Michael Burton

Editorial Director, Hemming Local Government (publishers)

Author, The Politics of Public Sector Reform from Thatcher to the Coalition (June 2013)

Why write a book on public sector reform?

30 years of reform – what does it mean?

Wanted to put it into perspective

Wanted to put it together in one book with an overview

At a crunch time in public finances – big changes ahead

Previous reforms

The Conservatives: Thatcher and Major New Labour: Blair and Brown The Coalition: heirs of Blair or a new

direction in reform?

The overview

Crunch time in public finances – austerity plus rising demand

Big cuts in local government. Health and education protected but a cut due to rising demand

Need transformation – but what does it mean?

The drivers of reform

Treasury No 10 The Treasury Select committees The consumer Private sector competition

Key services where reform has taken place

Whitehall NHS Local government Police Welfare Education

How the UK compares internationally

Civil service: survey of OECD Health Education: PISA

Has reform worked?

Public sector more responsive Big IT projects and procurement remain a

problem Whitehall silo-working impedes joint

working NHS still regarded as in need of more

efficiencies Local government coping with 30% less

Key conclusions: my 10 points

Transformation means less staff Suppliers’ margins will be cut Ministers are part of the problem Reform dogged by ‘not invented here’ Importance of leadership Don’t go for easy savings…

..and the remaining conclusions

Get over territorialism Long-term socio-economic challenges must

be addressed Public must get real about what they can

expect from public services Break down silos –go for a total place

approach to service delivery

A brief summary of 276 pages!

And if you want to read the book it’s on websites at

Amazon

Palgrave Macmillan

Other book sites you can find on Google