Comparing user and community co-production approaches in local ‘welfare’ and ‘law and order’ services: Does the governance mode matter?

Abstract

This paper analyses the relationship between modes of governance at local level and the adoption of user and community co-production approaches in community safety and social care services, based on a German case study. The findings draw on a series of intensive focus groups with managers and staff of public services in four different regions in Germany, exploring existing levels of co-production and its potential in social care and community safety services, with particular focus on older and young people. The paper provides the first clear research evidence on how approaches to co-production are specific to the modes of governance within which they take place. The paper concludes with policy conclusions, both in the two programme areas concerned and in local public services more generally.