an article by Gill Kirton (Queen Mary University of London, UK) and Cécile Guillaume (University of Roehampton, UK) published in Work, Employment and Society Volume 33 Issue 6 (December 2019)
Abstract
This article utilises a multi-method case study of the probation service of England and Wales to explore the perspectives of practitioners and their union on how restructuring / privatisation affected the probation profession.
Professionals perceived restructuring / privatisation as ideologically and politically motivated, rather than evidence-based in relation to service goals. Against this context, the article outlines the probation union’s organised resistance, but ultimately its inability to halt the reform.
The findings highlight practitioners’ concept of ‘the death of probation’ created by philosophical opposition to privatisation, but also by the splitting of their profession and the resultant assault on professionalism.
The study underlines the unique aspects of restructuring / privatisation in the specific service domain, in particular those linked to working with a socially stigmatised client group, but it also has resonance for other public service professions facing the actuality or prospect of restructuring/privatisation.
Showing posts with label public_services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label public_services. Show all posts
Monday, 9 December 2019
Wednesday, 10 April 2019
New year, new era: tax and spend in 21st Century Britain
a post by Torsten Bell for the Resolution Foundation blog
Eras of Britain’s political economy come and go. They ebb and flow, driven by political and economic cycles. Sometimes shifts are hard to see at the time, particularly when they are obscured by the political fog of war. Or Brexit, as it’s currently known. But noticed or not, the financial year starting this Saturday will mark the end of an era – bringing the curtain down on the post-financial crisis austerity of David Cameron and George Osborne.
It will mark the end of an era because it will be the last year we see the three components of the post-crisis economic policy framework in action – cuts to many public services, a retrenchment of social security, and significant income tax cuts that increase the heavy lifting required of the first two.
On public services the year to come is the final one of George Osborne’s Autumn 2015 spending review. This means unprotected departments, not prioritised like the NHS, continuing to see major cuts. The Ministry of Justice and HMRC both face cuts in spending per capita of just over 8 per cent, on top of reductions of 48 and 37 per cent respectively since 2009-10.
On Saturday the Income Tax Personal Allowance (PTA) and Higher Rate Threshold (HRT) will increase to £12,500 and £50,000 respectively, at a cost of £2.8 billion. These build on a series of such tax cuts since 2011. This year’s will, however, be particularly heavily skewed towards higher earners – with the large HRT rise taking up almost half the long-run cost.
Continue reading
Eras of Britain’s political economy come and go. They ebb and flow, driven by political and economic cycles. Sometimes shifts are hard to see at the time, particularly when they are obscured by the political fog of war. Or Brexit, as it’s currently known. But noticed or not, the financial year starting this Saturday will mark the end of an era – bringing the curtain down on the post-financial crisis austerity of David Cameron and George Osborne.
It will mark the end of an era because it will be the last year we see the three components of the post-crisis economic policy framework in action – cuts to many public services, a retrenchment of social security, and significant income tax cuts that increase the heavy lifting required of the first two.
On public services the year to come is the final one of George Osborne’s Autumn 2015 spending review. This means unprotected departments, not prioritised like the NHS, continuing to see major cuts. The Ministry of Justice and HMRC both face cuts in spending per capita of just over 8 per cent, on top of reductions of 48 and 37 per cent respectively since 2009-10.
On Saturday the Income Tax Personal Allowance (PTA) and Higher Rate Threshold (HRT) will increase to £12,500 and £50,000 respectively, at a cost of £2.8 billion. These build on a series of such tax cuts since 2011. This year’s will, however, be particularly heavily skewed towards higher earners – with the large HRT rise taking up almost half the long-run cost.
Continue reading
Thursday, 29 November 2018
Improving government’s planning and spending framework
The National Audit Office (NAO) has found that HM Treasury is effectively controlling public spending and the Cabinet Office, with support from cross-government functions such as finance, is helping to improve business planning in government departments. But it concludes that, unless government makes use of a more integrated planning and spending framework to ensure its plans are deliverable and affordable, the cycle of over optimism, short-termism and silo decision-making will continue – risking value for money for UK taxpayers in the long term.
Through its planning and spending framework, the centre of government sets priorities, plans activity, allocates money and monitors progress and performance. Departments plan and deliver their objectives and manage delegated budgets. HM Treasury – through its 20 spending teams – distributes and controls funding to departments, runs spending reviews and sets rules for how money should be spent. For example, HM Treasury scrutinises the value for money of new proposals for projects and programmes with support from project management and commercial experts. The Cabinet Office monitors delivery of departments’ objectives and government priorities, and oversees departmental business planning. The Spending Review in 2015 allocated £4 trillion of public spending for the five years to 2020-21 and the next Review is expected in 2019.
