated investment (e.g., site preparation)
	Preventative revenue spend	Re-ablement in domiciliary care
Retrenchment	Renegotiate division of responsibilities between council and other agencies	New models of provision such as co-operatives
	Renegotiate division of responsibilities between council and citizens	Asset transfer to community groups
	Charges (for existing services)	New or increased charging for services (e.g., bulky waste)
	Reduce range of services	‘Statutory’ only level of service provided
	Continue to provide service on universal but reduced level	Reduced number of facilities (e.g., libraries)
	Continue to provide service but target towards ‘need’	Provision focused only on the neediest groups or neighbourhoods

Adapted from Hastings et al. (2013); Hastings et al. (2015)¹

¹Table 1 includes the sub-strategies and a reduced list of the dimensions reported in Hastings et al. (2013), a later version of which was also published by Hastings et al. (2015).

Table 2. Mature and less mature local government responses to austerity.

Mature responses to austerity	Less advanced responses to austerity
Long-term approach	Short-term planning
Clear sense of purpose and priorities	Not matching budgets to priorities
Learning from the experience of others	Not learning from others
Adopting new ways of working	Resistance to change
Focusing on organisational change and development	Focus on cutting costs rather than improving efficiency
Working collaboratively with stakeholders	Working alone
Careful maintenance of reserves	Using reserves to top up the base budget
Whole-budget approach to identifying savings	‘Salami-slicing’ costs from individual departments

Hastings, A., N. Bailey, K. Besemer, G. Bramley, M. Gannon, and D. Watkins. 2013. Coping with the Cuts? Local Government and Poorer Communities. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

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Hastings, A., N. Bailey, M. Gannon, K. Besemer, and G. Bramley. 2015. “Coping with the Cuts? The Management of the Worst Financial Settlement in Living Memory.” Local Government Studies 41 (4): 601–621.

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