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BS3914 Public Service Delivery

BS3914 Public Service Delivery. 6:New Public Management. BS3914 Public Service Delivery 6:New Public Management. The New Right Was born from the experiences of the 1970’s in which we appeared to have ‘stagflation’ (stagnation+inflation)

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BS3914 Public Service Delivery

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  1. BS3914 Public Service Delivery 6:New Public Management

  2. BS3914 Public Service Delivery6:New Public Management The New Right • Was born from the experiences of the 1970’s in which we appeared to have ‘stagflation’ (stagnation+inflation) • Argued that the growth of the public sector destroyed the disciplines of the market, led to inflation and economic decline

  3. BS3914 Public Service Delivery6:New Public Management New Right Thinking • Trust in the primacy of the market - ‘what could not be sold would be reformed’ • A belief in monetarist economic policies • Privatise where possible i.e. ‘steering rather than rowing’ • Reduce public expenditure

  4. BS3914 Public Service Delivery6:New Public Management ‘New’ Public Management • Adopt efficiency tools used by the private sector (used in Raynor scrutinies, Management Information Systems) • Set specific performance targets and budgets • Privatise to increase competition at national level • Resort to Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) at local level

  5. BS3914 Public Service Delivery6:New Public Management New Public Management in Action • Use of ‘quasi-markets’ e.g. in higher education, health • Decentralisation e.g. through targets and contracts for service (refuse collection), LMS • Emphasis on quality mechanisms (through Charters of various kinds) • Emphasis on user/consumer responsiveness

  6. BS3914 Public Service Delivery6:New Public Management ‘Contracting out’ • Services would cost less and be provided more efficiently by the private sector • Citizen’s Charters would safeguard the public interest • ‘Care in the community’ indicated a partnership with the private sector

  7. BS3914 Public Service Delivery6:New Public Management ‘Contracting out’ • Job losses, worsening conditions of work (workers hired back at lower rates) • Loss of accountability • Search for profit would lower quality of service and increase risks of fraud and corruption • Replaced by New Labour policy of ‘Best Value’

  8. BS3914 Public Service Delivery6:New Public Management The logic of managerialism • First are the ‘easier’ privatisation of the utilities (gas, water, electricity, telecommunications) • Health, education, civil service itself became difficult because of strong public attachments • Quality becomes a key word trying to link productivity with cost control

  9. BS3914 Public Service Delivery6:New Public Management Neo-Taylorism • Early approaches in setting targets, controlling costs etc, resemble Taylorism • Control of targets was accompanied by de-control of employment relationships e.g. through contracting out principles • But did this make services more efficient ?

  10. BS3914 Public Service Delivery6:New Public Management The Quality dilemma • How to achieve better/more reliable services at lower cost • How to increase choice, consumer responsiveness in provision of service • How to handle the ‘trade-off’ between these two values when the public demands better services but with no increases in taxation

  11. BS3914 Public Service Delivery6:New Public Management The dilemma resolved ? • Give control of services to those with most voice (deny service to those with little voice) • Can service providers use quantitative indicators to disguise lack of ‘real’ quality ? • ‘Arms-length’ approaches allows governments to take credit but to avoid blame

  12. BS3914 Public Service Delivery6:New Public Management Assessment of New Public Management [1] • Presentation and ‘consumer-care’ of many public services now much more self-evident • It is possible to point to evidence that public services are more ‘productive’ e.g. better results in schools, more treated in hospitals • Greater responsibility for services at local level

  13. BS3914 Public Service Delivery6:New Public Management Assessment of New Public Management [2] • Prominence given to competition as much to do with driving down unit costs as promoting quality • Changes are predominantly manager-led rather than user-led (I.e. users respond to what managers have delivered) • Does NPM only deliver to significant pressure groups (I.e. middle class voters)?

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