8/8/2019 Designing Public Services for the 21st Century

1/3

DesigningPublicServicesforthe21stCentury

1

DesigningPublicServicesforthe21st

Century

Introduction

ThehistoryofpublicservicereformintheUKisdominatedbylarge-scalestructural

reformsandattemptsatdrivingserviceefficiencyandimprovementfromthecentre.

Butdespite theconsiderable time andeffortexpended onreform,thedesignand

approach of public serviceshas remained remarkably similar in many respects to

whatwasestablishedbytheradicalinnovatorsof1940spost-warBritain.Overthe

pastsixtyyears,theBritishwelfarestatehashadsignificantsuccessinincreasingthe

health,prosperityandopportunitiesofcitizensand intransformingBritish society.

Butinordertosolvecomplexsocialproblemsandmatchthescaleofthechallenges

ofthetwenty-firstcentury,publicservicesmustbetransformed.i

Thegyroscopeofpublicservices

Thesupportthatpeopleneedoftensitsinthegapsbetweentraditionalservices,but

citizens arecurrentlyfacedwitha fragmented arrayof services thatdonotmake

sensetothemortheirlives,andwhichtreatthemaspassiveconsumers.

Vertical funding streams, lines of accountability and performance management

systemsencourage publicservantsatall levels to focusondeliveringoutputsand

meetingtargetswithintheirnarrowlydefinedarea.Theresultingfragmentationand

duplication undermines and damages the relationships between services and

citizens,whicharecrucialtotacklingcomplexproblems.Somecitizensandfamilies

canbethetargetofhundredsof interventionsayearwhichtheybecomeskilledat

deflecting; a family in Suffolk, for example, received 700 interventions in an 18

monthperiod from justtwoagencies (the council andpolice).Thisissuehasbeen

likenedtoagyroscope:

Ontheoutsideofthefamilyisalltheactivityof thesystemandonthe

inside nothing moves or changes. The activity of the system actually

createsabarriertochangeforthefamilies.ii

Preventingprevention

Despite this activity, there are gaps in support that mean problems can go

unidentifiedoruntreated.Publicservicesareoftentargetedatmajorlifeevents(e.g.

birth,illness,lossofemployment,etc.)butofferlimitedsupportinbetween.

Therearemany exampleswhereprovidingcitizensandfamilieswith low intensityandholisticsupportat anearly stagecouldavoid theneed forhigh intensity (and

8/8/2019 Designing Public Services for the 21st Century

2/3

DesigningPublicServicesforthe21stCentury

2

expensive)interventionsatalaterstage.Forexample,fillingthegapin supportfor

familiesbetweenachildsbirthandtheirfirstdayatschoolcouldsignificantlyboost

their life chances. But the fragmentation of public service management systems

meansthatpublicagenciesarenotincentivisedtospendresourcesonpreventionor

earlyintervention.

As a result, public servants are often restricted to managing the symptoms of

problems,ratherthanbuildingcapability.Soeachagencyorprofessionalworkshard

totackleproblemsintheirnarrowlydefinedarea,buttheirunderlyingcausesremain

untouched,meaningsocialproblemspersistandareinheritedbyfuturegenerations.

Asaseniormanagerwithinalocalauthoritycommented,herlocalityhadbecome:

goodatservices,butnotsolutions.

Thehuman,socialandfinancialcostsoffailingtobuildthesecapabilitiesanddealing

withtheresultantproblemsarehuge.TheNewEconomicsFoundation,forexample,

estimatedthat:Thecostsofdoingnothingtoimprovesocialproblemsin

theUKoverthenext20yearswouldbealmost4trillion.iii

Reorientingpublicservices

Inthecontextofeverincreasingdemandsonpublicservices,tobeeffectiveservice

providers must adopt a doing yourself out of business approach, whereby

they build the participation, capabilities and networks of citizens, families and

communitiesinorderthattheyarelessreliantonpublicservicesandhighcostneedsareprevented.Incurrentpoliticalterms,publicservicesneedtohelpbuildtheBig

Society.

