Last night I attended the launch of the interim report of the 2020 Public Services Trust – Principles for 2020 Public Services.
Well attended and fuelled by good debate, the report stands on three principles:
- A shift in culture: from social security to social productivity
- A shift in power: from the centre to citizens
- A shift in finance: reconnecting financing with the purposes of public services
Whilst these may seem obvious to those that have been actively involved around the delivery of public services in the internet age, I’m sure they will drive some debate for those that haven’t.
For many, the concept of Open Government continues to be misconstrued as snake oil, peddled by the state to veil the incoming disruption of spending cuts. But as Hilary Cottam said last night, we need to “stop thinking about the scarce financial resources, and start thinking about the large (abundant?) social resources”.
It was also good to see such a level of pragmatism for the approach, especially refreshing when you’ve been as close to the hyperbole of all Open Government has to offer as I have for the past few months, in particular, my favourite was from Ben (Page?) “Localism means we will put the incompetents in charge, it will shift accountability… No-one said this was about universal happiness”. I actually think this is a really positive attitude to take – better to be upfront on the "warts and all” implications of our approach than ignore them. I also think it shows confidence in the approach that says, although it may be bumpy, we believe it is the right direction and that things will “settle down” over time.
I can’t wait…
Tags: Open Government
[...] is the launch of ‘Beyond Beveridge’ it is the interim report of the Commission on 2020 Public Services, of which I am a member. It sets [...]