An article examined the government's policy of working with 'third sector' organizations to expand their role in shaping, commissioning, and delivering public services. It asked whether the policy was flawed, contradictory, and risked damaging the attributes of the sector admired by New Labour.
Source: Josie Kelly, 'Reforming public services in the UK: bringing in the third sector', Public Administration, Volume 85 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Dec
An article used the example of the National Health Service to analyze the phenomenon of very rapid, repeated restructuring in public services. The existence of a growing community of managerially-minded professionals encouraged and channelled the political desire for rapid 'action'.
Source: Christopher Pollitt, 'New Labour's re-disorganization: hyper-modernism and the costs of reform – a cautionary tale', Public Money and Management, Volume 9 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Dec
A report said that public services required a 'deep cultural change', rather than additional resources or further structural reforms, if they were to became truly responsive to the needs of those who used them.
Source: Victor Adebowale and Tim Kelsey, A Personal Approach to Public Services: Shaping services around individuals' needs, Turning Point (020 7702 1458) and Dr Foster Intelligence
Links: Report | Turning Point press release
Date: 2007-Dec
An article examined the relationship between the state and self-regulation, in the context of the challenge of meeting public interest objectives. The institutions, processes, and mechanisms of the modern regulatory state and the 'better regulation' agenda – notably those that aimed to foster transparency and accountability – could assist in the achievement of public interest objectives in self-regulatory schemes.
Source: Ian Bartle and Peter Vass, 'Self-regulation within the regulatory state: towards a new regulatory paradigm?', Public Administration, Volume 85 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Dec
The government announced a review (led by DeAnne Julius) of the emerging 'public service industry' – firms and other organizations contracted to deliver services in the National Health Service, the prison service, and other public services.
Source: Press release 5 December 2007, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: DWP press release | CBI press release
Date: 2007-Dec
A think-tank report examined how to strengthen the system of checks and balances within the system of public-private partnerships; and what more needed to be done to shift the focus away from the construction and maintenance of infrastructure and towards issues such as 'personalization' and improving service outcomes.
Source: Paul Hackett (ed.), Public and Private: Partners in the Public Interest, Smith Institute (020 7592 3618)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Nov
A report by a committee of MPs said that private finance initiative schemes did not deliver value for money. There had been no improvement in tendering times since a previous report; significant risks to value for money continued to be taken when public authorities made late changes to deals; there was a continuing lack of skills and experience in public sector PFI teams; and there was a lack of data to check whether prices given in tenders were competitive.
Source: HM Treasury: Tendering and Benchmarking in PFI, Sixty-third Report (Session 2006-07), HC 754, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | CBI press release | Liberal Democrats press release | FT report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2007-Nov
A think-tank report set out a progressive agenda for public services and for the next stage of public service reform. Public services were not simply delivered to their users, but instead depended on a relationship of co-production in which outcomes – such as good health, high levels of skills, and low rates of crime – were the result of government, public services, and citizens working effectively together.
Source: Richard Brooks (ed.), Public Services at the Crossroads, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Summary | IPPR press release
Date: 2007-Oct
A new book (edited and written by Liberal Democrats) said that a reinvented state – creative and enabling, rather than centralizing and stifling – could deliver public services, and provide solutions to social, economic, and environmental problems in a responsive, democratic, and decentralized manner.
Source: Duncan Brack, Richard Grayson and David Howarth (eds.), Reinventing the State: Social liberalism for the 21st century, Politico's Publishing (0870 850 1110)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Oct
A new book examined the changing nature of work and industrial relations across the welfare sector.
Source: Gerry Mooney and Alex Law (eds.), New Labour/Hard Labour? Restructuring and resistance inside the welfare industry, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Oct
The government published its 2007 Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review. 30 new public service agreements (instead of 110 previously) set out the government's key priority outcomes in the spending period 2008-2011.
Source: Meeting the Aspirations of the British People: 2007 Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review, Cm 7227, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Summary | PSA Agreements | Hansard | HMT press releases | LGIU press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Oct
A report examined the aggregate costs of private finance initiative and private-public partnership projects in Scotland. It said that the contracts could be costing around £2.1 billion more than conventional funding.
Source: At What Cost?, Unison (0845 355 0845)
Links: Report | Unison press release
Date: 2007-Oct
A report examined the problems involved in translating corporate experiences to the process of public sector reform. Most public sector organizations did have a lot to learn from the private sector: but this was less through copying detailed customer or stakeholder management techniques, and more through a clear-sighted analysis of what was meant by stakeholder management, what models of stakeholder management might be appropriate for them, and how to ensure the full adoption of the chosen model.
