Given that every other article this week will be covering Lyons, I thought it worth reflecting on another review which both PM Tony Blair AND chancellor Gordon Brown launched on Tuesday – the Government’s policy review.
As part of this, Ipsos MORI led a deliberative citizen’s summit with 60 people from across Britain. And it showed the challenges are immense.
Despite huge investment, the public still expect further improvements and make no compromises in expectations on responsiveness in public services.
But at the same time, there are widespread concerns about a lack of individual responsibility in society. People do not just expect the Government alone to do everything. Both parties are reflecting on this.
The public talk of individual rights and responsibilities, but are more sceptical about simple sanctions and rewards. For example, rewarding and punishing parents to make them more responsible for their children’s behaviour was initially supported, but on reflection, support grew for parenting classes, and communities working together with mentoring schemes and similar initiatives.
Similarly, discounts for people who pay council tax bills on time are seen as unfair if they give advantage to better-off people.
This links to one of the key themes of the research – the need for ‘fairness’. It is expressed in anger and frustration at benefit fraud, but at the same time, a real sense of the need to avoid stigmatising people, and ensure everyone entitled to them gets decent services.
And finally, as well as fairness and respect, there is a strong sense of the need for tenderness. This means services that don’t just hit the targets, but where people feel looked after.
But, with rises in public spending over, and costs on the up, delivering ‘care’ in its broadest sense is going to be a huge challenge for both parties. nGiven that every other article this week will be covering Lyons, I thought it worth reflecting on another review which both PM Tony Blair AND chancellor Gordon Brown launched on Tuesday – the Government’s policy review.
As part of this, Ipsos MORI led a deliberative citizen’s summit with 60 people from across Britain. And it showed the challenges are immense.
Despite huge investment, the public still expect further improvements and make no compromises in expectations on responsiveness in public services.
But at the same time, there are widespread concerns about a lack of individual responsibility in society. People do not just expect the Government alone to do everything. Both parties are reflecting on this.
The public talk of individual rights and responsibilities, but are more sceptical about simple sanctions and rewards. For example, rewarding and punishing parents to make them more responsible for their children’s behaviour was initially supported, but on reflection, support grew for parenting classes, and communities working together with mentoring schemes and similar initiatives.
Similarly, discounts for people who pay council tax bills on time are seen as unfair if they give advantage to better-off people.
This links to one of the key themes of the research – the need for ‘fairness’. It is expressed in anger and frustration at benefit fraud, but at the same time, a real sense of the need to avoid stigmatising people, and ensure everyone entitled to them gets decent services.
And finally, as well as fairness and respect, there is a strong sense of the need for tenderness. This means services that don’t just hit the targets, but where people feel looked after.
But, with rises in public spending over, and costs on the up, delivering ‘care’ in its broadest sense is going to be a huge challenge for both parties. n
Protecting the public realm without shutting it down
As Martyn's Law approaches, this free special report from LocalGov and Hill & Smith sets out how councils can protect public spaces without shutting them down.
