Total Place - towards a new service model for Londoners

London Councils commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) to map public expenditure in the capital and to investigate how the government's 'Total Place' approach might improve services for Londoners.

Their research showed that £73.6 billion of public money was spent in London in 2008/09- or around £10,000 for each Londoner.

However, less than half was directed through bodies that are directly accountable to Londoners - the capital's boroughs and the Greater London Authority.

Local government in London has no control over the 156 quangos responsible for £5.6 billion of the capital's public expenditure bill in 2008/09.

Nor does it have any say over the £25 billion spent by national government departments in the capital. Just one government department (Department for Work and Pensions) accounts for £11 billion of the capital's total public expenditure.

This complex web of nationally run services produces a range of weaknesses in public service. Overcrowding of agencies can lead to confusion in delivery while different national goals often can conflict with each other.

This can undermine some of the key foundations for successful public services identified by PwC, including early intervention, 'case management' support to individuals that cross many agencies and providing individuals with the ability to choose how and when they use public services.

With this in mind, PwC were also asked to examine three specific areas - managing chronic care; worklessness; and the impact of anti-social youth - to see if a more devolved and direct approach to funding could help improve services and save taxpayers' money.

PwC were able to identify potential savings of almost £1.6 billion, mainly by re-channelling funding to local bodies and so intervening earlier with better tailored services. Using these same principles across the whole of the capital could lead to far more significant savings.