Do we stick with self service?
Author: Alex Thomson, in the MJ |
You have to be careful with words. There are certain words that, while relatively anodyne to most, get particular groups of people very exercised.
For some it’s ‘Europe’, for others ‘Bieber’. And for some in and around local government, the catnip word is ‘commissioning’.
There seem to be two main strands ? ideological and practical ? to the argument of those who object to the idea of a local authority commissioning another organisation to deliver a ‘council service’.
In many ways the practical is easier to understand because some commissioned services in the past have undeniably not worked. So, yes, things can go wrong. But equally, the fact is that the overwhelming majority of such services, allied to strong contract management, work well.
And that, after all, is why local government leaders ? who are smart people, committed to doing the best for their residents ? choose to sign the contracts. The idea that they are just having a punt with no thought as to the impact on local residents, should something fail, is rather bizarre.
The ideological objections to commissioning, however, I find genuinely puzzling. Partly they flow from an abhorrence of the idea of profit (though what is inherently immoral about making money from being very good at road maintenance?). And it ignores the fact that some local government services are commissioned from other parts of the public sector, including from other councils, and from the voluntary sector. How can this be a bad thing?
More essentially, I do not understand the idea that councils should do everything themselves, because that’s what they’ve always done; and that non-public provision is intrinsically wrong.
Surely what matters is what works? Or in the words of Diane Abbot (no siren of the market, she) ‘people just want good services delivered competently’. And that goal is what underpins the concept of commissioning.
Localis have just published a pamphlet with Barnet LBC that describes how, in response to austerity and increasing demand on local services, they have fundamentally changed the way they operate over the last six years, including their shift to become a commissioning council.
If you read only the millions of words of press coverage of what the council is doing, you would have thought it was all about outsourcing.
In fact, as the pamphlet describes, Barnet have adopted a wide range of delivery models, with services provided: directly by the council (including waste which was insourced); through charitable trusts; on a shared basis with other boroughs; and in partnership with the private and voluntary sectors.
And the goal behind all this? To achieve the best value and the best outcomes for residents. Because, for all the words, what really matters will always be tangible results for local people.