22nd August:

Many times over the past few years myself and Glen have talked about the lack of connectedness between local government officers and our counterparts in other public services.

How many times do we sit down and chew the fat with civil servants in Whitehall or administrators at the local hospital or sergeants at the local police station? In some jobs, and in some areas, the connectedness of the bureaucrats in closer than in others.

However, there is still much room for improvement.

Often, where there are good relationships these are primarily about various officers working together in the interests of their own public services. This is great, and a real improvement on how many of these public service relationships have existed in the past. However, I wonder whether there is a need to get beyond the transactional relationship.

We all know the benefits we gain by sitting in the same office as colleagues who work in slightly different areas to us. We bounce ideas off each other, we learn more about the services our colleagues provide and we pick up on the small things that often we miss when sitting quietly in our silos.

Fixing this is not easy.

Original source – We Love Local Government – Blog

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