Source: Merlin Stone, Neil Woodcock and Ashley Semmens, Managing Stakeholders in the Public Sector, Public Management and Policy Association (020 7543 5679)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Sep
A report by a working group of the opposition Conservative Party put forward proposals designed to eradicate the inequalities in access to good schools, healthcare, and housing. It said that parents should be allowed to start up their own schools in areas where local schools were failing.
Source: Public Services Improvement Policy Group, Restoring Pride in Our Public Services, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Report | Conservative Party press release | NUT press release | Shelter press release | NHF press release | NHS Confederation press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Telegraph report (1) | Telegraph report (2)
Date: 2007-Sep
An article drew on the example of the relocation of a hospital to examine how those responsible for implementation within public services could exercise disproportionate influence over policy.
Source: John Greenaway, Brian Salter and Stella Hart, 'How policy networks can damage democratic health: a case study in the government of governance', Public Administration, Volume 85 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Sep
A new book said that the solution for low-quality delivery in healthcare and education was to offer choice to users and to encourage competition among providers.
Source: Julian Le Grand, The Other Invisible Hand: Delivering public services through choice and competition, Princeton University Press (01993 814500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Sep
A new book examined how New Labour had drawn on different 'narratives of consumerism' in its attempts to reform public services.
Source: Catherine Needham, The Reform of Public Services Under New Labour: Narratives of consumerism, Palgrave Macmillan (01256 329242)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Aug
A report said that the future implications of globalization for public services were 'severe'. By 2030, services to the public would certainly not all be delivered by public sector workers or paid for out of the public purse.
Source: The Future of Services to the Public: Reviewing the pressures and challenges for long term change, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (020 7543 5602)
Links: Report part 1 | Report part 2
Date: 2007-Jul
The government announced that it would scrap all except 30 out of 110 public service agreement targets, in order to reduce 'red tape' and give local authorities the power to make their own decisions regarding service provision, standards, and accountability.
Source: Speech by Andy Burnham MP (Chief Secretary to the Treasury), 18 July 2007
Links: Text of speech | CIPD press release | FT report
Date: 2007-Jul
A report said that the role of direct public employment should be given more serious consideration by policy-makers. Direct public employment could set a benchmark of excellence for ethical employment standards and for the contribution of employment to public sector policy aims.
Source: Towards a Future for Public Employment, Association for Public Service Excellence (0161 772 1810)
Links: APSE press release
Date: 2007-Jul
A think-tank report said that the initial decisions of the government of the new Prime Minister (Gordon Brown) had put public service reform into retreat: policy announcements on the National Health Service, schools, universities, and housing would not only increase public spending but also reduce its efficiency.
Source: Nick Bosanquet, Andrew Haldenby, Peter Hoskin and Helen Rainbow, Retreat from Reform: The initial policy decisions of the new government, Reform (020 7799 6699)
Links: Report |Reform press release
Date: 2007-Jul
A report examined the role of shared services in the public services reform agenda. It highlighted the potential pitfalls of the existing approach, and proposed a strategic framework for such services characterized by: an evidence-based approach, democratic accountability, quality jobs, and comprehensive appraisal criteria and impact assessment.
Source: Dexter Whitfield, Shared Services in Britain, European Services Strategy Unit/Northumbria University (0191 227 3500)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jun
A report said that although the voluntary sector played an important role in the delivery of public services, it might not always be the best solution for consumers. Private providers scored top marks in domiciliary care for older people, and there was little difference between the voluntary and public sector in housing.
Source: Alison Hopkins, Delivering Public Services: Service users' experiences of the third sector, National Consumer Council (020 7730 3469)
Links: Report | NCC press release
Date: 2007-Jun
The government published a strategy designed to reduce bureaucracy for front-line workers, so that public services could work more efficiently without compromising on standards.
Source: Cutting Bureaucracy for our Public Services, Cabinet Office (020 7261 8527)
Links: Strategy | Cabinet Office press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2007-Jun
A think-tank report said that public sector policies under the Blair governments of 1997-2007 had been based on rising public spending and taxation, and on central direction rather than reform. Genuine reform - empowering individuals and communities, and minimizing the role of government - had remained the subject of speeches and discussion rather than actual policy.
