Abstract
THE very attention which the growing complexity of the problems confronting the administrator, whether in national or industrial life, has attracted, makes it easy to overlook the extent to which technical factors have become important in local government also. In the last twenty years, the powers and duties of local authorities have greatly increased. They have now far-reaching responsibilities, and the welfare of the community is largely dependent on the efficiency with which those responsibilities are discharged. Public health, education, housing, town and country planning, road construction and maintenance these are only some of the activities of local government authorities, and more and more they require to have at their disposal officers on whom they can rely fully, both for advice on the critical questions which come before them and for the execution of their decisions when taken. The local government service in Great Britain maintains a high standard, for which no small share of the credit is due to the National Association of Local Government Officers. This and other associations have laboured to secure improved qualifications of their members and have succeeded in developing an invaluable professional spirit and outlook. In spite of this, there are wide variations in the standards of recruiting and training of officers for local government service. No consistent efforts are made by local authorities as a whole to secure the best persons for their service and to make the best use of them. Recruitment is often haphazard and training is unsystematic. Although technical qualifications where held are usually fairly high,not all the qualifications are entirely satisfactory, and thorough investigation of the field is required.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Leadership in Local Government. Nature 133, 738–739 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/133738a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/133738a0