Beyond performance measurement? Assessing 'value' in local government

As reforms of the public sector have introduced market relationships and pr ivate sector management practices, a 'managerialist' conception of accounta bility has developed, tied to a panoply of forms of performance measurement and surveillance' and which is now strongly evident in the government's 'b est value' framework for local government. This exemplar of instrumental ra tionality' provides an inadequate basis for realising the full potential ro le of evaluation in the process of 'renewing' local government. A 'critical -pluralist' approach is proposed as a basis for enhancing the capacity of l ocal government to address complex economic and social problems, to embed l earning and improvement and to develop a meaningful 'dialogue' with its cit izens.