HM Treasury has begun to focus more on the longer-term. It now provides guaranteed funding to support 10-year plans in some sectors such as defence and has also committed funding for investment in housing, infrastructure, and research and development. It is also increasingly focusing on long-term risks to public finances. However, this has yet to make a difference to the way HM Treasury monitors departments’ performance, and is not supported by a good understanding of the long-term value for money being delivered. HM Treasury recognises this and is developing a new approach to understanding value, but this is at an early stage. It will need to be supported by new success measures for HM Treasury itself, which balance spending control and long-term value, and by enhanced skills and capacity.
Since 2015, the Cabinet Office has required departments to prepare Single Departmental Plans (SDPs), which set out how they will implement their objectives, deliver services and track performance. Working with HM Treasury and cross-government functions, it is helping departments improve business planning and is working on how to use SDPs to challenge funding bids and inform allocations at the next spending review. As yet, SDPs are not central to decision-making in all departments, do not fully match delivery plans to resources, and are weak on measures of success. This creates a risk of unachievable commitments being made and departments failing to see when they are off-track.
Departments have had to plan to deliver more with less, and several are having to deliver complex, long-term programmes to transform public services. Yet the structure of government means departments plan and deliver in silos, which can undermine value for money and negatively affect local services. While various cross-government working groups exist, there is no visibility of their plans or impact, and HM Treasury is considering how best to allow for cross-departmental bids in the next Spending Review. Departments’ Accounting Officers are not adequately incentivised to prioritise, make realistic business plans and protect long-term value. NAO reports repeatedly show over-optimistic plans resulting in failure to deliver, lower quality service or need for further funding and an unwillingness to reprioritise or drop activity despite the pressures of EU Exit work.
Since the NAO last reported on the framework in July 2016, HM Treasury and Cabinet Office have recognised the need to move towards a more integrated approach to assessing and measuring value. The benefits of an integrated framework are self-evident: it would support government in achieving long-term value from projects and programmes; guarding against unrealistic and optimistic assumptions; and understanding the impact of in-year decisions on longer-term delivery. Without it, the system is vulnerable to short-term thinking, leading to poor outcomes for public services and poor value for money.
Full report (PDF 78pp)
Through its planning and spending framework, the centre of government sets priorities, plans activity, allocates money and monitors progress and performance. Departments plan and deliver their objectives and manage delegated budgets. HM Treasury – through its 20 spending teams – distributes and controls funding to departments, runs spending reviews and sets rules for how money should be spent. For example, HM Treasury scrutinises the value for money of new proposals for projects and programmes with support from project management and commercial experts. The Cabinet Office monitors delivery of departments’ objectives and government priorities, and oversees departmental business planning. The Spending Review in 2015 allocated £4 trillion of public spending for the five years to 2020-21 and the next Review is expected in 2019.
HM Treasury has begun to focus more on the longer-term. It now provides guaranteed funding to support 10-year plans in some sectors such as defence and has also committed funding for investment in housing, infrastructure, and research and development. It is also increasingly focusing on long-term risks to public finances. However, this has yet to make a difference to the way HM Treasury monitors departments’ performance, and is not supported by a good understanding of the long-term value for money being delivered. HM Treasury recognises this and is developing a new approach to understanding value, but this is at an early stage. It will need to be supported by new success measures for HM Treasury itself, which balance spending control and long-term value, and by enhanced skills and capacity.
Since 2015, the Cabinet Office has required departments to prepare Single Departmental Plans (SDPs), which set out how they will implement their objectives, deliver services and track performance. Working with HM Treasury and cross-government functions, it is helping departments improve business planning and is working on how to use SDPs to challenge funding bids and inform allocations at the next spending review. As yet, SDPs are not central to decision-making in all departments, do not fully match delivery plans to resources, and are weak on measures of success. This creates a risk of unachievable commitments being made and departments failing to see when they are off-track.
Departments have had to plan to deliver more with less, and several are having to deliver complex, long-term programmes to transform public services. Yet the structure of government means departments plan and deliver in silos, which can undermine value for money and negatively affect local services. While various cross-government working groups exist, there is no visibility of their plans or impact, and HM Treasury is considering how best to allow for cross-departmental bids in the next Spending Review. Departments’ Accounting Officers are not adequately incentivised to prioritise, make realistic business plans and protect long-term value. NAO reports repeatedly show over-optimistic plans resulting in failure to deliver, lower quality service or need for further funding and an unwillingness to reprioritise or drop activity despite the pressures of EU Exit work.
