Differing corporate forms signal new models of delivery. To what extent are these new models of organisation and ownership appropriate within the public sector? This is one of our Strategic Solution consultancy reports bringing together the essential ideas and current thinking on strategic topics for public services to help managers make informed decisions.
The UK has a proud tradition of employee involvement and ownership. Co-operatives, mutuals and of course John Lewis (often referred to by both the previous Government and the current coalition) are not new ideas.
This report seeks to bring together a range of sources from Government, think tanks, and interest groups to help managers gain their own perspective of the context.
New Models of Delivery: re-thinking public serviecs?
With increasing pressure on public services comes a clear emphasis on the need to review how public services are delivered. The government is keen to encourage new mechanisms for service delivery. This includes a re-appraisal of the nature of organisations which provide public services. Indeed, it may also mean a paradigm change in the nature of the public sector in its entirety.
There is clearly a political will to encourage new models of public service delivery. This will undoubtedly include far greater use of new corporate forms – the ways in which organisations are legally established. In order to manage this particular type of public sector change, it’s important to examine several key areas:
- Drivers for development.
- Corporate forms and new models of public service delivery.
- Purpose, ownership and legal forms.
- What management issues need to be considered with new models of delivery?
- What to do next?
Of course, part of the attraction of new models of delivery is that they may help realise a trio of benefits: more engaged workforce, better performance, and lower costs. For example, such assertions are made by Charles Leadbetter, a leading writer and advisor to public services. He suggested that:
“Co-owned organisations, as they are known, can play a vital role in helping the public sector overcome the mounting challenge of improving services despite limited resources.”[1]