By Jaimie Kaffash
4 May 2010
Taxpayers would like major changes in the running of public services to be tested out on ‘non-core’ areas before being rolled out, according to a survey by the 2020 Public Services Trust.
In the run-up to the election all the main parties have championed the idea of employee-owned partnerships and social enterprises in the public sector as a way of providing services in the face of budget cuts. But there remains uncertainty over the public’s appetite for such reform.
The trust said people were more likely to support the moves ‘if they start with services such as parks and leisure services’. Its survey, Citizen engagement: testing policy ideas for public service reform, found that people thought the primary role for the state was to provide security, or a ‘safety net’, while remaining fair to all.
Paul Buddery, commission research manager at the trust, told Public Finance: ‘In the short term, the public’s tolerance for change to core services is limited. For some non-core services – for example, Children’s Centres – there appears to be more willingness to consider new ways of doing things.’
He added that changes should not be about political ideals. ‘The public is agnostic about some processes that policy-makers see as being very useful. Choice, for example, although valued by citizens, is not their top priority. First and foremost, they want services to improve,’ he said.
But Ceri Jones, head of policy at the Social Enterprise Coalition, dismissed concerns over such reforms, saying that people were often unaware of how even core services were provided.
‘In some instances, it’s likely that that people are not even aware that the service they get is from a social enterprise. For instance, Welsh Water is a social enterprise owned on behalf of its customers that supplies water to over a million households in Wales and England – it would be extremely unlikely that those million people all know and understand that their water gets to them through social enterprise,’ she said.
She added that, as long as the outcomes were acceptable, the public were receptive to change.
4 May 2010
Taxpayers would like major changes in the running of public services to be tested out on ‘non-core’ areas before being rolled out, according to a survey by the 2020 Public Services Trust.
In the run-up to the election all the main parties have championed the idea of employee-owned partnerships and social enterprises in the public sector as a way of providing services in the face of budget cuts. But there remains uncertainty over the public’s appetite for such reform.
The trust said people were more likely to support the moves ‘if they start with services such as parks and leisure services’. Its survey, Citizen engagement: testing policy ideas for public service reform, found that people thought the primary role for the state was to provide security, or a ‘safety net’, while remaining fair to all.
Paul Buddery, commission research manager at the trust, told Public Finance: ‘In the short term, the public’s tolerance for change to core services is limited. For some non-core services – for example, Children’s Centres – there appears to be more willingness to consider new ways of doing things.’
He added that changes should not be about political ideals. ‘The public is agnostic about some processes that policy-makers see as being very useful. Choice, for example, although valued by citizens, is not their top priority. First and foremost, they want services to improve,’ he said.
But Ceri Jones, head of policy at the Social Enterprise Coalition, dismissed concerns over such reforms, saying that people were often unaware of how even core services were provided.
‘In some instances, it’s likely that that people are not even aware that the service they get is from a social enterprise. For instance, Welsh Water is a social enterprise owned on behalf of its customers that supplies water to over a million households in Wales and England – it would be extremely unlikely that those million people all know and understand that their water gets to them through social enterprise,’ she said.
She added that, as long as the outcomes were acceptable, the public were receptive to change.