Since the NAO last reported on the framework in July 2016, HM Treasury and Cabinet Office have recognised the need to move towards a more integrated approach to assessing and measuring value. The benefits of an integrated framework are self-evident: it would support government in achieving long-term value from projects and programmes; guarding against unrealistic and optimistic assumptions; and understanding the impact of in-year decisions on longer-term delivery. Without it, the system is vulnerable to short-term thinking, leading to poor outcomes for public services and poor value for money.
Full report (PDF 78pp)
Friday, 9 November 2018
The shrinking state? Understanding the assault on the public sector
Linda Lobao and Kevin Cox (Ohio State University, Columbus, USA) and Mia Gray and Michael Kitson (University of Cambridge, UK) published in Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society Volume 11 Issue 3 (October 2018)
Abstract
This article explores the ‘shrinking state’, the potential erosion of the state from its customary intervention in regulating economic growth and promoting redistribution and the overall weakening of the state as an institution in local/regional affairs. State retreat may be seen in the withdrawal of finance, services and staff as well as the failure to increase these resources to match growing needs, both of which are referred to as ‘retrenchment’ or, in the European case, ‘austerity’.
The erosion of the state as an institution is visible in underfunded social programmes, a smaller public sector, weakened regulatory structures, foregone infrastructure projects, public assets sales and continued privatization.
This article argues that the ‘shrinking state’ both produces and is a product of a restructured social contract between government and citizens and the private sector that has transformed regions and localities.
Although we have not seen wholesale state decline, there have been gradations of state change, especially in qualitative markers such as shifts in state functions, scales of activity, constituencies served and private sector involvement in governmental affairs. These changes, in turn, have led to shifts in state capacity and policy orientation that leave populations bereft of needed public services, increased inequality across geographic areas and sociodemographic groups, and political effects such as the growth of right-wing populism.
Full text (HTML)
Abstract
This article explores the ‘shrinking state’, the potential erosion of the state from its customary intervention in regulating economic growth and promoting redistribution and the overall weakening of the state as an institution in local/regional affairs. State retreat may be seen in the withdrawal of finance, services and staff as well as the failure to increase these resources to match growing needs, both of which are referred to as ‘retrenchment’ or, in the European case, ‘austerity’.
The erosion of the state as an institution is visible in underfunded social programmes, a smaller public sector, weakened regulatory structures, foregone infrastructure projects, public assets sales and continued privatization.
This article argues that the ‘shrinking state’ both produces and is a product of a restructured social contract between government and citizens and the private sector that has transformed regions and localities.
Although we have not seen wholesale state decline, there have been gradations of state change, especially in qualitative markers such as shifts in state functions, scales of activity, constituencies served and private sector involvement in governmental affairs. These changes, in turn, have led to shifts in state capacity and policy orientation that leave populations bereft of needed public services, increased inequality across geographic areas and sociodemographic groups, and political effects such as the growth of right-wing populism.
Full text (HTML)
Friday, 24 August 2018
Tackling Precarious Work in Public Supply Chains: A Comparison of Local Government Procurement Policies in Denmark, Germany and the UK
an article by Karen Jaehrling (University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany), Mathew Johnson (University of Manchester, UK), Trine P Larsen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark), Bjarke Refslund (Aalborg University, Denmark) and Damian Grimshaw (International Labour Organisation, Switzerland) published in Work, Employment and Society Volume 32 Issue 3 (June 2018)
Abstract
Through a cross-national comparative study of local government ‘best practice cases’ of socially responsible procurement in Denmark, Germany and the UK, this article critically examines the role of labour clauses in addressing issues of low wages and precarious work in public supply chains.
It provides new insights on the negotiations and outcomes of labour clauses across different stages of the policy process, including implementation and monitoring. The analysis demonstrates the importance of pragmatic alliances of progressive local politicians, unions and employers in ensuring that socially responsible procurement moves beyond rhetoric, along with supportive national and sectoral employment regimes.
Labour clauses can compensate for weak systems of labour market regulation by setting higher standards for outsourced workers, while they play a complementary role in more regulated labour markets by levelling up wages and working conditions to prevailing collectively agreed standards.
