After the watershed: Did centralist institutional change in English local governments prior to 2010 inadvertently equip them with the capacities needed to cope with the impact of 2010 austerity measures?

2010 marked the introduction of the UK government’s austerity policy. For English local authorities this meant having to absorb a real-terms cut of 37 % in central government funding between 2010-11 and 2015-16, contributing... [ view full abstract ]

2010 marked the introduction of the UK government’s austerity policy. For English local authorities this meant having to absorb a real-terms cut of 37 % in central government funding between 2010-11 and 2015-16, contributing to a real-terms reduction in total income of 25%, requiring them to display high levels of financial resilience in order to maintain appropriate operational functioning.
2010 also saw the end of a number of initiatives aimed at improving the management and leadership of English local government. The 1997-2010 UK government’s improvement programme for English local government, included a range of centralist initiatives that focused not only on service delivery, but also the improvement of corporate and financial capacity and capability within local governments.
Using a multiple-case study approach of a number English local authorities, this paper examines the relationship between the centralist institutional changes that took place leading up to austerity and English local governments’ preparedness for its impact. In particular it considers whether these prior changes led to the embedding of corporate and strategic capacities that shaped the response to austerity of English local governments.
The study shows that austerity has led to a mix of strategic responses, but that these have been influenced by a similar range of corporate capacities, largely due to previously imposed institutional changes.


Key words Local Government, Municipalities, Financial Strategy, Resilience, Financial Resilience, Austerity.