Closure of the Office for Local Government (Oflog)
Published 16 December 2024
Applies to England
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To: Josh Goodman, Chief Executive, Office for Local Government
From: Jim McMahon OBE MP, Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution
16 December 2024
Dear Josh
Closure of the Office for Local Government
I wrote to you on 10 September setting out my intention to review the role of the Office for Local Government by the end of 2024.
As part of that review, I have heard a very wide range of views about how local government should be measured, how best to strengthen our early warning system and what support local authorities need.
I have taken feedback on board and have reflected. Given the fiscal context, we must focus our resources on the front line, which is why at the Autumn Budget we announced over £4 billion in additional funding for local government services, including for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and homelessness. It is also an urgent priority to fix the local audit system, which was not part of Oflog’s remit. Furthermore, it is clear to me that Oflog was hampered with a vague and broad remit that risked duplication of functions performed elsewhere. For those reasons, I have taken the decision to close Oflog.
We will be working with the sector to establish other ways to ensure that local authorities are fit, legal and decent. In doing so we will incorporate the benefits of relevant work done by Oflog to date. We will have a small function within my department that will measure local government, with a focus on the government’s key missions, objectives and outcomes, as we fix local audit to reinstate a vital part of our early warning system on the state of local government finances.
I would like to offer my sincere thanks to you and your team for the dedication, professionalism and skill with which you pursued delivery of the remit you were given. I have been struck by feedback from colleagues in local government about the positive way that you and your team pursued open and constructive dialogue with them about how to try to create, within the confines of your remit, an organisation that might work for them.
In the discussions I’ve had with staff engaged on the Oflog data programme including in our regional offices I was struck by the expertise, knowledge, and the commitment to supporting good local public services. I am keen to ensure we learn the right lessons from Oflog, and not consider it all wasted simply because its formation was underdeveloped and lacked political clarity.
We must rebuild the system from the ground up, and I am keen to engage with staff who worked on this project, and the sector on how to do this in the most efficient and effective way.
With every good wish,
Jim McMahon OBE MP
Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution