Minister backs tailored services

24 Jan 08
Public services could be transformed if more people were allowed to commission their own services, a centre-Left think-tank has claimed.

25 January 2008

Public services could be transformed if more people were allowed to commission their own services, a centre-Left think-tank has claimed.

A report from Demos says that so-called self-directed services would deliver long-lasting solutions to people's needs at a lower cost than traditional, top-down approaches.

Making it personal, published on January 18, says this more participative approach would also be fairer, as it would empower people who are the least confident in getting what they want from the current system.

'Self-directed services give people a real voice in shaping the service they want and the money to back it up,' the report's authors said. 'Previous approaches to public service reform have reorganised and rationalised public services. Self-directed services transform them.'

The report was launched at a day-long conference attended by Cabinet Office minister Ed Miliband. He said all citizens had the right to exercise choice over public services.

'We need more personal services. People will only have a better chance to meet their own ambitions if everyone – and not just those who can either argue loudest or supplement public services with private services – have access to services organised around their needs. And despite the improvements in public services, this is not always the case,' Miliband said.

The report, written by Demos associate Charles Leadbetter together with Jamie Bartlett and Niamh Gallagher, says that self-directed services allow individuals to stick with conventional in-house services should they choose, or design bespoke solutions, commissioning services themselves and employing support staff.

Such schemes are already under way. At the end of 2006, about 43,000 people were receiving direct payments and 2,300 receiving personal budgets for their social care. The report's authors predict this approach is likely to expand rapidly over the next three years, with councils such as Essex and Manchester promising to make this concept the standard for social care services.

The authors concede that self-directed services will not work in settings such as waste collection and emergency health care, but say there is great potential to expand beyond social care, in areas such as maternity services, offender rehabilitation and jobseeking.

 

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