Thisimpliesandrequiresareorientationofservicesintworespects:

Firstly, it implies a new relationship between public services and citizens,where

servicesaredesignedwithcitizensandfromtheirperspective.Thisrepresentsan

expanded view of a citizen: they are not passive customers, but activists, with

knowledgeandresourcesoftheirown.

Public administration and services in the 20

th Century were dominated by large

institutionsandpowerfulprofessionalgroups.Groupingknowledgeandexpertisein

thiswayhadanumberofbenefitsinapre-internetage.Butinturnitmeantcitizens

hadlittleinvolvementindecision-making(beyondtheballotbox)andwerepassive

(ratherthanactive)recipientsofservices.

Personal and human relationships with public servants are vital to peoples

experiences ofand the success of public services. Yet thesequalities have been

undervaluedbyprofessionalgroupsandreformerswhoinsteadencouragedparent-

childandproducer-consumerrelationships.Abalancedandproductiverelationshipwith publicservantscanunlockandenhancethe insights, motivation,capabilities,

8/8/2019 Designing Public Services for the 21st Century

3/3

DesigningPublicServicesforthe21stCentury

3

andnetworksofcitizensandcommunities,whichcaninturnboostsocialresilienceiv,

achievegreaterpublicvaluevandcatalyseinnovation

vi.

Secondly, it implies a change of focus for public services, from managing the

symptomsofsocialproblemstodealingwiththeir underlying causesandbuilding

socialresilience.Byworkingwithcitizens,familiesandcommunitiestodeveloptheir

participation, capabilities and networks, evidence suggests that problems can be

prevented, peoples independence increased, deeply ingrained social problems

overcomeandsignificantlybetteroutcomesachieved.vii

Conclusion

There is no doubt that public services provide invaluable support to millions of

peopleeveryday, helpedbytheir incremental improvementover recentdecades.

Butiftheyaretomeetthechallengesofthetwenty-firstcenturyitisvitalthatthe

assumptions thatunderpin existing systems andservicesarereconsidered; topof

thelistshouldbetheirrelationshipwithcitizensandtheirfocus.Inthecontextof

large scalebudget cuts but rising demand, the reorientationof public services in

theserespectspresentsasignificantopportunitytoachievebetterpublicvaluewith

lesspublicresource.

TimHughes

December2010iSeepp.18-20,2020PublicServicesTrust(2010)Fromsocialsecuritytosocialproductivity:avisionfor2020PublicServices.

iip.8,Participle(2009)TheSwindonFamilyLIFEProgramme:Report

iiinef(2009)BackingtheFuture:whyinvestinginchildrenisgoodforusall

ivRowson,J;Broome,S;Jones,A.(2010)ConnectedCommunities:HowsocialnetworkspowerandsustaintheBigSociety;

Maddock,S&Hallam,S.(2010)RecoveryBeginswithHope;YoungFoundation(2009)SinkingandSwimming;Edwards,C

(2009)ResilientNation;&Halpern,D(2010)TheHiddenWealthofNations.

v2020PublicServiceTrust(2010)FromSocialSecuritytoSocialProductivity;Bunt,L&Harris,M.(2009)TheHumanFactor;

Boyle,D;Slay,J;&Stephens,L.(2010)PublicServicesInsideOut.

viBoyle,D&Harris,M.(2010)TheChallengeofCo-Production.Gillinson,S;Horne,M;&Baeck,P.(2010)RadicalEfficiency;

Bunt,L;Harris,M;&Westlake,S.(2010)SchumpeterComestoWhitehall;Bunt,L&Harris,M.(2010)MassLocalism

viiRowson,J;Broome,S;Jones,A.(2010)ConnectedCommunities:HowsocialnetworkspowerandsustaintheBigSociety;

Maddock,S&Hallam,S.(2010)RecoveryBeginswithHope;YoungFoundation(2009)SinkingandSwimming;Edwards,C

(2009)ResilientNation;Bunt,L&Harris,M.(2009)TheHumanFactor;&Halpern,D(2010)TheHiddenWealthofNations.