Abstract
Through a cross-national comparative study of local government ‘best practice cases’ of socially responsible procurement in Denmark, Germany and the UK, this article critically examines the role of labour clauses in addressing issues of low wages and precarious work in public supply chains.
It provides new insights on the negotiations and outcomes of labour clauses across different stages of the policy process, including implementation and monitoring. The analysis demonstrates the importance of pragmatic alliances of progressive local politicians, unions and employers in ensuring that socially responsible procurement moves beyond rhetoric, along with supportive national and sectoral employment regimes.
Labour clauses can compensate for weak systems of labour market regulation by setting higher standards for outsourced workers, while they play a complementary role in more regulated labour markets by levelling up wages and working conditions to prevailing collectively agreed standards.
Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Work, employment and engagement conditions in a female-dominated public service occupation after restructuring/outsourcing
an article by Gill Kirton (Queen Mary University of London, UK) and Cécile Guillaume (University of Roehampton, London, UK) published in Industrial Relations Journal Volume 48 Issue 5-6 (November 2017)
Abstract
Most research on the phenomenon of public service restructuring/outsourcing focuses on lower skilled work in peripheral activities and typically provides an overview of effects on work, employment and employment relations.
Through an in-depth case study of probation, the intention of this article is to explore professional worker experiences of the restructuring/outsourcing of a core public service activity where the workforce is female dominated.
The article highlights three dimensions of job quality that all suffered deterioration – work, employment and engagement.
The case of probation adds to evidence demonstrating that employees experience adverse effects even though transfer regulations and union agreements supposedly protect workers. Probation also stands as an exemplar of impoverishment processes in a female-dominated occupation which reinforces the view that public services can no longer be relied upon to provide high-quality jobs for highly qualified women.
Abstract
Most research on the phenomenon of public service restructuring/outsourcing focuses on lower skilled work in peripheral activities and typically provides an overview of effects on work, employment and employment relations.
Through an in-depth case study of probation, the intention of this article is to explore professional worker experiences of the restructuring/outsourcing of a core public service activity where the workforce is female dominated.
The article highlights three dimensions of job quality that all suffered deterioration – work, employment and engagement.
The case of probation adds to evidence demonstrating that employees experience adverse effects even though transfer regulations and union agreements supposedly protect workers. Probation also stands as an exemplar of impoverishment processes in a female-dominated occupation which reinforces the view that public services can no longer be relied upon to provide high-quality jobs for highly qualified women.
Friday, 28 February 2014
Condition of Britain briefing 2: Growing up and becoming an adult
an IPPR paper by Kayte Lawton (published November 2013)
This second briefing paper to be published as part of IPPR’ s Condition of Britain programme focusses on young people in their teens and early twenties. This phase of life has become, for many, more difficult and insecure in recent decades, and in this paper we consider the societal shifts that have made today’s young people less able to rely on support from stable families, clear routes into work, and opportunities to put down roots by buying a home of their own.
While Britain’s young people are, on the whole, optimistic, resourceful and ambitious, their path to adulthood has grown both longer and more insecure. Changes in family life have made it more difficult for young people to develop the character and emotional resilience they need to become happy and productive adults. The labour market and the education and benefits systems are failing a large number of young people who need more meaningful qualifications and greater assistance with securing decent jobs. What’s more, all young people deserve to benefit from a sustainable and affordable homeownership, and a better and more secure rental market.
Among the questions this paper asks are:
Presenting evidence and testimonies from a variety of sources and stakeholders, and this briefing paper offers an overview of the issues facing Britain’s young people, and outlines how we need to rethink both what society expects of young people, and what young people should expect of society.
The five briefing papers in this series are brought together with a new introduction by Nick Pearce, Graeme Cooke and Kayte Lawton in the Condition of Britain interim report, published in December 2013.
Full text (PDF 14pp) http://www.ippr.org/images/media/files/publication/2013/11/Condition-of-Britain-brief02-Growing-up_Nov2013_11487.pdf
This second briefing paper to be published as part of IPPR’ s Condition of Britain programme focusses on young people in their teens and early twenties. This phase of life has become, for many, more difficult and insecure in recent decades, and in this paper we consider the societal shifts that have made today’s young people less able to rely on support from stable families, clear routes into work, and opportunities to put down roots by buying a home of their own.
