Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

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specifically for the delivery of joint service initiatives as agreed by the CDB; • An Innovation Fund be established by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (see section 11.6) – a proportion of this should be dedicated to incentivising joint service delivery at local level. 160
13. Cost Recovery and Revenue Issues 13.1 Economic Cost Recovery 13.1.1 The Group considers that unless otherwise justified, local authorities should be reimbursed for the economic cost of providing services for Government Departments and other agencies and bodies. The normal principle that should apply from an efficiency perspective is that the user pays for the cost of the service. While full reimbursement might not be justified in certain cases (for example, when dealing with disadvantaged groups or where costs relate to the provision of general public good services e.g. public parks), the guiding principle should generally be that the user pays for the cost of the service provided, with the burden of proof falling on cases where it may be necessary to depart from this principle. This premise is also reflected in the polluter pays principle where through a direct link between consumption of a service and payment, responsible environmental behaviour can be incentivised. 13.1.2 The Group considers that this principle is relevant to the consideration of a number of areas where charges are levied on service users, as well as issues surrounding the commercial rates base and agency services carried out by local authorities on behalf of central Government Departments. Non-Domestic Water Charges 13.1.3 In relation to water, the Government’s Water Pricing Policy requires local authorities to recover the cost of providing water services to the nondomestic sector from users of these services. Full cost includes the marginal capital cost, meter installation and ongoing operational and administrative costs. The non-domestic sector includes all industrial, commercial, agricultural and institutional users of water and waste water services. 13.1.4 At present, the 34 councils are responsible for recovering the cost of providing water services from the users of these services within their areas, with the exception of households using the services for domestic purposes. The water charges for their functional area are set annually by each local authority and are based on metered consumption (the price is set per cubic metre consumed). However, as the local authorities set their own prices, there is no obvious incentive to provide for supply side efficiencies. There is no independent regulation of the charges set by individual councils and this has led to a variation in the charges being levied (for example, water charges this year range from €1.49 per cubic metre to €3.04). 13.1.5 There is no mechanism to ensure that all local authorities are achieving cost recovery as required by the Government’s pricing policy. Even though commercial water charges in Ireland are on average considerably lower than in other EU countries, the Commission on Taxation which reported in 161
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Report of the Local Government Effi
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5. Organisational Efficiency Issues
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14. Recommendations 14.1 Recommenda
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associated Government Statement, ne
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more focussed than previously on mu
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ating town councils is largely repr
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• The provision of quality custom
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1.7 Compliance Requirements on Loca
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2.1 National Public Finances 2. Bud
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Figure 2.2 - Total Local Authority
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evenue were needed for the local go
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Figure 2.3 - Sources of Local Autho
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Figure 2.4 -Sources of Local Author
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Figure 2.5 - Local Authority Curren
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Payroll Expenses Table 2.4 - Breakd
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2. Reintroducing domestic water cha
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Income €m € 1,600.0 € 1,400.0
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3. Local Government Experience of E
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maintenance are provided by the cou
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well as reductions in the number of
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4. Context - Looking Forward 4.1 Na
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4.2.6 Aside from keeping costs down
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5. Organisational Efficiency Issues
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statutorily vested in certain ratin
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5.5.6 Roads are classified into nat
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the majority of town councils, a pl
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5.7 Other Local Bodies 5.7.1 A smal
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• County council offices / area o
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Figure 6.1 - Local Authority Staff
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Figure 6.2 - Staffing per 1,000 Pop
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Figure 6.5 - Staffing Per 1,000 Pop
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Cluster Data Cluster Mayo Roscommon
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senior management staff - for examp
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ut this figure varies from 22% to 5
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eplacement with lower level staff w
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Corporate Services, HR, IT, and Fin
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to provide services in the corporat
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Recommendations: 6.11.1 In summary,
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7.1 Local Government Audit 7. Value
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through open recruitment. Opportuni
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the Director and relevant local gov
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7.6.3 Local authorities should cons
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8. Shared Services 8.1 Shared Servi
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8.2.6 Many parts of the United Stat
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8.4 Shared ‘Back Office’ Servic
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8.4.12 For example, recruitment to
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approach which will be used to asse
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enefits in terms of pooling resourc
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while also improving the service fo
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Implementation Group suggested in s
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9.2.4 The Local Government e-Procur
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forms are now captured online. This
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Table 9.1 - Non-Pay Items Procured
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9.5.10 LAQuotes is used by the vast
Page 109 and 110: sectoral level, to promote exchange
Page 111 and 112: 10.1 Housing 10. Efficiencies in Pr
Page 113 and 114: 10.1.9 Two issues arise in this res
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Page 117 and 118: the new Housing and Sustainable Com
Page 119 and 120: 10.2.6 To date, the emphasis of tol
Page 121 and 122: 10.2.14 The Group also noted the la
Page 123 and 124: • Allocating grants to improve th
Page 125 and 126: 10.3.11 It would also facilitate th
Page 127 and 128: consumption (see also section 9 in
Page 129 and 130: Financial Summary: Through a combin
Page 131 and 132: current levels of resourcing for pl
Page 133 and 134: educe the number of such transactio
Page 135 and 136: Financial Summary: Through a combin
Page 137 and 138: in the trend of rationalisation of
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Page 141 and 142: detail in issuing licences. Motor t
Page 143 and 144: 11.1 Treasury Management 11. Other
Page 145 and 146: for the overdraft, has the potentia
Page 147 and 148: • The online Roadworks Control sy
Page 149 and 150: management, etc. Use of professiona
Page 151 and 152: • Projects to streamline existing
Page 153 and 154: 12. Local Government and the Wider
Page 155 and 156: significant administrative overhead
Page 157 and 158: City Enterprise Boards with county/
Page 159: suggests that financial incentives
Page 163 and 164: 13.1.11 The Group considers that th
Page 165 and 166: Minister for Education and Skills t
Page 167 and 168: legislation provides that arrears o
Page 169 and 170: Recommendations: 13.5.1 In summary,
Page 171 and 172: 14.1 Recommendations 14. Recommenda
Page 173 and 174: 25. Financial performance indicator
Page 175 and 176: Housing 48. Housing sections within
Page 177 and 178: Planning monitoring by other public
Page 179 and 180: Local Government and the Wider Publ
Page 181 and 182: that just because these recommendat
Page 183 and 184: Appendix 1 - List of Submissions Re
Page 185 and 186: Appendix 2 - Local Government Effic
Page 187 and 188: Gross Current Income by Source and
Page 189 and 190: County Councils Housing and Buildin
Page 191 and 192: Town Councils Housing and Building
Page 193 and 194: Non-Rating Town Councils (1) Paymen
Page 195 and 196: Regional Assembly Payments Receipts
Page 197 and 198: Local Authority Current Expenditure
Page 199 and 200: Town Council Population Size (Censu
Page 201 and 202: Appendix 5 - Local Government Net B
Page 203 and 204: Former Town Commissioners 2010 Net
Page 205 and 206: Appendix 7 - Performance Indicators
Page 207 and 208: Appendix 9 - Unaccounted for Water
Page 209: Appendix 11 - Membership of County
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Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

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