New research commissioned by Bevan Brittan LLP
and carried out by Opinion Leader Research (OLR),
the highly respected, independent research
consultancy, suggests that while support for the
Government’s radical ‘choice agenda’ is strong
amongst public and private sector alike, a range
of complex issues and tensions still need to be
resolved before the agenda can move forward to
deliver practical benefits.
The research, conducted with a sample of high
level business leaders, public sector employees
and ‘opinion formers’ highlights a number of key
issues which are increasingly troubling those
most deeply committed to implementing the
‘choice agenda’. Whilst some of the issues have
been identified before, others are surfacing
clearly for the first time. The most
thought-provoking findings in the second
category are:
· A growing realisation that there will be inevitable tension between strong and decisive policy leadership from the centre (in terms of standard-setting and targets) and genuine choice and autonomy for users and providers of public services at local and operational level.
· A need to redefine the role of regulation and regulators so as to concentrate far more on establishing and maintaining a relatively broad framework for public services, within which choice can be exercised over a range of options which are significantly less prescriptive than in the past.
· A challenging requirement for the public sector mindset to adapt so as readily to accept that when choice is exercised, it may not always conform to the established or expert view of what is the ‘right’ choice for people to make.
· A realisation that if people are to exercise choice in such a way that doing so gives them the best outcomes, far more attention will need to be paid to the provision and quality control of accurate, balanced and manageable information.
· Concern that unless the process of choice is well-founded, there is a danger that implementation of the ‘choice agenda’ could favour those better equipped to understand the options, thus inadvertently widening social inequalities.
These findings suggest a gradual deepening of the
understanding of the issues that underpin the
‘choice agenda’. There is widespread endorsement of
the principle of introducing real choice into public
services, thus bringing them more into line with
what consumers have come to regard as the norm in
other areas. This could help significantly in
maintaining support for the core public services
themselves. However, there continues to be concern
about the potential financial tension between
providing the spare capacity needed to create choice
and achieving the high levels of efficiency that
tight public expenditure constraints will
increasingly demand. This is leading some
respondents to wonder whether, for some services,
what may really be needed is a determined effort to
match public services more accurately to the needs
of individuals, thus building consumer satisfaction
via that route rather than through the choice
mechanism.
Commenting on the findings, Stuart Whitfield, Chief
Executive of Bevan Brittan, said: “At Bevan Brittan
we do a great deal of work at the cutting edge of
the public services agenda and have a very special
understanding of the effort and commitment going
into the provision of public services in new ways
whilst maintaining fundamental values.
We are delighted to have sponsored this research,
which shows how the debate about the ‘choice agenda’
is deepening, and in doing so is evolving from an
attractive concept into a profound change in
approach for all concerned. That change will make
new demands on many people – not least on the law
and the law firms who provide the supporting
frameworks for the services concerned – health,
education and many others.“
OLR Joint Chief Executive Viki Cooke, commented:
“This piece of research, which Bevan Brittan so
constructively sponsored has helped OLR to continue
its programme of innovative work on social and
public service change, building on the work we have
already done on themes such as [‘Trust’ and
Community engagement]. We believe that work of this
kind has a valuable role to play in deepening the
understanding of what is involved in the changes
that are now under way and as a result will assist
the process of ensuring that those changes take root
and deliver their intended benefits to our society
in general and individual people in particular.”
The OLR research is being published today to coincide with a major lecture on the development of the ‘choice agenda’, with particular focus on public health, being given at Bevan Brittan’s London offices by Mr. Mike Farrar CBE, Chief Executive of West Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority. Guests at the invitation-only event will include senior figures form the public services, together with those from the private sector most directly concerned with the innovative public-private arrangements often needed to deliver public services in new ways.
Click here to view the OLR Report in full.
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