Decentralising Public Service Management PDF
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N)... I I GBC lnlnl ------------1 I------------ GOVERNMENT BEYOND THE CENTRE SERIES EDITOR: GERRY STOKER Published Richard Batley and Gerry Stoker (eds) Local Government in Europe Clive Gray Government Beyond the Centre John Gyford Citizens, Consumers and Councils Richard Kerley Managing in Local Government Desmond King and Gerry Stoker (eds) Rethinking Local Democracy Steve Leach, John Stewart and Kieron Walsh The Changing Organisation and Management of Local Government Arthur Midwinter Local Government in Scotland Christopher Pollitt, Johnston Birchall and Keith Putnam Decentralizing Public Service Management Lawrence Pratchett and David Wilson (eds) Local Democracy and Local Government John Stewart and Gerry Stoker (eds) Local Government in the 1990s David Wilson and Chris Game Local Government in the United Kingdom (second edition) Forthcoming Stephen Cope Local Government Finance in Britain John Stewart The Nature of British Local Government Gerry Stoker (ed.) The New Management of British Local Governance Gerry Stoker (ed.) The New Politics of British Local Government Nlt... I I GBC lulu I -----------' '----------- GOVERNMENT BEYOND THE CENTRE SERIES EDITOR: GERRY STOKER The world of sub-central government and administration - including local authorities, quasi-governmental bodies and the agencies of pub- lic-private partnerships-has seen massive changes in recent years and is at the heart of the current restructuring of government in the United Kingdom and other Western democracies. The intention of the Government Beyond the Centre series is to bring the study of this often-neglected world into the mainstream of social science research, applying the spotlight of critical analysis to what has traditionally been the preserve of institutional public administra- tion approaches. Its focus is on the agenda of change currently being faced by sub- central government, the economic, political and ideological forces that underlie it, and the structures of power and influence that are emer- ging. Its objective is to provide up-to-date and informative accounts of the new forms of government, management and administration that are emerging. The series will be of interest to students and practitioners of politics, public and social administration, and all those interested in the reshaping of the governmental institutions which have a daily and major impact on our lives. Government Beyond the Centre Series Standing Order ISBN 0-333-71696-5 he ISBN 0-333--69337-X pb (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in the case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England Decentralising Public Service Management Christopher Pollitt Johnston Birchall and Keith Putman MACMILlAN © Christopher Pollitt, Johnston Birchall and Keith Putnam 1998 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 1998 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-0-333-69403-9 ISBN 978-1-349-27010-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-27010-1 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 Copy-edited and typeset by Povey-Edmondson Tavistock and Rochdale, England · Contents Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations 1 Introduction: The Centrality of Decentralisation 1 2 Theories and Concepts 5 Introduction 5 Organising concepts 5 Theories: an overview 14 Theories of collective action/rational choice 15 The new institutionalist perspective 26 Rhetorical analysis 28 Concluding remarks 32 3 Reform Doctrines 33 Introduction 33 The management doctrines of the conservative government: main themes 34 The national health service 34 Local authority services: schools and socially rented housing 37 The broad perspective: management as the key 40 4 Roads to Freedom? 42 Emergence of the idea of opting out 44 Development of the policy 48 Characteristics of the developed agencies 54 Implementation of the policy 55 Impact of the policy 59 Rationality, resources and strategies 60 5 Decentralised Management of NHS Trusts 65 Introduction 65 Reasons for opting out (or not) 68 v Contents Vl The perceived benefits of trust status 70 The drawbacks of trust status 74 Concepts of performance 75 Performance in practice 77 External factors 81 Fragmentation, system coherence and equity 82 Accountability 86 The self-governing hospital: concepts 88 The self-governing hospital: theories 92 6 Decentralised Management of Secondary Schools 102 Introduction 102 The schools in our study 105 Reasons and benefits 106 The drawbacks of opting out 110 Concepts of performance 111 Performance in practice: the use of performance-related information by schools 114 Fragmentation, system coherence and equity 117 Accountability 119 Explaining school governance: concepts 121 Explaining school governance: theories 123 7 Decentralised Management of Socially Rented Housing 136 Introduction 136 The housing agencies in our study 138 Reasons for opting out 139 Benefits of opting out 142 The drawbacks of opting out 146 Concepts of performance 147 Performance in practice 149 Fragmentation, system coherence and equity 150 Accountability 152 Transfer to LSVT associations: concepts 154 Transfer to LSVT associations: theories 157 8 Freedom, Performance and Accountability 162 Introduction 162 Has decentralisation really taken place? 162 What has been decentralised? 163 What seems to have been the effect of decentralisation on the performance of the organisations concerned 164 Contents vii What lessons can be learned from looking at different approaches to decentralisation in different settings and sectors? 166 What messages does the experience of the reforms of the decade from 1987 hold for the organisation of representative democracy? 168 How well do our chosen perspectives measure up to the task of explaining and interpreting the events of the period? 170 Modelling implementation habitats: some building blocks 172 Concluding remarks 178 Appendix 1 Research Design and Methodology 182 Appendix 2 Interview Schedules 184 References 188 Index 195 Acknowledgements First we would like to acknowledge the Economic and Social Research Council, which provided us with substantial financial support for most of the research that underpins this book. Our gratitude is also extended to Professor Gerry Stoker, who was a most effective yet sympathetic coordinator of the Local Governance Initiative, the larger research programme of which our work was a part. Equally, we are hugely in debt to Diane Woodhead and Sally Lane. Diane wrestled with our endless interview tapes, gained command of a rather unresponsive piece of qualitative data analysis software (which we could never understand) and even contrived to remain humorous and good-tem- pered. Working for us, we doubt if we would have had the same patience. Sally keyboarded most of our material, turning it into what became the last of the many books she has produced - the experience encouraged her rapidly to leave for a new life in Cornwall. We do not expect to see her equal for the speedy and meticulous production of text. CHRISTOPHER POLLITT JOHNSTON BIRCHALL KEITH PUTMAN Vlll List of Abbreviations CCT Compulsory Competitive Tendering CHC Community Health Council DES Department of Education and Science DoE Department of the Environment DHA District Health Authority DHSS Department of Health and Social Security DMU Directly Managed Unit GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education GM Grant Maintained GP General Practitioner lEA Institute for Economic Affairs LEA Local Education Authority LSVT Large-Scale Voluntary Transfer LMS Local Management of Schools NHS The UK National Health Service RHA Regional Health Authority IX
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