SEPTEMBER 2003

COUNCILS URGED TO USE RESEARCH TO DELIVER IMPROVEMENT AGENDA

LARIA, in a joint publication with the Local Government Association, has brought out a new report detailing local government’s statutory responsibility for undertaking research.

This long awaited 35 page report is a result of analysis of all post-1980 legislation affecting England and Wales to determine explicit and implicit requirements for local authorities to carry out research. It clearly shows that a very wide range of research is not optional but a statutory responsibility on local authorities.

The report provides a comprehensive check-list of legislative requirements for research ranging across all local government services. With around 150 Acts of Parliament scanned, the report is a valuable tool to guide and support local authorities in developing and maintaining a research capacity.

Providing an adequate research capacity to meet statutory requirements is an essential part of what a modern council should be about. Research in the local government sense is defined as being the “systematic collection and analysis of data about the social, economic and environmental circumstances of council areas and the performance of the services they provide.” Capacity is the ability to undertake and organise the research in an efficient and effective way.

David Karfoot, LARIA’s Chair, states “I hope this Report will put an end to attitudes that research is in some way an optional activity for local authorities to undertake.”

The Report is freely available – click here

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