A new ethos: how will values-led procurement reform public service delivery? Thursday 9 September from 11.00 a.m.

Defining the good and the useful

The Green Paper for Transforming Public Procurement sets out to promote value and transparency at the expense of red-tape. As a principle of public procurement, value for money, the public good, integrity, efficiency, fair treatment of suppliers, non-discrimination and transparency are to be enshrined in law.

In a Localis report from November 2016, ‘A New Public Service Ethos, the fact that there had not been a decline in public satisfaction suggested there is something more complicated than a mere decline in the public service ethos. We argued then that the sense of corrosion or ‘loss’ that public sector workers feel is a result of private sector organisations being relatively successful at assimilating social justice values.

Five years on, is there any sense that this sense of public satisfaction is holding up?

And how can we assess any conspicuous benefits (e.g. performance, social value) as well as inconspicuous benefits (such as reputational and local pride) of providers whose spirit and intent is closely aligned to public service values?

So this webinar asked us to consider:

  • What opportunities are latent within the procurement reform programme to renew a culture of trust and sense of dutiful service in the delivery of public services?
  • If we are to uphold the time-honoured public service ethos of accountability, what needs to evolve in supplier/commissioner relations?
  • What practice – both good and bad – is out there to illuminate how overtly collaborative working cultures in commissioning promote both better value for money and stimulate the delivery of more responsive public services?

Speakers included:

  • Sean Hanson, Chief Executive, Local Partnerships
  • Jacqui McKinlay, Chief Executive, Centre for Governance and Scrutiny
  • Charlotte Osterman, Private Sector Lead, Social Value UK
  • Dr Joshua Pritchard, Senior Policy Advisor, Public Sector Markets, CBI

You can watch the webinar here:

Research programme kindly sponsored by: