Choice
It is widely recognised that the monopolistic nature of many public services prevents the users of public services from expressing their preferences through choice. However, as part of the debate over how to improve the accountability and responsiveness of public services, a number of different countries around the world have experimented with different ways of introducing greater choice.
In some cases, this has involved separating the funding and provision of public services, with consumers being given taxpayer-funded vouchers that allow them to shop among different service providers. In other cases, it has involved the termination of zoning systems which forced consumers to use local providers. Other models have experimented with the introduction of alternative providers, and the publication of comparative performance data, to help the public to make informed choices.
Schemes such as the use of vouchers can enable direct public choice. At the same time, the publication of performance information about public services, which is increasingly common in countries such as the UK, can help the public to make informed choices about the public services that they use.
The UK government is exploring ways to take the concept of choice further.
Public Services Inside Out: Putting Co-production into Practice (PDF) Boyle, David; Slay, Julia and Stephens, Lucie , 2010 National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA)
A report which looks at the challenges faced by public service user involvement initiatives through analysis of contemporary examples. It also makes recommendations on how policy can be re-thought to support its wider spread.
UK(Please note: links on this page will open the page in a new browser window)
Choice and Competition in Public Services: Report (PDF) Frontier Economics, 2010 Office of Fair Trading (OFT) A new framework for applying choice and competition to public markets, drawing on evidence from health, education, social care and employment services to support future policy making. UK
Choice and Competition in Public Services: Case Studies (PDF) Frontier Economics, 2010 Office of Fair Trading (OFT) These case studies examine health, education, social care and employment services with a view to future use of choice and competition in public service delivery. They informed an OFT report of the same name, also in this library. UK
Power in People's Hands: Learning from the World's Best Public Services (PDF) Cabinet Office Strategy Unit, 2009 Cabinet Office/HM Treasury This new report forms part of the UK government's 'Building Britain's Future' strategy programme. It identifies the importance of continued public service innovation and aims to contribute to the innovation debate by drawing on examples of best practice around the world. UK
Assertive Citizens: New Relationships in the Public Services (PDF) Simon Griffiths, Beth Foley and Jessica Prendergrast, 2009 Social Market Foundation (SMF)
This report tracks the rise of the 'assertive citizen' and examines how public services in the UK can meet these challenges in the 21st century. The focus is primary health care and education in England, but with implications across other market sectors and other countries.
The Government's Reform Agenda: Third Act or Final Curtain? (PDF) Herbert, Nick, 2008 Reform This wide-ranging speech outlines a belief in the need for radical UK public service reform, discussing the demands and opportunities of a post-bureaucratic age, and aiming to position the Conservative Party as the champions of reform for rich and poor alike. UK
The Other Invisible Hand: Delivering Public Services Through Choice and Competition Le Grand, Professor Julian, 2007 Princeton University Press This book builds on previous arguments from Le Grand's 'Motivation, Agency and Public Policy' (2003) but is also strongly influenced by a two-year stint as a senior policy advisor at 10 Downing Street. As such there is a marked shift away from some previous theoretical work on motivation, with the focus very much on delivery. With consideration also given to the technical and political difficulties in policy implementation, Le Grand examines four forms of delivery: trust; targets and performance management; "voice"; and choice and competition. He argues that, although all of these have their merits, in most situations the best route to high-quality, efficient public services is to offer choice to users and to encourage competition among providers - a recommendation illustrated with detailed discussions of policy design in health and education. This is a typically accessible read with clear, logically developed arguments which will appeal to professionals and interested laymen alike. 978-0-691-12936-5 UK
A 2020 Vision for Public Services (PDF)
Milburn, Alan, 2007
London School of Economics (LSE)
This speech argues that public services in 2007 are in transition between "a twentieth century model and a twenty-first century one", shifting from central monopoly provision to mixed economy of provision and user-led culture. It advocates choice as not just a means to raise standards but to enhanced citizen empowerment, and challenges the Labour Government to do just that after Tony Blair's departure.
Next Steps: Priorities for Improving Public Services (PDF) Confederation of British Industry (CBI), 2007 This pamphlet outlines the priorities the CBI believes must be addressed in the ongoing process of public service reform in the UK. It challenges government to make a commitment to nine key pledges which seek to integrate the needs and aspirations of service-users and service-providers while meeting social and environmental responsibilities. UK
New Business Structures in Health and Social Care: Implications for Commmissioning and Commissioners (PDF) The Moore Adamson Craig Partnership LLP, 2006 A briefing paper that discusses the implications of commissioning helath and social care services from a wider range of new providers. UK
The Blair Legacy? Choice and Competition in Public Services (PDF) Le Grand, Prof. Julian, 2006 London School of Economics (LSE) This speech lays out the rationale for New Labour's extension of choice and competition in the provision of key public services, and describes the actions required if these policies are to become reality. UK
Will More Choice Improve Outcomes in Education and Healthcare? The Evidence from Economic Research (PDF)
Burgess, Simon, Propper, Carol and Wilson, Deborah, 2005
Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO)
Improving Delivery: Realising Best Practice in Procurement and Contract Management (PDF)
CBI, 2006
Making Choice a Reality in Secondary Education (Web Page)
Wood, Claudia, 2005
Social Market Foundation (SMF)
This publication examines the potential for implementing greater choice in the market for secondary education. It asks what can be achieved in terms of raising standards, but also considers what the impact might be on equity. It uses the design principles developed in SMF's 'Choice: The Evidence' (also available on the Resource Centre), to suggest a policy bundle aimed at improving both school standards, and equity of access to good education. The full report can be downloaded via this web page link.
