Predicting the future is a tricky game at the moment in local government.
Even the best economic forecasts still present a challenging financial picture for councils, which combined with the impact of aging populations and rapidly shifting government policy, makes planning for the future more difficult than ever.
That’s why councils need to become more flexible and agile – so that they can respond to changing and uncertain circumstances rapidly and effectively.
Consultants PwC have recently published a useful think piece about the current drivers affecting local goverment and why this means councils need to change to become more agile in the future.
In their own words:

Agile councils think and act differently – they break down existing models in favour of new approaches that centre on the customer, they base decisions on strong business intelligence and operate through simpler, standardised organisational structures and processes.
Most importantly, they re-think the ways in which they work – they reduce organisational complexity and create more flexible operating models that are capable of responding to change, managing demand and operating at lowest cost.

It’s well worth a read. You can download the PDF here. There’s also a video discussion on the topic here.