Source: Andrew Haldenby, Peter Hoskin, Helen Rainbow and Henry de Zoete, Key Policy Lessons of the 'Blair Years' for Future Governments, Reform (020 7799 6699)
Links: Report | Reform press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Jun
The report was published of a seminar which examined the future of public services reform. Discussion of reform had been distorted by a 'distracting emphasis' upon market mechanisms and private sector involvement. Such solutions were not readily applicable to the practical realities of public services, which entailed complex roles and relationships within and across services, and with service users and wider communities.
Source: Voices for Real Reform, Compass (020 7463 0633) and UNISON
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jun
A discussion paper set out proposals for improving the government's engagement with the third sector.
Source: Third Sector Strategy for Communities and Local Government, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Links: Discussion paper
Date: 2007-Jun
An article examined the value for money of private finance initiative (PFI) projects. It highlighted 'significant problems', and supported calls for the availability of a wider range of procurement options.
Source: Rob Ball, Maryanne Heafey and Dave King, 'The private finance initiative in the UK: a value for money and economic analysis', Public Management Review, Volume 9 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jun
An article examined the appropriateness of the government agenda for transforming public services using information technology. It considered the potential of 'customer relationship management' to support service transformation; and it compared it with co-production, an alternative approach to 'citizen-centric' service design which addressed weaknesses in approaches based on information technology.
Source: Stephen King and Sarah Cotterill, 'Transformational government? The role of information technology in delivering citizen-centric local public services', Local Government Studies, Volume 33 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jun
A report examined ways of making local variations in public services acceptable, or even desirable, to the public. These included: strengthening people?s understanding about local democracy; improving participatory democracy; and clearly communicating the rationale for decisions about service provision.
Source: Jude Cummins, Rob Francis and Robert Coffey, Local Solutions or Postcode Lotteries? The acceptability of difference in public services, Office of Public Management (020 7239 7800)
Links: Link removed
Date: 2007-Jun
An audit report examined early examples of the public sector use of contractual processes to benchmark and market test the value of ongoing services under a private finance initiative (PFI) contract. Value for money had been achieved through the value-testing process in only about half of the cases.
Source: Benchmarking and Market Testing the Ongoing Services Component of PFI Projects, HC 453 (Session 2006-07), National Audit Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | NAO press release
Date: 2007-Jun
A new book (containing essays written by existing and former ministers, advisers, and New Labour strategists) said that there had been many improvements to public services over the previous ten years: but the government?s approach to public service reform risked looking increasingly incoherent, and needed to be reassessed from first principles.
Source: Public Matters: The renewal of the public realm, Policy Network (020 7340 2200)
Links: Summary | Policy Network press release | Guardian report
Date: 2007-May
The government published the results of a review of the role of the state in modern society. It put forward the idea of the 'strategic and enabling' state as a response to the continuing evolution of global and domestic trends, geared towards the redistribution of power to people: this could mean either an expanded role, such as support for childcare provision, or a reduced role, such as providing individual budgets to users of public services. The state had five main roles: as a provider of services; as a commissioner of services; as a regulator; as a provider of information so that citizens could make informed choices; and as a legislator to set clear rules of behaviour.
Source: Building on Progress: The Role of the State, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881)
Date: 2007-May
An article used the example of long-term care for older people to illustrate the arguments over 'equity' in public services.
Source: Justin Keen, Chris Deeming, Jeanette Moore and Helen Weatherly, 'New Labour, equity and public services: a Rawlsian perspective', Policy & Politics, Volume 35 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-May
A report by a committee of MPs said that local public sector officials responsible for negotiating refinancing clauses in private finance initiative (PFI) contracts often lacked commercial experience and needed to be trained so that they were not 'outwitted' by their private sector counterparts.
Source: Update on PFI Debt Refinancing and the PFI Equity Market, Twenty-fifth Report (Session 2006-07), HC 158, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BMA press release | Guardian report | FT report
Date: 2007-May
A study found that 83 per cent of private finance initiative (PFI) contracts were profitable, with a quarter reporting 'better than expected' profits.
Source: Press release 26 April 2007, KPMG (020 7311 1000)
Links: KPMG press release | FT report
Date: 2007-Apr
An article said that there was no evidence to support government claims of improved efficiency in private finance initiative (PFI) projects. Treasury appraisal guidance (the 'Green Book', which compared PFI with other methods of procurement) was not evidence-based but biased in favour of PFI projects.
