‘Enhanced Choice offers best way of improving local public services’ says new NLGN report

March 16, 2004

With ‘Choice’ set to be a key policy issue over the next 12 months, a new report by independent think-tank, the New Local Government Network (NLGN) has revealed the extent to which ‘enhanced choice’ offers a clear way of improving both the receipt and delivery of local public services. And in doing so, has received the welcome support of the Prime Minister’s main adviser on public service reform, Dr Wendy Thomson, local government minister, Nick Raynsford and Audit Commission Chief Executive, Steve Bundred.

Based on a year long study of how local authorities across the UK are introducing wider choice in the provision of their services (in for example, community care and housing), Making Choices: how can choice improve local public services? offers a practical guide on how user choice can be successfully implemented and managed.

Supported by, among others, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Office of Public Service Reform at the Cabinet Office, the Audit Commission, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the NCVO, the report by independent policy consultant, Dr Adam Lent and NLGN’s Natalie Arend, considers the changing nature of user choice in the UK and the different bodies who might provide local services:

“More imagination and variety can be brought to bear on how a range of providers can be introduced into service provision to provide choice and to enhance the capacity necessary to ensure choice works effectively. This means moving beyond the underlying assumption in much of the debate that choice either implies a quasi-market in the public sector or a genuine market involving the whole range of possible providers including public, private and voluntary.”But despite the great improvements that choice would bring to local public services, the authors’ are quick to note that choice should not be thought of as “a good-in-itself”; for two reasons:

“Firstly, because the enhancement of choice only works effectively when the right conditions are in place. Secondly, because exercising choice usually incurs costs for users in terms of time, energy and self-education, schemes designed to enhance choice work best when they meet three criteria which convince users that the extra costs are worthwhile.”These criteria are identified as being when:

enhanced user choice resolves a problem with the delivery of a service,
the problem is recognised as such by users through their direct, day to day experience of the service; and
the user’s choice is integral rather than incidental to the resolution of that problem.Indeed, as Lent and Arend conclude, choice is not something to be enhanced on a political whim, but rather:

“Enhancing choice should be far more about flexibility and open-mindedness in response to the particularities of each service and scheme than about implementing choice in a way that is synonymous with the model that currently dominates debate – offering individual users a choice of alternative providers”.Speaking at the launch of the report, Dr Wendy Thomson, advisor to the Prime Minister and Head of the Office of Public Service Reform at the Cabinet Office, said:

“Local government has the greatest scope for innovation in this area because of its local connections and the degree to which is has the speed of response to make things happen locally. In its provision of a wide range of services, local government is more than well placed to make the most of the Choice agenda and shift to a more customer-driven approach”.Addressing an NLGN event at Labour’s spring conference last weekend in Manchester, local government minister Nick Raynsford told the audience that he backed the case for extending choice in public service providers within local government; while at the same meeting Audit Commission Chief Executive, Steve Bundred proposed allowing benefit claimants the right to choose which local authority to approach to claim housing and council tax benefits.

All media enquiries, including copies of the report and details of the launch event, to Ian Parker at NLGN on 020 7357 0116

Notes for Editors:
The New Local Government Network (NLGN) is an independent think-tank, seeking to transform public services, revitalise local political leadership and empower local communities.

Making Choices: how can choice improve local public services? by Dr Adam Lent and Natalie Arend is published by NLGN, price £26.25 (inc p&p). To order, email network@nlgn.org.uk or call 020 7357 0152.

Making Choices was formally launched on Tuesday 16 March at a conference in central London. In addition to the authors, speakers included: Rt Hon Nick Raynsford MP, Minister for Local and Regional Government, ODPM; Dr Wendy Thomson, Prime Minister’s Adviser, Cabinet Office Office of Public Services Reform; Professor Julian Le Grand, Advisor to the Prime Minister; Ben Page, Director, MORI Research Institute; Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive, NCVO; Matthew Warburton, Head of Futures, LGA; Catherine Staite, Head of User Focus, Audit Commission; Robin Newby, Business Development Manager, LB Newham; Ged Fitzgerald, Chief Executive, Sunderland CC; Ed Straw, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers; Roger Sinden, Head of Community Care, Essex CC; and Warren Hatter, Head of Research, NLGN.


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