26 May 2006
The minister co-ordinating the government's public services reforms this week urged Whitehall departments to sign up to a project that could prevent workforce opposition to future changes.
But Hilary Armstrong, the new Cabinet Office minister, was warned by trade union leaders that they must see evidence that the government-union venture will lead to genuine staff input into future reforms.
Armstrong launched the Drive for Change network – a joint venture between the Cabinet Office, public employers and the Trades Union Congress – on May 22. The aim of the on-line programme, which has taken two years to develop, is to 'improve public services through effective trade union and workforce engagement'.
It centres on a website that enables public sector staff to contribute to debates and guidance about improving services and their relations with senior managers charged with implementing reforms.
Privately, the Cabinet Office views the project as an olive branch to public servants upset at the scope and pace of government reforms, which have targeted improved service delivery but led to swingeing job cuts without consultation and tight pay settlements.
Asked by Public Finance if the network represented a genuine opportunity for staff to influence government thinking, Armstrong said: 'One of my
jobs will be to persuade government departments that this will be a good way of working. I want to create a climate that allows for constructive criticism to be part of the programme.'
Armstrong pointed to a series of successful project pilots, which led to improved services and management-staff relations across local authorities, health trusts and prisons.
At Holloway Prison, staff consultations led to large reductions in levels of self-harm by inmates. Birmingham City Council, meanwhile, introduced a self-rostering system for elderly care that improved services and conditions for carers.
Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary, urged managers to consult public servants over proposed reforms at an early stage and not to view the forum as a toolkit for 'crisis intervention'.
However, some trade union leaders said the network could become a mere talking shop.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, said 'pretty incredible' levels of staff opposition to the reform agenda existed. 'We've heard about good practice at local level, but there has to be confidence that central government will also listen,' he warned.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, added: 'What seems to be missing is an understanding of how we get… to a point where all public sector staff are aware of the benefit of using this service and where all employers adopt it.'
PFmay2006
