Fundamental choices about the long-term development of locally focused public service delivery are currently being made. Central Government is engaging with the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to make sure that this consultation process is inclusive. The quality, value, diversity, accountability and accessibility of community-focused public service delivery are priority aims of Central Government. Within the broader context of democracy and participation, accessibility is also a vitally important consideration.
For communities, the prizes of successful reform will be considerable:
- Better quality, localised customer-centric services
- Increasing diversity of service provision
- Greater consistency of service quality improvements
- Simpler, immediate, ‘hassle free’ access
- Holistic, intelligent, proactive knowledge application
- Lower costs, with resources shifted from the back office to the front line
- Overall sustainable reduction of the tax burden for public service provision
In this discussion paper, Vertex makes the case for an imaginative solution for organising and enabling the scale of change that will be needed if these goals are to be achieved.