1. Making the paradigm shift: innovations in an enabling state
Jennifer Wallace
Head of Policy
Carnegie UK Trust

4. Paradigm
a framework containing all of the commonly accepted views about a subject
Paradigm shift
a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions.

5. Causes of the paradigm shift
Fiscal crisis
Ageing population
Increasing demand for public services

6. No one here thinks the public spending tap will open wide again once ‘austerity is over’. A declining tax base, the need to restrain tax pressure on the ‘squeezed middle’, the rising costs of an ageing society and the need to priorities investment in research and infrastructure will all restrict many other areas of spending. Denham, 2012

12. They are all built on the passions of individuals, often of people who have themselves been users of the services they are now delivering who wanted to do something different. But their funding is precarious, they fight with red tape of applications and regulations and are often exasperated by it.
They are small, by their nature, many have aspirations to scale up but no mechanism to do so. They talk of wanting to make sure that those who set up after them are provided with better support, information and advice.
They are joined-up in a way that core public services would envy, being people-centred means they focus their activities on what people need, not what category or box they think the user should belong to. They unlock connections locally to make things happen, using reciprocal relationships with others to ensure a network of support.
But there are risks and problems, the welfare state was set up to address the patchwork of voluntary support that existed pre-war. A patchwork that led to many slipping through the cracks. This new emerging enabling state holds that risk too.
We were struck in our examples of best practice and innovation though of one thing, one vital difference between the early 20th Century and early 21st Century. Delving deeper into our projects we found repeated examples of state activity, not in delivery, but in funding, guidance and support. We found examples where central government had ‘pump primed’ the activities through grants and research funding, where local government officers were the catalyst for change and the ‘letting go’ of services to allow them to flourish.
This story of an enabling state, which empowers community activity, rather than a delivery state which controls from the centre, is one which Beveridge and the other founding fathers of the welfare state would have recognised and endorsed. The rapid retrenchment of the state is a violent way to encourage change in this direction, and the risks to individuals, families and communities are high. We would not have advocated for or chosen this route to change but faced with seemingly unsurmountable challenges, we are heartened that we see the green shoots of a new model of providing essential services to the public.

14. What does success look like?
A holistic, outcomes-based approach
A connection with the state beyond funding
Co-produced with users
Building partnerships with peers and across professional boundaries

15. Are we nearly there yet? Small-scale – limited growth
Going against the grain
Some resistance from users as well as professionals
Lacking a strong positive narrative for change

16. jennifer@carnegieuk.org 01383 749761 @CarnegieUKTrust @Jen_CarnegieUK