Policy transfer and convergence within the UK: the case of local government performance improvement regimes

Analysis of the development and implementation of local government performance improvement regimes in England, Scotland and Wales over the last decade reveals congruence in policy goals but divergence in policy implementation and outcomes. The governments in all three countries had a common aim of improving local government performance. However, differences in ideology, the nature of central–local government relations, the numbers of councils and a political imperative for newly devolved administrations to be seen to pursue ‘home-grown’ solutions limited policy learning between different parts of the United Kingdom (UK) and in the case of Wales fuelled determined policy avoidance by policy makers.