Modern Public Service Research Articles

Peter Gilroy, Chief Executive, Kent County Council

Peter joined local government following a career in nursing, specialising in psychiatric social work. Following qualification in social work, he worked in practice, including attachments to primary health, in both the US and UK. His managerial career has taken him into both public and private sectors. He was Strategic Director of Social Services in Kent for eight years and during this time took the largest Social Services department in the country from ‘poor’ performance to ‘excellent’ before being appointed as Chief Executive of Kent County Council. Kent is one of the largest local authorities in the country and has been rated as one of the very best performing authorities. Peter also chairs the South East England Centre of Excellence which concentrates on sharing best practice and creating a smart environment with regard to efficiency and performance, and is working closely with the Government on Futures.Peter led nationally for ten years on asylum matters for the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS), chaired the National Taskforce and for five years until recently the National Register for Unaccompanied Children (NRUC). He also started a network of principal gateway authorities in the European Union to discuss common problems and develop a framework of best practice. Peter is now leading for the region on the national migration forum. He has also been invited by Lord Darzi to become a member of the Health Innovation Council. Peter has a national reputation for innovation and was nominated by The Guardian newspaper as one of the top 100 Innovators in the public sector in the UK and shortlisted for the 2006 Public Sector Power 100 Awards.Now in his fourth year as Chief Executive at Kent, Peter continues to pursue ‘innovation, effectiveness and an outcome‐based modern public service’.

Navigating the contradictions of public service modernisation: the case of community engagement professionals

English A commitment to public service reform has been a guiding theme of Labour administrations in Britain since 1997. These modernisation policies and practices formed the context for our research, using psychosocial approaches to analyse the contradictory impacts of modernisation agendas on social development workers’ motivations, professional values and the ways in which they identified and addressed ethical dilemmas in their work. Professionals responded to modernisation agendas in varying ways. While some welcomed the changes, others raised concerns, posing questions for the future about the potential impact on the motivations and values of the next generation of public service professionals.

Public Service Reform in Russia, 1991–2006

This article assesses Russia’s post‐Soviet efforts to reform its public service in order to meet the challenges of social and economic transition and describes both obstacles to the creation of a modern public service and efforts to overcome them. First, the authors provide a snapshot of the public service in Russia since 1991. Second, they describe aspects of the Soviet legacy that have impeded efforts to modernize the public service. Third, they identify some of the traumas of transition experienced in the 1990s that have circumscribed efforts at reform. Finally, the authors identify gaps between the legislation enacted by the Duma and the limited implementation of that legislation to date. The article concludes with an assessment of the current status of public service reform in Russia.

Choice: wake up and smell the coffee!

The ‘choice agenda’ reflects a key element of the modernisation of public services. There are many conceptual and practical difficulties with the implementation of choice within mental health services, but these are not in any way unique to this client group. Professionals will have to adapt to the new world that will encompass a plurality of paradigms of care and service providers.

EGovernment — issues in citizen engagement

eGovernment is seen as having a key part to play in the modernisation of public services, widening participation and reducing social exclusion. However, active and effective engagement is a prerequisite for success if these aims are to be achieved. This paper draws on data from a study conducted in North Cornwall in order to examine the key issue of engagement.

Evolution du service public et principe de subsidiarité

The Evolution of Public Service and Subsidiarity Principle. This paper discusses the modernization of the french public service. To study this subject, we have deliberately adopted an evolutionary approach. Then in this perspective, can we defend "le service public à la française" on identity and cohesiveness principles or take another way that proposes a total liberalisation even if we sacrify egality and solidarity ? This paper shows that a modern public service, combining efficiency and equity, is a proximity one, based openly on the subsidiarity principle. As example of subsidiary public service we study the water sector.

Organisational Learning and Public Sector Management: An Alternative View

The public service modernization agenda has directed attention to the problematic questions of how public sector organisations learn, what they learn, and how they fail to learn. This article considers: definitional problems of organisational learning; the critical differences between individual and organisational learning; the public organisation's capacity to learn; some of the principal sources of public sector learning; the ambivalent nature of learning networks; and the main barriers to effective learning. Drawing from a current study amongst senior public service managers, the discussion assesses the extent to which public service modernization encourages, or rather inhibits, organisational change and improvement. It is suggested that organisational learning in the public sector is not necessarily delivered through partnerships and the agenda of modernization: it may derive instead from internal processes and a focus upon the existing strengths of the organisation. The article re-evaluates the conventional wisdom of organisational learning and proposes a heretical view of learning and networks. In drawing out prospects for future research, it advocates a renewed emphasis upon effective internal learning.

