local government & public services
public sector management | contracting | commissioning | service delivery | devolution | planning | community services | public policy | planning | public spending | voluntary sector | private sector
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How Have We Misconceived the NHS?
David Zigmond argues that government is forcing the NHS to adopt the worst features of neoliberalism and communism.
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Rekindling Democracy
Cormac Russell's inspiring book describes the limitations of current models of public policy and offers a positive community model in their place.
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Closer to Home
Amy-Grace Whillans-Welldrake reports on the progress of Greater Manchester devolution and explores the possibility and desire for even deeper devolution.
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Public Spending in Sheffield
Joshua Shepherd analysed public spending in Sheffield in order to understand the impact of the UK's centralised system on local communities.
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Does COVID-19 mark the end for markets in the NHS?
UK Government response to the COVID-19 is an implicit acknowledgement of the limitations and dangers of a marketised healthcare system.
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The Upstream Response to COVID-19
Dr Simon Duffy sets out some key principles to guide local communities as they develop their response to the COVID-19 crisis.
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Buurtzorg and Self-Management
Buurtzorg is a powerful social innovation, started in the Netherlands, which enables self-management and continuity of care.
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Self-Direction Worldwide
Lynn Breedlove observes the competing conceptions of self-directed support emerging around the world.
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Learning from Penzance Citizens Panel
Gavin Barker shares lessons learnt from the recent Penzance Citizens Panel on Housing, Homelessness and Low Pay.
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Social Work Writing and Bureaucracy
Why has writing reports, plans, case notes and assessments come to dominate everyday social work, often at the price of real social work practice?
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Why I Wrote Second Class Citizens
Stef Benstead found that many people, like Christian Conservatives, care about poverty but have false beliefs about why it exists, this inspired her to write Second Class…
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Dissent from Consensus
Bureaucracies and regulatory control systems undermine important social innovations such as person-centred planning.
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NHS Reform: Money Can't Buy Love
David Zigmond argues that more money alone won't restore the NHS to the values of its birth. The NHS needs more trust, freedom and cooperation.
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Private Firms Can Serve the Public
Gary Wootton explains how the state can overcome the limitations of markets by creating procurement systems that promote equality.
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The Partner State
Reimagining care with the Commons and peer to peer (P2P) alternatives.
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Social Value Policy and Framework
This policy sets out the legal context for social value and an approach a council could adopt to deliver social value through commissioning and procurement activities.
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Making the Private Sector Serve the Public Good
Gary Wootton argues that we can do so much more to improve society by ensuring that the private sector works to serve the greater good.
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Know Your Place
Joyce Bullivant documents an issue that is vital to justice and to our wellbeing - the survival of our local heritage, our buildings, our green spaces and the social structures…
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Valedictory
John O'Brien outlines the achievements of Dane County's system of supports as the system is now replaced by a system of managed care.
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Policed Industrialisation of Healthcare
David Zigmond reflects on the enforced closure of his GP practice and imagines an intelligent dialogue with the forces of regulation.
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Mental Health and Continuity of Care
David Zigmond asks the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care whether mental health can be advanced by procedures instead of relationships.
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Making Healthcare Human
John Burton interviews David Zigmond and together they explore the growing inhumanity of modern approaches to healthcare.
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Health Needs Equality
Mike Grady makes the health case for radical cross-government reforms to end poverty, reduce inequality and building a fairer society.
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Setting Stupid Targets for the NHS
John Carlisle explains why setting targets for the NHS is both wasteful and diverts attention from the real business of improving quality.