The Impact of Best Value on Local Authority Performance: Evidence from the Welsh Pilots

This article provides the first empirical evidence on the impact of Best Value processes on local service quality, costs, efficiency and accountability. Views were obtained from a wide range of personnel involved in the pilot programme in Wales by means of a postal questionnaire and interviews. The evidence shows that so far Best Value has had a positive impact on quality and accountability but little impact on service costs. Perceptions of the impact of Best Value are significantly more positive in authorities that adopted a corporate approach to the pilot process.