Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

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5.7.6 Section 13 of the Lough Corrib Navigation Act 1945 enables the Minister for Transport to authorise the abandonment, or the transfer to a local authority any portion of the Navigation or works forming part thereof. 5.7.7 The above bodies are responsible for just under €2 million in annual expenditure and as such savings arising from their dissolution and the transfer of their functions to a parent local authority would not yield significant savings. However, there would be some administrative savings in that there would not be a need to hold separate annual budget and other meetings (sometimes involving large numbers of councillors and officials), or to produce and audit annual accounts. In this regard, it is being assumed that there could be an annual saving of between 10 and 15% (or €200,000 - €300,000) of expenditure if the functions were transferred to a parent local authority. 5.7.8 The Group therefore suggests that the joint drainage boards, the joint burial boards, and the Lough Corrib Navigation Trustees be dissolved with their functions transferred to local authorities or a ‘lead’ authority as appropriate as soon as possible. Recommendations: 5.8.1 In summary, the Group recommends that planning, roads and housing functions of rating town councils be transferred to their respective county councils. Town councils have a proud history of service to their local community, but the Group considers that the transfer of functions should take place for several reasons: • The increasing complexity of service provision (in areas such as housing); • The need to reduce administrative overheads (in the planning service); and • The need to pursue equity across all urban areas (in terms of roads allocations). 5.8.2 The Group also suggests that there is scope for rationalising a small number of local bodies that exist. 5.8.3 Thus the Group recommends that: • Responsibility for planning, roads and housing functions be transferred from town councils to county councils; • County councils be allowed delegate specific aspects of housing service provision to towns where this is economically efficient; • Each county council be allocated an urban grant for local urban roads, with the county council determining the urban road spend across all towns in its administrative area; • The power to determine the annual rate on valuation be removed from town councils, and town charges be applied in the same manner as other existing non-rating town councils; 54
• County council offices / area offices and town council offices be colocated; • Joint drainage boards, joint burial boards, the Lough Corrib Navigation Trustees, be dissolved, and their functions transferred to local authorities or a ‘lead’ local authority; • The payments and expenses provided to local elected members be kept under review to ensure that they remain reasonable and proportionate. 5.8.4 These recommendations will ultimately be dependent on policy on the subcounty level arising from the White Paper on Local Government. It will be important in this context that policy and organisational change be implemented before the next scheduled local elections in 2014. 5.8.5 The total value of the savings identified above is €6.3 million in a full year. Financial Summary: 1. Transfer of planning, roads and housing functions from town to county council level – €6 million 2. Co-locate county council and town council offices – unspecified savings 3. Dissolve joint drainage boards, joint burial boards, and Lough Corrib Navigation Trustees – €0.3 million Total Amount: €6.3 million 55
Page 1 and 2:
Report of the Local Government Effi
Page 3 and 4: 5. Organisational Efficiency Issues
Page 5 and 6: 14. Recommendations 14.1 Recommenda
Page 7 and 8: associated Government Statement, ne
Page 9 and 10: more focussed than previously on mu
Page 11 and 12: ating town councils is largely repr
Page 13 and 14: • The provision of quality custom
Page 15 and 16: 1.7 Compliance Requirements on Loca
Page 17 and 18: 2.1 National Public Finances 2. Bud
Page 19 and 20: Figure 2.2 - Total Local Authority
Page 21 and 22: evenue were needed for the local go
Page 23 and 24: Figure 2.3 - Sources of Local Autho
Page 25 and 26: Figure 2.4 -Sources of Local Author
Page 27 and 28: Figure 2.5 - Local Authority Curren
Page 29 and 30: Payroll Expenses Table 2.4 - Breakd
Page 31 and 32: 2. Reintroducing domestic water cha
Page 33 and 34: Income €m € 1,600.0 € 1,400.0
Page 35 and 36: 3. Local Government Experience of E
Page 37 and 38: maintenance are provided by the cou
Page 39 and 40: well as reductions in the number of
Page 41 and 42: 4. Context - Looking Forward 4.1 Na
Page 43 and 44: 4.2.6 Aside from keeping costs down
Page 45 and 46: 5. Organisational Efficiency Issues
Page 47 and 48: statutorily vested in certain ratin
Page 49 and 50: 5.5.6 Roads are classified into nat
Page 51 and 52: the majority of town councils, a pl
Page 53: 5.7 Other Local Bodies 5.7.1 A smal
Page 57 and 58: Figure 6.1 - Local Authority Staff
Page 59 and 60: Figure 6.2 - Staffing per 1,000 Pop
Page 61 and 62: Figure 6.5 - Staffing Per 1,000 Pop
Page 63 and 64: Cluster Data Cluster Mayo Roscommon
Page 65 and 66: senior management staff - for examp
Page 67 and 68: ut this figure varies from 22% to 5
Page 69 and 70: eplacement with lower level staff w
Page 71 and 72: Corporate Services, HR, IT, and Fin
