Why Town Council Clerks might be ebaying soon

Last week I visited some town councils in the North West, it was part of my market research drive for my town council based website content management system (CMS).
 
Anyhow, I had a bit of a brainwave just before setting off, and threw together a list of services which, according to a recent NALC report, are the most likely candidates to be devolved, delegated or picked up by town councils from their "principal authorities".
 
Here's the list.  Following that I'll list the caveats and tell you the sample size,
 
When the clerk was asked "Which services do you see your town council taking more of a role in over the next few years?"
 
These two were chosen almost unanimously:
  • Cutting grass verges
  • Looking after local footpaths
Then there was a majority vote for:
  • Street cleaning (such as litter picking, sweeping and graffiti removal)
Around half agreed that these are likely candidates, although I believe that in some town councils were already performing these functions to one degree or another:
  • Parks and open spaces
  • Cleaning bus shelters
  • Public conveniences
  • Tourism activities
Given my propensity for maps and locations in my CMS I of course found it very interesting that the delivery of these services would entail a spatial element.
 
The sample was less than ten councils, so this is in no way a scientific report. 
 
There was a bit of nose wrinkling as some clerks admitted their members might want to push to take on these services, whereas in fact they personally did not want to do them. 
 
Many said that the takeup of services may well depend on the makeup of their next council following the Local Government elections next year - and of surprisingly, whether their town councillors were also members of their "principal authorities".
 
So, it was all a bit of "fingers in the wind" and "gut feelings", but nevertheless - might be a good idea to get onto ebay and monitor bids for industrial-strength lawn mowers.
 
Overall though the most impressive thing I learned, is just how considerate and welcoming each of these town clerks were when clearly they were very, very busy people.
 
You know who you are and I thank you (and those whom traffic problems denied me visiting).