The Public Sector This is any organisation owned and run by the government. The main purpose is to provide goods and services that are considered to big or too important for the security or the general welfare of the country to be left to private people.

Local Authority Services Education Recreation- sports halls, libraries, swimming pools Housing- council housing, homeless shelter Environment and Conservation- Litter clearance, pest control Communications- to isolated villages, including roads and traffic control Protection- fire and police Social Services- social workers, community care, meals on wheels

. Reasons ForReasons Against -Puts control of industry in private hands -Encourages more people to own shares -Increases efficiency by introducing competition -Reduces Government subsidies -Political – State control is not desirable in business - Private sector decision making is much faster than government -Monopolies are created -Private industry is not interested in providing non-profitable services for social benefit -Private companies may not be able to afford the investment needed -Competition is wasteful as resources are duplicated -Profits go only to the wealthy few who can afford shares -More efficiency = greater job losses.

Case Study Activity 4 People died in a train crash in England in 2002 due to a broken track. Some people said the crash would never have happened if the railways had never been privatised. Privatisation introduced many smaller companies to a network that had previously been run by the government. This means that the small companies could easily blame each other and would not take responsibility. Companies are more interested in making a profit than with safety.

Activity Should the Health Service be in the public sector or the private sector? Write a mini report about the Health service in your country, say whether it is private or public and give the advantages and disadvantages of it changing ownership.