Beyond Local Government Reform: some prospects for evolution in public policy networks

Abstract

This pair of conference papers was presented at a half-day Tavistock Institute event on 6 December 1971 at the Royal Society of Arts in central London, which attracted some 150 influential participants from the worlds of national and local government, politics, urban planning and academic management and policy schools. It reported on the interim findings of an IOR research project on inter-agency decision processes in regional development supported by a grant from the then Social Science Research Council. The timing of the event took advantage of a year’s involvement in the project by a prominent Australian political scientist, at a time of rising concern over the implications of an impending structural reform of local government in England, Scotland and Wales. The first paper, by Friend and Yewlett of IOR, explored the general challenges of inter-agency working with reference to the primary focus of their research, which was the planned expansion of the small Worcestershire town of Droitwich through a partnership between county and district councils. The second paper by John Power explored the theme of “Planning: magic and technique” with reference to writings on planning theory from several different disciplinary perspectives, ending with a discussion of the critical importance of personal ‘reticulist’ or networking skills. Comments were invited from a panel of three eminent discussants from the worlds of national politics, metropolitan government and urban planning.