Choice and Contestability in Primary Care
Maclean, Niall, 2005
Social Market Foundation (SMF)
This paper examines the case for introducing certain kinds of choice into the primary care sector of the NHS. It describes the evolution of the current Primary Care Trust (PCT) structure and theoretical reasoning for how choice could improve quality and lower cost. It also presents the case for allowing GP's practices to choose the PCT to which they wish to belong, explains how this system could operate in practice and considers its limitations. The full report can be downloaded via this web page link.
ISBN: 1-904899-21-8
UK
Choice, Voice and Public Services (PDF) House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee (Fourth Report of Session 2004-05, Volume I. Incorporating HC 1263I, Session 2003-04), 2005 The Stationery Office This report assesses the effectiveness of the Government's plans for giving service users more choice over the services they use, and more say in the way the services are provided. It finds that choice and voice should be used to ensure more responsive public services, though rhetoric regarding this often outstrips the reality, and that choice is not necessarily the highest priority relating to how people regard public services. It also states that expanding choice must be consistent with maintaining equity. HC 49-I UK
Choice and Voice in the Reform of the Public Services (PDF) Cabinet Office, 2005 The Stationery Office This report sets out the Government's response to the Public Administration Select Commission report Choice, Voice and Public Services, HC 49-I (also available on the Resource Centre). Cm 6630 UK
Reinventing Government Again (PDF) Colins, Philip and Bryne, Liam (Eds), 2004 Social Market Foundation This document marks the ten-year anniversary of the original Reinventing Government paper (also on the Resource Centre). This update acknowledges the influence the original document has had on recent UK governments, and analyses the progress of public service reform in direct comparison with the original principles and advice laid out. In comparison to the ideas set out in the original document, the authors argue that the UK Government has not gone far enough in enhancing choice in public services. Although the original document does insist on a need for targets to monitor the performance of public services, the article argues that targets have often been used wrongly and many have concentrated on the process of public reforms rather than results. The report does assert that countries engaging in public service reform have often concentrated excessively on the quality of management. ISBN 1 904899 19 6 UK
Choice: the Evidence (PDF) (Ed) Williams, Jonathan and Rossiter, Ann, 2004 Social Market Foundation An evidence-based analysis of the effects of choice systems in public services, drawing on UK domestic and international experiences. Includes conclusions about the further introduction of choice systems in the UK. ISBN: 1-904899-17-x UK
Public Services Reform Seminars 2004-05: Seminar 3 - Choice & Personalisation (PDF) Offices of Public Service Reform, 2004 Cabinet Office This seminar briefing outlines two presentations made on Delivery and Reform, and one by Julian Le Grand on Choice and Personalisation and the following seminar discussion. UK
Choice in Public Services (PDF) Deirdre Hutton to the Local Government Association Annual Conference, 7th July 2004, 2004 National Consumer Council (NCC) This speech gives a good overview of the approaches and possible challenges in delivering better, more user-centred public services and delivering better outcomes. UK
Personalisation through Participation: A New Script for Public Services (PDF) Leadbeater, Charles, 2004 Demos This pamphlet argues that public service users should have a voice directly in the service as it is delivered. This can only be realised if there is also a degree of choice. The more involved in decision-making, the more responsible and committed people are to ensuring the success of the service. Personalisation will make most sense in services that are face-to-face, based on a long-term relationship between user and producer and that are dependent on direct engagement. ISBN 1 84180 122 4 UK
Making Markets: A Review of the Audits of the Client Role for Contracted Services
Audit Commission, 1995
HMSO
Local Audits were carried out on 380 local authorities and reviewed against the themes of the Audit Commission's 1993 report,
Realising the Benefits of Competition: The Client Role for Contracted Services Audit Commission, 1993 HMSO A report on the implementation of Compulsory Competitive Tendering since the Local Government Act 1988 and the problems of working in a contractual environment. It considers ways of overcoming common problems and makes recommendations on good practice whereby the local authority is cast in the role of a client defining the work to be delivered by the contractor and letting and managing the contract. ISBN 011886 098 4 UK