James Rees

Public sector commissioning and the third sector: Old wine in new bottles?

Public sector commissioning has risen rapidly to prominence as the central mechanism for the ‘purchase’ of services in an increasingly mixed economy of public services in the UK and this has wide-ranging consequences for non-state actors including those in the third sector. Academic consideration of commissioning has been rather fragmented, concerned with particular service fields or sectors. This paper provides an overview, with a focus on the relationship between the state and the third sector. The paper begins by questioning whether commissioning is really ‘new’ or a continuation of existing trends around procurement and contracting and whether it constitutes a genuinely transformative relationship between the state and third sector. It considers some core debates about the likely impact of commissioning on the third sector and its relationship with the state. In doing so, the paper advances two main arguments: that commissioning remains highly fragmented in policy and practice, between different local...

Making space: Putting politics back where it belongs in the construction of city regions in the North of England:

This article tackles a double orthodoxy that has emerged in the recent debate over city regions in the UK. The first, in the realm of policy and politics, held that city regions were the most appropriate scale at which to govern processes of economic development. The second, in the academic literature, posited that city-regional thinking was founded on purely economistic rationales and that there was a need to insert ‘more politics’ into analyses. A very real disjuncture emerged between the initial visualisation of extensive and ‘fuzzy’ city regions and institutional outcomes which often reflected older metropolitan geographies. Underpinning this was a profoundly political process of cross-boundary coalition building in which neighbouring local authorities formed uneasy partnerships in the hunt for resources and forms of ‘constrained autonomy’. The article draws attention to the relationships between two conceptions of ‘making space’: the process of visualising city-regional spaces, and the grounded and political process of carving out the space for city regions in the congested inter-scalar institutional landscape.

Generating 'good enough' evidence for co-production

Co-production is not a new concept but it is one with renewed prominence and reach in contemporary policy discourse. It refers to joint working between people or groups who have traditionally been separated into categories of user and producer. The article focuses on the coproduction of public services, offering theory-based and knowledge-based routes to evidencing co-production. It cites a range of ‘good enough’ methodologies which community organisations and small-scale service providers experimenting with co-production can use to assess the potential contribution, including appreciative inquiry, peer-to-peer learning and data sharing. These approaches have the potential to foster innovation and scale-out experimentation.

Having it both ways: explaining the contradiction in English spatial development policy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to ask how the UK Government can currently hold such incommensurable positions, explicitly and implicitly, in respect of spatial development priorities within England, and suggest a research agenda that might produce a better understanding of such contradictions.Design/methodology/approach – The paper contrasts evidence on the changing spatial economic geography of the UK with data on recent trends in identifiable regional public expenditure. Current spatial development policy is analysed in detail and contrasted with a range of implicit development decisions made by central government in recent years. The paper considers the adequacy of the literature on metropolitan dominance within UK political and economic life in explaining the discrepancies between what government says and does in terms of spatial development.Findings – Significant discrepancies are found between formal spatial development aspirations as expressed in the Public Service Agreement on Regional Eco...

UK employment services: understanding provider strategies in a dynamic strategic action field

UK employment services are increasingly delivered by public, private and third sector organisations in quasi-markets that can be viewed as fields with actors (providers) competing for resources and position. The commissioning of the Work Programme produced an ‘episode of contention’ as fewer resources, shifting policy priorities and new contractual arrangements restructured relationships within the field. Drawing on empirical research the paper demonstrates how providers with different resources have navigated this period, employing strategies to manage challenger and incumbent roles and maintain their position in the field. The findings contribute to both field theory and our theoretical understanding of employment services. key words employment services • Work Programme commissioning • sector • field theory

New 'new localism' or the emperor's new clothes: diverging local social policies and state-voluntary sector relations in an era of localism

This paper aims to examine what the policy, practice and academic implications are of England becoming a container of diverse social policies as a result of the implementation of policies of localism. Through a case study of Greater Manchester (GM), it addresses the implications for the local voluntary sector. GM is a key example of an ambitious local public sector assemblage that is attempting complex, large-scale policy implementation in the context of greater devolution.