Source: Allyson Pollock, David Price and Stewart Player, 'An examination of the UK Treasury?s evidence base for cost and time overrun data in UK value-for-money policy and appraisal', Public Money and Management, Volume 27 Issue 2
Links: Article | Abstract | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Apr
An article examined public management reforms in three services - healthcare, housing, and social services - dominated by organized professions. Management restructuring had been least effective in areas where greater resources had been devoted to it, because of obstruction by professional interests.
Source: Stephen Ackroyd, Ian Kirkpatrick and Richard Walker, 'Public management reform in the UK and its consequences for professional organization: a comparative analysis', Public Administration, Volume 85 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Mar
A government policy review concluded that the process of personalizing public services around the user, so that they were tailored to citizens' differing needs and preferences, was not yet complete. It was necessary to: take further steps to empower citizens to shape services around them; open up the supply side, where appropriate, so that the greatest possible diversity of provision was encouraged; foster workforce innovation and development, and engage with public service workers; and develop new and specific approaches to those sectors of the population who had, thus far, proved hard to reach.
Source: Building on Progress: Public Services Report, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881)
Links: Report | Downing Street press release | DH press release | TUC press release | BBC report | Guardian report | FT report
Date: 2007-Mar
A think-tank report said that extending accountability and choice in public services had often come at the expense of fragmenting the way that schools, hospitals, and councils provided their services. New reforms were needed that built on experiments in collaboration - both between different parts of the public sector, and between institutions and the people they served.
Source: Niamh Gallagher and Simon Parker (eds.), The Collaborative State: How working together can transform public services, Demos, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Report | Summary | Demos press release
Date: 2007-Mar
An audit report said that the tendering process for private finance initiative projects needed improvement. During 2004-2006, PFI projects took an average of almost 3 years to tender. Although there was substantial variation between sectors, the average tendering period was no better than in the period 2000-2003 for any of the sectors examined.
Source: Improving the PFI Tendering Process, HC 149 (Session 2006-07), National Audit Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | NAO press release | CBI press release
Date: 2007-Mar
A partnership agreement was reached between the Welsh Assembly Government, public service employers, and trade unions, setting out principles for managing changes in the way that public services were delivered across Wales. It included an agenda for workforce engagement and learning, career development, equality, and staff well-being.
Source: Partnership and Managing Change: A partnership agreement for public services in Wales, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Agreement | WLGA press release
Date: 2007-Mar
An article in a think-tank journal said that big increases in public spending on health, education, and welfare had not produced the expected improvements in services; and, rather than empowering people, they had deepened welfare dependency.
Source: David Green, 'Market liberalism after Thatcher and Blair: why we should work towards a 'membership state'', Civitas Review, Volume 4 Issue 1
Links: Article | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Feb
A think-tank report examined the concept of 'co-production' as a radical challenge to existing approaches to local economic development and the delivery of welfare and public services.
Source: David Boyle, Sherry Clarke and Sarah Burns, Aspects of Co-production: The implications for work, health and volunteering, New Economics Foundation (020 7820 6300)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Feb
A new book examined the growing movement towards welfare pluralism - a 'mixed economy' of welfare involving private, voluntary, and informal sectors.
Source: Martin Powell (ed.), Understanding the Mixed Economy of Welfare, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Feb
The charities regulator said that over 60 per cent of charities with annual income over £500,000 delivered public services on behalf of public authorities: but over 40 per cent of all charities doing so were not paid the full cost involved.
Source: Stand and Deliver: The future for charities delivering public services, Charity Commission for England and Wales (0870 333 0123)
Links: Report | Charity Commission press release | Speech | NCH press release | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Feb
Background paper prepared for the government's mid-term policy review sought to identify the pressures and challenges facing the state and public services. Improvements in the responsiveness and quality of public services were needed, particularly if the needs of the disadvantaged were to be met. Linked polling data highlighted what people thought of, and expected from, the state and public services - how people as citizens wanted to interact with the state, and what kind of role the state should play in their lives. The government said that it would use the research to put questions to 'citizen forums?, made up of 100 independently selected members drawn from all walks of life.
Source: Policy Review: Public Services, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881) | Policy Review: The Role of the State, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office | Press release 15 January 2007, Cabinet Office (020 7261 8527)
Links: Public services paper | State paper | Cabinet Office press release
Date: 2007-Jan