While Britain’s young people are, on the whole, optimistic, resourceful and ambitious, their path to adulthood has grown both longer and more insecure. Changes in family life have made it more difficult for young people to develop the character and emotional resilience they need to become happy and productive adults. The labour market and the education and benefits systems are failing a large number of young people who need more meaningful qualifications and greater assistance with securing decent jobs. What’s more, all young people deserve to benefit from a sustainable and affordable homeownership, and a better and more secure rental market.
Among the questions this paper asks are:
- How can we strengthen local institutions that are capable of developing young people’s character, maturity and resilience?
- How can we reform our benefits, job support and training to make sure every young person is learning or earning, and establish stable and coherent vocational options for those not pursuing an academic path?
- What would be sustainable means of helping young people to realise their aspirations to own their own homes?
Presenting evidence and testimonies from a variety of sources and stakeholders, and this briefing paper offers an overview of the issues facing Britain’s young people, and outlines how we need to rethink both what society expects of young people, and what young people should expect of society.
The five briefing papers in this series are brought together with a new introduction by Nick Pearce, Graeme Cooke and Kayte Lawton in the Condition of Britain interim report, published in December 2013.
Full text (PDF 14pp) http://www.ippr.org/images/media/files/publication/2013/11/Condition-of-Britain-brief02-Growing-up_Nov2013_11487.pdf
Monday, 25 March 2013
Voluntary organisations and marketisation: a dynamic of employment degradation
an article by Ian Cunningham (University of Strathclyde, UK) Gary Hearne (Middlesex University, UK) and Philip James (Oxford Brookes University, UK) published in Industrial Relations Journal Volume 44 Issue 2 (March 2013)
Abstract
This article uses survey data to explore how far the terms and conditions of voluntary sector staff in Scotland are undergoing a process of reform against the backdrop of the sector’s greater engagement in contracting for outsourced public services and a more challenging public expenditure environment.
Its findings reveal that they have been undergoing a widespread process of diminution, which would appear to be becoming both deeper and broader.
They further argue that this process has been intimately connected to a harsher funding environment and therefore raise the prospect of it intensifying further as the current British government’s deficit reduction programme progresses.
Abstract
This article uses survey data to explore how far the terms and conditions of voluntary sector staff in Scotland are undergoing a process of reform against the backdrop of the sector’s greater engagement in contracting for outsourced public services and a more challenging public expenditure environment.
Its findings reveal that they have been undergoing a widespread process of diminution, which would appear to be becoming both deeper and broader.
They further argue that this process has been intimately connected to a harsher funding environment and therefore raise the prospect of it intensifying further as the current British government’s deficit reduction programme progresses.
Friday, 8 February 2013
Middle-Class Political Activism and Middle-Class Advantage in Relation to Public Services: A Realist Synthesis of the Evidence Base
an article by Peter Matthews (Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK) and Annette Hastings (University of Glasgow, UK) published in Social Policy & Administration Volume 47 Issue 1 (February 2013)
Abstract
Since the late 1960s social policy scholarship has been concerned with the distribution of the resources or benefits across social gradients.
This article presents a review of the literature on one mechanism by which inequity might be produced – activism by middle-class service-users enabling them to capture a disproportionate share of resources.
The review used the methodology of realist synthesis to bring together evidence from the UK, the USA and Scandinavian countries over the past 30 years.
The aim was to construct a ‘middle-theory’ to understand how and in which contexts collective and individual activity by middle-class service-users might produce inequitable resource allocation or rationing decisions that disproportionately benefit middle-class service-users.
The article identifies four causal theories which nuance the view that it is the ‘sharp elbows’ of the middle-classes which confer advantage on this group. It shows how advantage accrues via the interplay between service-users, providers and the broader policy and social context.
Abstract
Since the late 1960s social policy scholarship has been concerned with the distribution of the resources or benefits across social gradients.
This article presents a review of the literature on one mechanism by which inequity might be produced – activism by middle-class service-users enabling them to capture a disproportionate share of resources.
The review used the methodology of realist synthesis to bring together evidence from the UK, the USA and Scandinavian countries over the past 30 years.
The aim was to construct a ‘middle-theory’ to understand how and in which contexts collective and individual activity by middle-class service-users might produce inequitable resource allocation or rationing decisions that disproportionately benefit middle-class service-users.
The article identifies four causal theories which nuance the view that it is the ‘sharp elbows’ of the middle-classes which confer advantage on this group. It shows how advantage accrues via the interplay between service-users, providers and the broader policy and social context.