New Labour and the Modernisation of Public Services

New Labour and the Modernisation of Public Services

Creating Citizen-Consumers: New Labour and the Remaking of Public Services

In this article we explore the ways in which three public services have been responding to the demand that people who use services be treated as consumers. We argue that New Labour views of modernisation and reform of public services have been organised around this principle. Drawing on a study of three services health care, policing and care we consider how senior managers interpret the pressures towards consumerism and the dilemmas that such an approach gives rise to. While each service has a distinctive trajectory through these issues, we suggest that three common dilemmas may be observed: the problematic relationship between consumerism and inequalities; the difficult intersection of rights, rationing and resources; and the ‘knowledge/power knot’ whose tangles reflect unsettled encounters between varieties of expertise, voice and authority

Public service vouchers

The public voucher system is a means of paying for a given public service. Vouchers are issued by the public authorities to individual users to enable them to gain access to any institution that is approved by the public authorities, for a specific purpose. The provider of the service is paid back the amount of the voucher by the public institution that provides the funding for the voucher. This system provides a means of reviewing the relationship between the user and the public service in terms of efficiency and freedom. The voucher system is designed to improve competition among public service providers and to make public service offerings more flexible. While it does offer some interesting possibilities in terms of diversification of the services on offer, nonetheless the voucher system poses certain risks. In particular, it may lead to community behaviour patterns among beneficiaries and undermine equal opportunity. In any case, as the voucher system brings closer together the practical arrangements for defraying services in the private and public sectors, it opens up some useful avenues of reflection for the modernization of public services.

Human Resource Management in European Public Services

This collection of articles spread over two issues of the Review of Public Personnel Administration consists of eight case studies reporting and analyzing new human resource management (HRM) practices in selected European public services. Collectively, they cover staff communication and consultation, job satisfaction, HRM reforms and organizational performance, learning and development, and public services as employers of choice. Individually, these studies examine changes in the managing of people at different levels of government— centrally, regionally, and locally. The significance of each case is that it is linked with public management reforms, or modernization of public services, so each provides some insights into the interactions between developments in HRM and the modernization process. These articles also highlight some of the ambiguities, tensions, and contradictions inherent in the reform process. It is these ambiguities, tensions, and contradictions that have to be managed by public managers, supported by human resources specialists, in conditions of change.

Between Endless Needs and Limited Resources: The Gendered Construction of a Greedy Organization

One of the strategies of the modernization of public services is the decentralization of responsibilities and organizing work in autonomous co‐ operative teams with varied tasks. The empowerment of the public service workers in the front line is therefore a strategy in local government in Norway today. Under the assumption that women have ‘natural’ skills in caring, workers on the lowest levels are given responsibility for care and nursing. A study of the decentralization of public care for the elderly in their homes showed that being given interesting tasks and increased responsibility mobilized the efforts of the care workers. However, since the power of resources has been centralized, this has led to an intensification of work. In gendering the relevant discourses by explaining women's experiences of an over‐heavy workload as a result of their ‘mothering’ and their inability to set limits, women care workers were constructed by their managers as unprofessional and not to be taken seriously. This has made the public care organization a greedy organization for the women care workers.

The use and management of geographic information in local e-government in the UK

The modernisation of public services in the Information age has placed the use, management and exchange of information at the centre of the work of local government. As much of the information held by councils is location based, the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in these organisations is set to take on a far greater corporate significance. The UK Government's promotion of joined-up initiatives in key sectors such as health, education and crime prevention, has focused attention on the types of factors that may influence the exchange and analysis of such data, much of which is held by local authorities. Despite a number of studies that have demonstrated the potential of data sharing, there has been a lack of published research into the relationship between the e-Government programme and the management and use of geographic information (GI) in local authorities. This paper describes the results of a national survey of local authorities that has examined the degree to which councils have included provision for the use and management of geographic information and GIS in their formal visions for e-government. It is clear from the survey that GI(S) are seen as very important to the e-government process with almost ninety per cent of respondents stating that GI(S) features in their e-government strategies. However, if full advantage is to be taken of the integrating ability of geographic information, then effective and efficient management of this information must be undertaken at a corporate level.

Brand power and state power: Rise of the new media networks in East Asia

During the past decade, digital technology and global deregulatory forces have facilitated the restructuring of East Asia's mediascape - resulting in complex, internationalized relationships within the regional political economy. Transnational media corporations - such as AOL Time Warner and News Corporation - are negotiating strategically important positions in regional distribution and branded content markets, in the pursuit of 'consumer segments' that form the basis of multi-platform, mass-media customer relationships. In the early phase of the internationalization process, there were expectations that one result would be a more liberalized media discourse environment - eroding authoritarian governments' capacity to control information flows. Evidence to support this contention is unconvincing. Information-sensitive states, notably China, have developed strategies to mediate the distribution of mass information - often in partnership with compliant local entrepreneurs and the international media corporations who may also benefit from uncontroversial customer relationships. Prospects for a broader, richer media canvas might be enhanced by the parallel development of constructive, permissive media policies - underpinned by regulatory principles of modern public service communications and managed competition.

