Editorial: A lighter touch will allow services to thrive

If so, you're not alone. The Lifting the Burdens Taskforce has this week issued a report that finds councils' efforts frustrated by heavy-handed interference from civil servants and inspectors. It issues several recommendations to the Department for Children, Schools and Families to help cut local authority red tape and bring about services that are more efficient and effective.

Among these is a proposal for the highest rated councils to be assessed every two years under the Comprehensive Area Assessment - which comes into force in 2009 to encompass councils and partner agencies - instead of the blanket annual inspections. On information technology matters, the report finds that IT systems have increased the administrative burden on authorities rather than freed up resources, and without delivering the anticipated benefits of better knowledge sharing to inform decisions. It calls on the DCSF to ensure that projects in the pipeline such as Contact Point and eCAF allow councils to tailor systems to local needs.

The biggest source of frustration lies in the expansion of so-called "field forces". These are specialist teams of civil servants or private contractors charged with supporting and monitoring service delivery in certain areas, such as special educational needs, teenage pregnancy or substance misuse. The gripe is that many of these groups overlap and that they spend most of their time checking and making judgments on how well services are being delivered, a role that should be left to Ofsted.

By releasing a total of 16 recommendations, the Lifting the Burdens report inevitably finds itself fighting process with process. But it's an essential step in ensuring a constructive relationship between local authorities and the DCSF. The government should take these proposals seriously if it wants a relationship with councils that is based on partnership and negotiation rather than prescription. Processes for inspections and managing performance are brought in with the best of intentions. But as the Task Force demonstrates, they all too often end up having a suffocating effect on services for children and young people. There is now plenty of evidence to persuade the DCSF to give local authorities a lighter touch.