United Kingdom: public services reform
Paper prepared for the EPSU Quality of Life campaign
1. Introduction
Purpose of the paper
This paper is designed to provide an overview of the public service reforms that have taken place in the United Kingdom in recent years. It will primarily focus on the different paths towards ‘modernising’ services taken by the different devolved administrations.
In 1997 the newly elected Labour Government was committed to creating devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (a Parliament in Scotland’s case and Assemblies in Northern Ireland and Wales). In each case significant powers of control over the public sector has been delegated to these bodies. The UK Parliament in Westminster retains power over the public sector in England and, often indirectly via Executive Agencies, influence over public services that are no longer directly owned by the state (e.g. water (in England and Wales), electricity, gas, public transport).
In addition to outlining what each part of the UK is doing the second half of this paper also draws together the common themes, trends and principles that lie behind many of these reform processes. These will include the ‘marketisation’ of certain sectors, the increasing role of the private and voluntary sector in providing services, loss of democratic accountability and the changing nature and role of the workforce.
When viewed together these changes have often been described as a neo-liberal reform agenda, and we will, briefly at the end suggest a model by which this suggestion can be measured.
Given that the Blair government has devolved much responsibility for the public sector to other administrations within the UK it will be of little surprise that the most radical reforms (some would say attack) have been focused on England. Therefore readers who wish to learn more about the detail of reform being carried out in England should refer to an accompanying paper that deals in-depth with these policies.
Read the full paper:
The PCS contribution to EPSU Quality of Life Campaign paper:
Public Services Reform in the United Kingdom
1. Introduction - Central Government Services
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) is the largest trade union in the civil service and represents 320,000 members based in the civil service, non-departmental public bodies, agencies and related commercial sectors.
In July 2004 the Government set out their future spending plans in the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) and detailed the changes they wish to make to the public sector in the Gershon and Lyons Reports. As part of these changes the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, announced 104,000 job cuts and relocations, across different civil service departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The cuts when announced amounted to around 1 in every 5 civil service jobs.
In anticipation of the CSR 2007 a 5% cut was announced as part of the budget statement, March 2006 for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the Treasury and the Cabinet Office. The Government’s vision for CSR 2007 for other departments includes at least a 2.5% reduction of spending per year.
It is unclear what the total and additional cuts will mean in terms of workforce reductions but we anticipate that the cuts will exacerbate the damage already done to key public services provided by PCS members. We are also concerned about potential privatisation threats and offshoring of work as part of this restructuring process.
PCS members deliver essential public services from the cradle to the grave. These services include welfare and child benefits, the national minimum wage, passports, driving licenses, tax credits and pensions.
In the civil service women, part time workers, disabled people and those from BME communities tend to be concentrated in the lowest paid posts, the posts which have been targeted for cuts are those occupied by these workers.
The PCS campaign against job cuts has been successful to date in avoiding compulsory redundancies and tackling privatisation threats. Yet there are growing signs the cuts are damaging service provision and the situation across the civil service will deteriorate further.
PCS continues to press the Government to agree that PCS members who wish to remain in the civil service should be able to do so. PCS continues to monitor and analyse the current situation and the risks to members. If compulsory redundancies or relocations arise, PCS Conference policy outlines a strategy which includes organising a national ballot for industrial action.
Read the full paper:
Sector by Sector detail of public service reform in England
While the public sector and wider public services are being reformed across the whole of the United Kingdom it is in England that the most challenging ‘market-based’ policies are being adopted and applied. This is in part because the Blair government has direct control over public services in England, where this power has been devolved to the respective administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This has meant that the majority of controversial measure being applied relate only to England -though as the parallel paper to this suggests despite the less aggressive reforms in other parts of the UK there are common themes now emerging. It is for this reason that we believe it both necessary and useful to draw a more detailed picture of the reforms underway in each area of the UK’s public services. Therefore this paper simply describes the current state (as it stands in August 2006) of reform in England and should be read alongside the complimentary paper that outlines the different reforms across the UK, as well as the themes, trends and reactions to those processes.
Read the full paper:
The PCS contribution to EPSU Quality of Life Campaign paper:
Sector by Sector detail of public service reform in England
Read the full report:
About us