BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 4:New Public Management

BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 4:New Public Management The New Right Was born from the experiences of the 1970’s in which we appeared to have ‘stagflation’ (stagnation+inflation) Argued that the growth of the public sector destroyed the disciplines of the market, led to inflation and economic decline

BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 4:New Public Management New Right Thinking Trust in the primacy of the market - ‘what could not be sold would be reformed’ A belief in monetarist economic policies Privatise where possible i.e. ‘steering rather than rowing’ Reduce public expenditure

BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 4:New Public Management ‘New’ Public Management Adopt efficiency tools used by the private sector (used in Raynor scrutinies, Management Information Systems) Set specific performance targets and budgets Privatise to increase competition at national level Resort to Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) at local level

BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 4:New Public Management New Public Management in Action Use of ‘quasi-markets’ e.g. in higher education, health Decentralisation e.g. through targets and contracts for service (refuse collection), LMS Emphasis on quality mechanisms (through Charters of various kinds) Emphasis on user/consumer responsiveness

BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 4:New Public Management ‘Contracting out’ Services would cost less and be provided more efficiently by the private sector Citizen’s Charters would safeguard the public interest ‘Care in the community’ indicated a partnership with the private sector

BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 4:New Public Management ‘Contracting out’ Job losses, worsening conditions of work (workers hired back at lower rates) Loss of accountability Search for profit would lower quality of service and increase risks of fraud and corruption Replaced by New Labour policy of ‘Best Value’

BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 4:New Public Management The logic of managerialism First are the ‘easier’ privatisation of the utilities (gas, water, electricity, telecommunications) Health, education, civil service itself became difficult because of strong public attachments Quality becomes a key word trying to link productivity with cost control

BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 4:New Public Management Neo-Taylorism Early approaches in setting targets, controlling costs etc, resemble Taylorism Control of targets was accompanied by de-control of employment relationships e.g. through contracting out principles But did this make services more efficient ?

BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 4:New Public Management The Quality dilemma How to achieve better/more reliable services at lower cost How to increase choice, consumer responsiveness in provision of service How to handle the ‘trade-off’ between these two values when the public demands better services but with no increases in taxation

BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 4:New Public Management The dilemma resolved ? Give control of services to those with most voice (deny service to those with little voice) Can service providers use quantitative indicators to disguise lack of ‘real’ quality ? ‘Arms-length’ approaches allows governments to take credit but to avoid blame

BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 4:New Public Management Assessment of New Public Management [1] Presentation and ‘consumer-care’ of many public services now much more self-evident It is possible to point to evidence that public services are more ‘productive’ e.g. better results in schools, more treated in hospitals Greater responsibility for services at local level

BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 4:New Public Management Assessment of New Public Management [2] Prominence given to competition as much to do with driving down unit costs as promoting quality Changes are predominantly manager-led rather than user-led (I.e. users respond to what managers have delivered) Does NPM only deliver to significant pressure groups (I.e. middle class voters)?