Calls for radical transformation in Welsh public services are not new. For over a decade we have been told that now is the time for step-change in the services so many of us depend on. Recently, with the Welsh Government's Green Paper, 'Stengthening Local Government in Wales' the Leader of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) is quoted as saying,
"services are wearing down to the point of collapse and the public are rightly growing frustrated in terms of paying council tax and yet seeing key community functions cut or closed … The whole position is unsustainable. Local authorities cannot go on to be expected to make the harshest of cuts whilst continuing to provide the same breadth and level of service; in short, something has got to give.“
'Time to be Radical' aims to take such comments seriously, and considers what can be done to realign ourselves to meet future demands. This paper, which might cause a few traditionalists to fall of their chairs, looks at local government reform, the role of the Welsh ministers in the process of change, community leadership and the fundamental importance of grassroots action. It concludes by offering a practical, prescriptive business model to realign how public services are designed and delivered.