Friday, 22 June 2012
Not learning in the workplace: austerity and the shattering of illusion in public service
an article by Helen Colley, (School of Education and Professional Development, University of Huddersfield) published in Journal of Workplace Learning Volume 24 Issue 5 (2012)
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to discuss the impact of UK government austerity policies on learning in public service work, specifically youth support work. It also aims to argue that austerity policies intensify “ethics work”, create emotional suffering, and obstruct workplace learning in a variety of ways.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts narrative methods and a critical interpretive paradigm to investigate practitioner perceptions within a broader analysis of neo-liberal change. It draws on Bourdieu’s sociology as an interpretive framework.
Findings
Austerity is shifting the “stakes” of the youth support field from a client-centred ethos to the meeting of economically-driven targets. This shatters the illusio of practitioners committed to client-centred ethics, resulting in emotional suffering, difficulty in learning to cope with new demands, and an erosion of professional capacity.
Research limitations and implications
A particular limitation is the lack of longitudinal data. There is a pressing need for more research on ethics work, emotional suffering and (not) learning in public service workplaces facing austerity, and to continue theorising this nexus more thoroughly.
Practical and social implications
There is a need to promote a feminist ethics of care in such workplaces. There is also a need to stimulate public debate about the ethical impact of austerity on public service work as a whole. These might allow workplaces to encourage learning more effectively.
Originality/value
This paper departs from traditional discussions of workplace learning to consider instances of “not learning”. It introduces the innovative concept of “ethics work”, discusses ethics as a form of work, through a sociological rather than philosophical lens, and utilises Bourdieu’s key concept of illusio, not previously addressed in workplace learning research.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to discuss the impact of UK government austerity policies on learning in public service work, specifically youth support work. It also aims to argue that austerity policies intensify “ethics work”, create emotional suffering, and obstruct workplace learning in a variety of ways.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts narrative methods and a critical interpretive paradigm to investigate practitioner perceptions within a broader analysis of neo-liberal change. It draws on Bourdieu’s sociology as an interpretive framework.
Findings
Austerity is shifting the “stakes” of the youth support field from a client-centred ethos to the meeting of economically-driven targets. This shatters the illusio of practitioners committed to client-centred ethics, resulting in emotional suffering, difficulty in learning to cope with new demands, and an erosion of professional capacity.
Research limitations and implications
A particular limitation is the lack of longitudinal data. There is a pressing need for more research on ethics work, emotional suffering and (not) learning in public service workplaces facing austerity, and to continue theorising this nexus more thoroughly.
Practical and social implications
There is a need to promote a feminist ethics of care in such workplaces. There is also a need to stimulate public debate about the ethical impact of austerity on public service work as a whole. These might allow workplaces to encourage learning more effectively.
Originality/value
This paper departs from traditional discussions of workplace learning to consider instances of “not learning”. It introduces the innovative concept of “ethics work”, discusses ethics as a form of work, through a sociological rather than philosophical lens, and utilises Bourdieu’s key concept of illusio, not previously addressed in workplace learning research.
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
Big Society contractors? Big questions for voluntary organisations
an article by Andrew J. Purkis [author affiliation not stated] published in Voluntary Sector Review Volume 3 Number 1 (March 2012 )
Abstract
The experience of housing associations (HAs) has not been taken into account in many of the discussions about the transfer of responsibility for delivering public services from statutory bodies to voluntary agencies.
This article addresses this omission by reviewing the recent history of the larger HAs. It addresses six [sic] key issues that might yield lessons for other voluntary organisations considering invitations to become mass service contractors in the 'Big Society': independence;
Hazel’s comment:
This article is about housing association but it could equally be about X-town library service. There is a steep learning curve for organisations here – not least of which are the provision of a public service and working to a contract. Conflicts of interest may well occur.
Abstract
The experience of housing associations (HAs) has not been taken into account in many of the discussions about the transfer of responsibility for delivering public services from statutory bodies to voluntary agencies.
This article addresses this omission by reviewing the recent history of the larger HAs. It addresses six [sic] key issues that might yield lessons for other voluntary organisations considering invitations to become mass service contractors in the 'Big Society': independence;
- user satisfaction and empowerment;
- the ability to tackle needs flexibly across the boundaries with other agencies;
- involvement in campaigning;
- recognition as part of civil society; and
- their ability to nurture the spirit of volunteering and giving.
Hazel’s comment:
This article is about housing association but it could equally be about X-town library service. There is a steep learning curve for organisations here – not least of which are the provision of a public service and working to a contract. Conflicts of interest may well occur.
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