Opening up public services has the promise of both risk and reward. Under government plans, individuals will have greater freedom to exercise choice and the provider list will be more diverse. While laudable in principle, in practice this approach potentially holds a number of inherent risks, not least increased costs, which will need to be addressed to if the government's reform plan is successful.
The risks come in a number of guises but perhaps the first to consider is public apathy. Our 'Tough choices' research, carried out earlier this year, showed that less than a third (31%) of us would actually be willing to volunteer to help community organisations deliver local services. Public participation is key to this new model but there must be renewed focus on encouraging individuals and communities to unite and engage if it is to succeed.
The public must be educated about being involved in public services so they can see the benefits it will bring to their communities, and they must be reassured about the risk it may pose to them personally. Some organisations are already making great progress in engaging with the public, but many details of the role of the individual are still unclear – especially when it comes to accountability.
To alleviate the fear of making the wrong decision, measures of success and tolerance for failure should be clearly defined. Service providers from the public, voluntary and private sectors will adopt differing delivery mechanisms; supply chains will widen. Local authorities will need to ensure they are equipped to manage the needs of different partners, know the options for redress, and put an exit strategy in place should things go wrong.
Importantly, shifting powers of delivery and responsibility will create a more complex environment that will require checks and balances to ensure decisions made at every level, for every service, are compatible with overarching community goals. Politics with a small p will also take a role as local authorities and the community reach decisions regarding how best to serve local needs.
Yet at the same time as managing public appetite for involvement, it will be critical to mitigate another potential risk: increased choice. While this is the premise of the coalition's proposed reforms, it is important to recognise early on that increased individual choice will only result in better and increased services if those choices are well-made. We are already working hard to remove barriers and enable more people to become involved in their communities and the services they use, but local leadership will also be vital to help the general public to make those choices.
A change in direction of this magnitude inevitably generates risk. But with personal and collective responsibility, with support and attention to detail, the principles of opening up public services may have a genuine chance to work in practice.
Andrew Jepp is director of public services at Zurich Municipal
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