Scrutinizing local public service provision

Set in the context of an expansion of scrutiny by local authorities of local service provision, this article explores the key challenges ahead for managers and politicians in this area of local governance. Drawing on an evaluation of the development of health scrutiny, it outlines the different types of activities health scrutiny committees are engaging in to fulfil their legislative commitments and suggests lessons for the expansion of external scrutiny.     

Financing the public library service

Charging for certain services to the public is one way of increasing the funding for public organisations. But how far does charging distort the purposes and management of those organisations? A critique of the recent consultative paper ‘Financing our Public Library Services: Four Subjects for Debate’ clarifies some of the issues.     

Leading for collaborative public service innovation

ABSTRACT

This article examines the critical leadership actions that support collaborative public service innovations, drawing on evidence from UK local government led partnerships. It concludes that success is more likely if leaders help the partnership to: build mutual trust; agree clear, well thought through, politically supported ambitions; invest time, resources and energy; galvanize managers and staff; make a long term commitment to achieving the objectives, learning, adapting and growing innovations together.     

Risk and the public service manager

The Department of Social Security's discussion document on equalizing state pension age is examined and put in context. The authors conclude that it takes too narrow a view of the equality issue, and argue for a more radical reappraisal of state pension provision for the 21st century.     

Conviction politics and the public service

If the Government can successfully privatise British Telecom, then the way is open to taking the other large State monopolies, such as British Gas, out of public ownership. But a careful analysis of the way regulated competition is likely to work suggests that the intended benefits ‐ in terms of greater efficiency ‐ are not likely to materialise.     

Moonlighting: public service and private practice

We study job incentives in moonlighting, when public‐service physicians may refer patients to their private practices. Some doctors in the public system are dedicated, and behave sincerely, but others—the moonlighters—are utility maximizers. Allowing moonlighting always enhances aggregate consumer welfare, but equilibrium public‐care quality may increase or decrease; if quality increases, moonlighting improves each consumer's expected utility. Unregulated moonlighting may reduce consumer welfare as a result of adverse behavioral reactions, such as moonlighters shirking more and dedicated doctors abandoning their sincere behavior. Price regulation in the private market limits such adverse behaviors in the public system and improves consumer welfare.     

New development: Exploring public service markets

The authors explain why public service markets are fundamentally different from regulated utilities markets by looking at the product characteristics, market structure, funding oversight and legal arrangements in such markets. They highlight the issues which will be important as marketized delivery becomes increasingly mainstream in public services provision.     

Personal service companies and the public sector

Off-payroll workers in the UK, including personal service companies (PSCs), engaged by the public sector have been giving ‘assurance’ of their tax position to departments in the sector since 2012. Departments must be satisfied with the assurance. For PSCs this requires awareness of complex tax legislation (IR35), which is aimed at preventing tax avoidance. Costs may be incurred in attaining the necessary knowledge. This may bring into question costs incurred in protecting tax revenue. No similar obligation exists in the private sector.     

Do accountabilities change when public organisations transform to service systems: A new conceptual approach

In this conceptual paper, we discuss from the service systems perspective how accountabilities differ from a hierarchic and organisational perspective within the domain of New Public Management, looking to shed new light upon accountability as a research topic. The concept of service systems and their accountabilities are scrutinised and the role of integrated social and health care services is discussed in particular. The main argument in the text is the changing nature of accountabilities as the public organisations are being transformed into service systems. To date, the understanding of accountability has remained structural by nature – such is the case also for productivity measurement – but the shift from organisations towards services systems means that accountability ought to be considered as processual by nature. By processual it is meant that accountability should be considered as flows within systems – that is: flows between agents the content of which we argue includes not only knowledge on the outputs of public services, but also values, empathy and thus multi‐layered understanding of accountability. The paper concludes with practical insights for managerial purposes on the basis for this accountability shift.     

New development: Mutual solutions to shaping public service delivery

There have been a number of developments in approaches to public service delivery in the UK, partly as a response to austerity measures, as well as a shift to new models of public sector, private and third sector provision. This article considers the development of public service mutuals—those organizations that have spun out of the public sector, and where employees of the new providers play a key role in shaping and delivering public services at local and national levels. The authors identify areas where further work is needed to better understand these new models and to consider whether the perceived benefits associated with traditional mutual models are applicable when applied to public service provision.     

声音

金融改革的确是一个金融自由化的过程，既是一个放松管制，又是一个市场建立规范的过程。     

Challenges and enablers to engaging voluntary organizations in public service delivery

Public and voluntary sector managers delivering state-funded services in the UK were found to have common challenges and enablers. This article presents recommendations for joint working between the two sectors.     

审计服务招投标程序与方法

近几年,我国注册会计师执业领域,出现了委托人(包括政府和其他投资人)以招标方式选聘会计师事务所的做法。追溯历史,这种做法并非我国首创,西方发达国家早在20世纪60年代就已将其作为一     

Corruption in the public service: The case of the property services agency

We are no longer well served by having an unwritten constitution that may be changed by simple parliamentary majority. Liberties are eroded and the functioning of government institutions changed without a full consideration of the impact of such developments. Britain was once ahead of the rest of the world in constitutional terms, but now lags behind other democracies.