‘Public Value’ in a local government context is created through the councillor group working to create a clear mandate to empower the CEO and administration to confidently deliver programs and services to the community.

The role of the Council is to provide legitimacy and support to a program, project or initiative, this includes considering:

• Legislative or policy mandates for specific areas, and how these will translate in the context of their community.
• Political alignment on the desirability and affordability regarding outcomes and standards for services.
• Guidance from administrative advisors on feasibility, sustainability, and implications of policy settings.
• Community engagement to validate the intended outcomes and resource allocation and provide legitimacy.
• Decision options for policies that justify and outline service commitments.

The  role of the CEO and administration is to provide advice into these processes and ensure delivery of the intended outcomes. delivery methods (e.g., advocacy, partnerships, direct or indirect services) to meet community needs.

A simple decision framework that can be used to guide these complex decision processes is outlined below:

Mandate – is the service or activity mandated or discretionary? If it is mandated Council still needs to consider how it lands for their community. If it is discretionary, Council needs to regularly review the service to ensure it is fir for purpose.

Legitimacy – the legitimacy of a decision will rely on community acceptance of the process (transparency and engagement), accounting for the broader context, and balancing competing and conflicting desires and needs. It also relies on delivery and accountability – what we said we would do, we did.

Public value and public interest – is participation supported by legislation or policy and does council involvement add value? Is participation in the interests of the broader community, what is the opportunity cost, and might the service be delivered anyway?

Policy – is Council clear on the problem they are seeking to solve? What has changed and what evidence supports the objectives? What is it that council might or should do?

Business strategy – when Council knows what it wants to deliver to what standards, the question becomes how to deliver the outcomes. There are many options for Council to consider, all have strengths and weaknesses.

Delivery of public value requires clear definition of respective roles and responsibilities and good business and decision processes to support the Council in its legitimate and strategic decision-making role.