Page 73 and 74: to provide services in the corporat
Page 75 and 76: Recommendations: 6.11.1 In summary,
Page 77 and 78: 7.1 Local Government Audit 7. Value
Page 79 and 80: through open recruitment. Opportuni
Page 81 and 82: the Director and relevant local gov
Page 83 and 84: 7.6.3 Local authorities should cons
Page 85 and 86: 8. Shared Services 8.1 Shared Servi
Page 87 and 88: 8.2.6 Many parts of the United Stat
Page 89 and 90: 8.4 Shared ‘Back Office’ Servic
Page 91 and 92: 8.4.12 For example, recruitment to
Page 93 and 94: approach which will be used to asse
Page 95 and 96: enefits in terms of pooling resourc
Page 97 and 98: while also improving the service fo
Page 99 and 100: Implementation Group suggested in s
Page 101 and 102: 9.2.4 The Local Government e-Procur
Page 103 and 104: 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
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sectoral level, to promote exchange
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10.1 Housing 10. Efficiencies in Pr
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10.1.9 Two issues arise in this res
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that may arise in this respect as p
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the new Housing and Sustainable Com
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10.2.6 To date, the emphasis of tol
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10.2.14 The Group also noted the la
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• Allocating grants to improve th
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10.3.11 It would also facilitate th
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consumption (see also section 9 in
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Financial Summary: Through a combin
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current levels of resourcing for pl
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educe the number of such transactio
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Financial Summary: Through a combin
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in the trend of rationalisation of
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Table 10.1 - Motor Taxation Classes
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detail in issuing licences. Motor t
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11.1 Treasury Management 11. Other
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for the overdraft, has the potentia
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• The online Roadworks Control sy
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management, etc. Use of professiona
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• Projects to streamline existing
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12. Local Government and the Wider
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significant administrative overhead
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City Enterprise Boards with county/
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suggests that financial incentives
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13. Cost Recovery and Revenue Issue
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13.1.11 The Group considers that th
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Minister for Education and Skills t
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legislation provides that arrears o
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Recommendations: 13.5.1 In summary,
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14.1 Recommendations 14. Recommenda
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25. Financial performance indicator
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Housing 48. Housing sections within
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Planning monitoring by other public
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Local Government and the Wider Publ
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that just because these recommendat
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Appendix 1 - List of Submissions Re
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Appendix 2 - Local Government Effic
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Gross Current Income by Source and
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County Councils Housing and Buildin
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Town Councils Housing and Building
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Non-Rating Town Councils (1) Paymen
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Regional Assembly Payments Receipts
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Local Authority Current Expenditure
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Town Council Population Size (Censu
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Appendix 5 - Local Government Net B
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Former Town Commissioners 2010 Net
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Appendix 7 - Performance Indicators
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Appendix 9 - Unaccounted for Water
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Appendix 11 - Membership of County
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Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

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