Mental health commissioning: master or subject of change?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore change within the commissioning of third sector mental health services in England. Design/methodology/approach – A case study methodology based on survey and interview data of a sample of third sector organisations and commissioners within an English conurbation. Findings – Normative commissioning models based on sequential cycles were not fully implemented with the main focus being on the procurement and contracting elements. There were examples of commissioning being an enabler of service improvement but overall it seems to have been limited in its ability to bring about whole system change. Barriers included commissioners’ capacity and competence, ineffectual systems within their organisations, and fragmentation in commissioning processes between user groups, organisations and sectors. Research limitations/implications – The case study conurbation may not represent practice in all urban areas of England and there may be particular issues of difference w...

Responsible Citizens and Accountable Service Providers? Renegotiating The Contract Between Citizen and State

New forms of governance, conditional approaches to public service access, and initiatives to engage citizens in taking on new responsibilities are being developed in the context of the scaling down of the welfare state. We examine the extent to which collaboration and multidirectional accountability can be developed between the state and citizens, with a focus on a case study of Community Contracts in England. These quasi-legal agreements, operationalised at the local level, involve citizens and service providers cooperating in tackling social problems through agreed responsibilities and behaviour. Findings from interviews and focus group research suggest that Community Contracts represent an innovation in governance. Citizens are given a voice and there are new pathways for effective service delivery and accountability; conditionality applies to citizens and service providers. However, although there was evidence of increased service accountability, the impact on civic responsibility and conditionality beyond already active citizens and beyond certain issues was less apparent. Although citizens and service providers were ready to take on new roles, the legal status of the contract was only loosely defined. Challenges remain concerning how contract-based approaches can be fully realised in practice.

Answering the English Question

Whenever devolution within the United Kingdom has been proposed, the ‘English Question’ has always emerged as its inevitable corollary. If there is greater home rule for the rest of the United Kingdom, so the argument goes, should a similar ‘solution’ not also apply to, or within, England? Should England as a whole have its own institutionalised political voice or, alternatively, should it be divided into devolved units of government? Since 1998, England has been the gaping hole in a devolution settlement that has still affected only 15 per cent of the UK population (or just over a quarter if the strengthening of citywide governance for London is deemed a devolutionary measure). Until recently, the English barely seemed to care but that may be starting to change. In the face of recent evidence that the people of Scotland and Wales have an appetite for more nationalist governments and further autonomy, there is a growing perception that the English may be ‘losing out’. Clear answers to the English Question, however, seem as far away as ever; not least because of the bewildering array of ostensible solutions on offer.

Contribution of the voluntary sector to mental health crisis care in England: protocol for a multimethod study

Introduction Timely access to the right kind of support for people experiencing a mental health crisis can be problematic. The voluntary sector (VS) plays a key role in providing support and enabling access, but there is a knowledge gap concerning its contribution and interface with public services in mental health crisis care. This study aims to address this. Methods and analysis The study has three empirical elements: (1) a national survey of voluntary sector organisations (VSOs) in England and national stakeholder interviews to develop a typology of organisations and interventions provided by VSOs; (2) detailed mapping of VS services in two regions through interviews and extending the national survey; (3) four case studies, identified from the regional mapping, of VS mental health crisis services and their interface with National Health Service (NHS) and local authority services, at both a system and individual level. Data collection will involve interviews with commissioners; VSO and NHS or local authority providers; and focus groups with people who have experience of VSO crisis support, both service users and carers; and mapping the crisis trajectory of 10 service users in each study site through narrative interviews with service users and informal carers to understand the experience of VSO crisis care and its impact. Ethics and dissemination The University of Birmingham Humanities and Social Sciences Ethical Review Committee granted ethical approval (reference ERN_16–1183) for the national and regional elements of the study. Ethical review by the Health Research Authority will be required for the case study research once the sites have been identified from the first two elements of the study. A range of methods including a policy seminar, publication in academic journals and a tool kit for commissioners and practitioners will be produced to maximise the impact of the findings on policy and practice.