Working together - public services on your side
On 10 March 2009, the UK government published a report (Working together - public services on your side) which sets out the government’s vision for the future shape of public services.
The report details the steps government is taking to give people, communities and front line staff the information and power to personalise public services.
It emphasises that excellent public services depend on providing not only resources but information and control. As such, the government puts forward proposals to make it easier for people to gain control of public services through shared information and online feedback forums. Specifically, the government commits itself to work to:
- Provide people with new opportunities through the NHS Choices website to give online comment and share information about all health services in their area, including direct feedback to all GP surgeries this summer;
- Ensure that payment to hospitals for services is linked to patient-reported experiences and outcomes;
- Provide an online national crime map by the end of 2009, building on the local area crime maps already available through Directgov.
The report states that across public services the government will continue to invest and foster a new professionalism. It will:
- Create a new 'Prime Minister's Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery', looking at freeing up these staff to lead improvements on the front line;
- Work with partners to develop a new fast-track route for talented career switchers and graduates moving into teaching - taking six rather than the current 12 months to complete;
- Reduce red-tape in policing equivalent to 2,500-3,500 officers over time, including around 690,000 hours of form filling alone.
The report stresses that government will continue to play a strategic role, empowering citizens, professionals, local service providers and institutions at the front line of public service delivery. However, it will focus increasingly on driving efficiency and enabling innovation by:
- Giving high-performing hospitals more autonomy through the expansion of NHS Foundation Trusts;
- Giving Jobcentre Plus advisers greater discretion to personalise support, benefiting up to 80,000 jobseekers;
- Freeing up leaders in local government to join up and tailor services and economic strategies across localities;
- Delivering £35bn of value for money savings across government - equivalent to £1,400 per household - that will be allocated to front line service provision with further savings to come in the 2009 budget.
Working together - public services on your side
