8/14/2019 Employee and user ownership seminar briefing paper
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How can user and employee ownership drivebetter public
services?
Public interest seminar 9 March 2010
There is renewed interest amongst politicians and policy-makers
from across the political
spectrum in the impact of employee and user owned organisations.
This seminar will explore
different models of user and employee ownership, looking at
which are more relevant to
public services. The seminar will cover a range of topics
relevant to discussions about how
alternative forms of ownership might be applied in the context
of current policy and practice.
Issues include:
Understandingthe benefits how to share understanding of the
benefits that
employee-owned models bring in terms of innovation, efficiency
and customer focus,
amongst employees and client groups. Also asking what are the
advantages and
disadvantages of involving service user representatives in the
governance of public
services?
Transitions - How might public services migrate to these
alternative forms of ownership,
not only legally and financially but considering all aspects of
organisational health and
risk management? What are potential barriers and how might they
be overcome?
Measuring success - a key issue in considering the value of
moving towards a model of
service user or employee ownership will be how to measure the
success of such
ventures. This requires inclusion of the broader value of
organisations such as self worth
for staff, broader outcomes for users, and impact on the public
realm and social capital.
Recent debate on models of ownership
Commission on Ownership
The formation of an independent Commission on Ownership reflects
growing recognition by
the government of the importance of service user and employee
ownership. Researching
over 18 months from February 2010, the Commission will explore
how ownership impacts
upon customer service, staff engagement, risk taking and
entrepreneurialism.1
Political perspectives
In the autumn political parties made announcements about
involving employees and serviceusers in future public services. The
Labour Party emphasised the potential of mutuals in
public services for becoming an expression of the new national
soul post-credit crunch.2
Mutuals and other forms of co-governorship are seen as a
possible alternative to the
traditional shareholder model underpinning markets which failed
somewhat spectacularly
during the financial crisis. With this shift away from state and
market provision there is a
move towards using the voluntary sector, community groups and
encouraging social
enterprises by offering tax breaks. Co-operative and mutual
ideals are likely to feature in
Labours election manifesto with mutuals playing a bigger role in
schools, hospitals and
1http://www.mutuo.co.uk/latest-releases/commission-on-ownership
2http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/14/mutual-interest-public-services
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/14/mutual-interest-public-serviceshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/14/mutual-interest-public-serviceshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/14/mutual-interest-public-services
