TONY BLAIR seems to be in no hurry to blow the full-time whistle on his premiership or on the public service reform agenda that is a central part of it. He has publicly committed to “continue to reform public services: matching national objectives with other drivers of change — competition and contestability, and local choice and voice”.
Welcome words for a business audience. But the sentiment is something all of us interested in seeing better public services — especially users — should welcome. The innovation and customer focus that competition encourages will bring the improvements in service delivery that people want and expect. Increased funding alone will not.
This is something Mr Blair and his Government acknowledge. But the success of his reforms are still at risk for two reasons. The first is that the voice of the consumer has not been heard loudly enough in the reform debate. The second is that unfair procurement rules are preventing providers from competing with each other on a level playing field.
A recent CBI report, A Fair Field and No Favours: Competitive Neutrality in UK Public Service Markets, questioned why public procurement rules discriminate against companies, voluntary organisations and the public sector in the provision of public services. There are organisations from all sectors champing at the bit to bring their skills to public services, but often they cannot compete fairly because of in-built biases and muddled regulation.
A mixed economy in service provision cannot work if the rules aren’t fair for everyone. Talking about competition and local choice is all well and good, but if the regulatory framework doesn’t exist to let them flourish, then consumers will not reap the benefits. And it is consumer needs which must be at the heart of the reform debate. After all, it is only because of them — the patients, parents and pupils — that public services exist.
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This is why the CBI, the National Consumer Council and the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations joined forces and set up the Future Services Network. This brings together consumer, voluntary sector and business organisations to look at how public services could be shaped by the people and communities that use them.
Research indicated that 80 per cent of the public do not feel involved in the public services debate. The network has undertaken initiatives to provide a platform for public voices to help to counter this and to act as a conduit to channel ideas to political leaders and policymakers.
A major public consultation last year led to the publication of a blueprint for reform. This shaped the guiding principles of the network, and they will be debated at a Three Sector Summit being held in London on Thursday. This event will bring together people from across government and all sectors to identify new solutions to help us create world-class, user-led public services.
The Prime Minister is attending and we want assurances that his reforming actions will be as strong as his words. We need public services where competition can flourish, where different sectors can help to drive up standards, where the user experience is as important as better value for money for the taxpayer. The public has a right to expect this and government has a duty to deliver.
Dr Neil Bentley, is director of public services at the CBI (www.cbi.org.uk/publicservices)