Operational Research for informed innovation: NHS Direct as a case study in the design, implementation and evaluation of a new public service

Delivering modern and responsive public services requires informed innovation drawing on a combination of design, planning and evaluative skills. The development of the national 24-hour telephone helpline service NHS Direct provides a case study demonstrating how, through using these skills, OR has been instrumental in achieving public service innovation. Firstly, OR analysts led strategic design and scenario-planning work, assessing the evidence on the performance of ‘direct’ services here and around the world and developing scenarios of an NHS where much greater use was made of modern communication technology, such as telephone call centres, to provide services. Secondly, we did modelling work to help determine the size, distribution and staffing of the call centres required in England to meet the likely demand and satisfy service performance targets. Thirdly, we set out evaluation criteria and developed performance-monitoring systems. NHS Direct has been one of the best-received innovations in the history of the NHS and Operational Research has made a crucial contribution to its development.

ELFNI (Electronic Libraries for Northern Ireland project): an overview

The Electronic Libraries for Northern Ireland project (ELFNI) was established to procure on behalf of the five Northern Ireland Education and Library Boards (NIELBs) robust systems that would support and enable the delivery of electronic information services to the Northern Ireland (NI) community and to enable the NIELBs to deliver cost effective, efficient and modern public library and information services. Following a period of discussion and negotiation a Public Finance Initiative (PFI) contract was signed in early 2002 between Amey BPO Services and the five Education and Library boards for the ELFNI project. Amey BPO will lead a consortium which will be responsible for delivering a range of services to all public libraries in Northern Ireland for the next ten years, which includes the installation of the People’s Network, a single library management system, a libraries’ portal, video‐conferencing facilities and corporate e‐mail for all staff. This paper provides a background to the development of this project, details of the technological solution, information on the monitoring procedures, a description of the expected benefits from the ELFNI system and concludes with an assessment of PFI funding for public libraries.

Researching Local Government Using Electronic Surveys

E-government is a theme central to the modernisation of public services and local government in the UK. An unintended consequence of the growth of ICTs is the potential for electronic research methods to replace traditional techniques, potentially resulting in efficiency savings for both researcher and researched. Their viability, however, remains untested. The article reports on the results of two related research exercises involving e-methods in local government research. Response rates from three different survey methods-internet, email and post-are compared. Whilst ICT based surveys proved to be effective research tools, the article also highlights problems of technological compatibility and sample bias. Poor ICT skills, out of date hardware and software and deficient ICT working practices were also experienced, particularly among elected members. These problems may also potentially prove to be a barrier in creating more joined up service delivery and raise questions relating to the pursuit of broader e-government goals.

Theme: Gender, the Professions and Public Management: Changing Governance, Changing Equality? New Labour, Modernization and Public Services

This article explores the implications for issues of equality and diversity in the Labour government’s programme of public service modernization. Networks and partnerships are viewed as a response to the increasing complexity and ambiguity of the public realm. But in the new knowledge-based and networked economy, ‘who you know’, and whether you can access the crucial networks, is becoming highly significant. As the site of action shifts, so equality agendas must be renegotiated.

Round Table “What Makes Public Services Move?” at UFR INFOCOM, April 6, 2000 : On Some Aspects of the Modernization of Public Services in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region

Les discours qui eurent lieu lors de la table ronde Qu'est-ce qui fait bouger les services publics? organisee a l'UFR INFOCOM de l'Universite de Lille 3 en partenariat avec l'association Reseau de service public du Nord-Pas-de-Calais sont ici retranscrits. Quatre sujet sont abordes autour de la notion d'usager des services publics : l'amelioration de l'accueil de l'usager aux services fiscaux du Nord-Lille, l'acceuil a la Mairie de Douai, le forum-douleur de l'hopital de Douai et l'usager au coeur de la modernisation.

Modernizing Courts or Courting Modernization?

The article reviews the way in which the government-led public service modernisation agenda is affecting courts in England and Wales. The pros and cons associated with each of seven tenets of modernisation are explored and the article then argues for a modernisation programme for the courts that better reflects their distinctive circumstances and conditions, and in particular their independent status under the doctrine of the separation of powers.