public services

  • Amanda Stevens

    Senior Researcher

    • Economic think tank calls for restoration of public values

    CLES, the UK’s independent progressive economics think and do tank, has today launched a paper calling for the restoration of public values in public services.

    Restoring Public Values in Public Services outlines how a ‘private is best’ approach has led to a situation in which public services are too often outsourced to low quality, high cost providers who, in a race to the bottom, have compromised the dignity and safety of people who rely on these services.

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    Social Value is not enough – It’s time to restore Public Values

    Last week the government launched a series of new initiatives around ‘Social Value’, a much vaunted policy agenda which started with the passage of the Social Value Act in 2012. Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington has announced that by summer 2019, government procurements will be required to take social and economic benefits into account in certain priority areas, as well as new transparency rules for those bidding for public contracts.

    The government’s attempt to get businesses to consider their social impact can be understood as an acknowledgement that something has gone awry in the state of commissioning public services. The dramatic collapse of outsourcing giant Carillion in January 2018 has prompted a new wave of governmental thinking about how goods and services are purchased. With public opinion increasingly moving against poor provision of public services (most noticeably the much criticised railway system), this extension of the Social Value Act represents the government’s response.

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  • DISCUSSION PAPER

    Restoring Public Values in Public Services

    30th November 2018
    297.7kB     .pdf
    ...
  • MANIFESTO

    What Needs to be Done: The Manifesto for Local Economies

    1st June 2017
    1.1MB     .pdf
    ...

    • We need to ease back on council cuts

    The cuts imposed on councils are too steep, happening too fast and unfairly distributed. There needs to be real-terms growth in the resources given to local government and distribution according to social need.

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  • RESEARCH

    Austerity Uncovered

    16th January 2015
    1.5MB     .pdf
    This report is based on research by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES), commissioned by the TUC. It is designed to lo...
  • RESEARCH

    After Austerity: an economic plan for the North West

    5th September 2014
    2.2MB     .pdf
    A report produced for UNISON North West by CLES highlights how austerity policies are not working in the region and points the way...
  • CLES 10

    Approaches to Addressing Poverty

    11th April 2014
    192.6kB     .pdf
    In this CLES 10, we introduce ten ways in which places are addressing poverty through a place and relationship based approach. ...