26 mins, 2006        [password required] Local government is a massive part of the UK economy - but why is it there? What does it do? This film goes inside Cornwall County Council to find out. THE LOCAL COUNCIL: A local council may appear similar to a private business. It employs people. who undertake many of the same functions as a private business. But councils don't have to make a profit. And they have to provide a wide array of services, from looking after the elderly to maintaining the roads. Private businesses have shareholders and are run by directors on their behalf. Councils have councillors who are elected by local people and the council is accountable to the public for its actions. AIMS & OBJECTIVES: Private businesses aim to make profits. Historically local government has set out to improve people's lives. Many people are attracted to work for councils because they want to serve the community and help people. People in the public sector are often paid less than people with similar abilities in the private sector, but some claim to get more satisfaction from their work. MAKING DECISIONS & CONSULTATION: People sometimes complain that democratic decision-making takes too long because too many people have to be consulted. But on the other hand is the quality of those decisions better? Do people on the street feel that their voices are heard? Cornwall put in a bid to become a world heritage site, involving large sums of money - but how much say did residents have? MEASURING SUCCESS: Private sector businesses measure their success in terms of how much money they make. In the public sector it's not so straightforward. Councils are judged by the quality of their services they provide - a much harder thing to quantify. Some people think they're not getting value for money from their taxes. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: The council tries to measure their effectiveness using performance indicators - what are these? Do the performance indicators measure the right things? How do you measure what care workers do? Is there a danger of spending more time on measuring work than actually doing it? PERCEPTION & REALITY: Councils often get a bad press. And many residents feel they're not getting value from the taxes they pay. In particular social services are often attacked publicly when things go wrong. And form-filling and procedures are the bane of many council workers' lives. But despite the problems, many of the people who work for the council feel they are making a real difference both to their community and to society as a whole.