Policy Hub
Localism alone won't reform public services
A report published by Demos on 12 December 2003 (The Adaptive State) argues that devolving power to the frontline, or Localism, is becoming a new political orthodoxy. The government now acknowledges that trying to change public services by 'command and control' does not work, and can be counter-productive. However, devolving power to local authorities or frontline service providers is not enough to transform public services. The editors claim that foundation hospitals will simply enable above-average hospitals to improve their own performance within the existing health service system.
In the effort to 'modernise' public sector organisations, the government has taken the services themselves for granted and focused on performance measures that are often not directly related to the real value of public services to users. Pitting localism against centralisation offers a false choice. An 'adaptive state' would use the energy and innovation of local service providers while retaining the ability of governments to allocate resources nationally and provide overall direction.
The publication can be
viewed on the Demos
site