ResPublica's 'The Ownership State' Outlines The New Centre Ground

The Conservatives today announced a radical new approach to public sector transformation: to give public sector employees ownership of the services they deliver, and free them from centralised bureaucracy and ineffective micro management. They described this as, 'the most significant shift in power from the state to working people since the sale of council houses in the 1980s.'

As has been noted by many commentators already, this radical idea was first outlined in ResPublica's flagship report, 'The Ownership State.' We wrote:

'Over the last ten years, our public services have experienced a real terms funding increase of 55 per cent, financed by an increase of 5 per cent of GDP in public expenditure since 2000. Yet public sector productivity has continued to fall: by 3.4 per cent over the last ten years, compared to the private sector’s 27.9 per cent productivity gain over the same period.

'Real improvement depends on harnessing two powerful forces, both of which emerge under the banner of 'Ownership': the insight and dedication of frontline workers, and the engagement and
involvement of citizens and communities.'

How do we realise this vision? We recommend that a new power of civil association be granted to all frontline service providers in the public sector. This power would allow the formation, under specific conditions, of new employee and community-owned ‘civil companies’ that will deliver the services previously monopolised by the state.

Central to this power is the obligation to ensure that full budgetary delegation of all the supporting services goes along with new responsibility. The new civil company would be structured as a social enterprise, with the scope and flexibility to allow a number of different governance structures in the light of local conditions.

Such structures include community interest companies with an asset lock that prevents external transfer of the resources of the new organisation, or, depending upon the service to be delivered, a partnership trust along the lines of the John Lewis model.

The Conservatives' paper follows a Cabinet Office paper, 'The Engagement Ethic,' which also draws heavily on ResPublica's ideas in 'The Ownership State.'

Commenting on today's announcement, Phillip Blond, ResPublica's Director said,

'Today, the Conservatives have shown that they understand the innovative and radical potential of co-operative public sector ownership to transform for the better our struggling public services.

'There now exists a broad consensus on extending employee ownership throughout the public sector, driven by ResPublica's ideas in 'The Ownership State.' The Labour Party have also embraced the rhetoric - we await the development of the detail - of what they refer to as 'the mutual moment.' An important new centre-ground is forming; an Ownership Debate that promises to help us create better public services more efficiently - and extend the beneficial effects of ownership throughout society.

'Over the coming weeks, ResPublica will do our utmost to help policy makers and politicians understand and implement this transformative new vision.'

UPDATE (21:34):
Phillip Blond has written further on the new centre ground in an opinion piece over at The Disraeli Room, ResPublica's blog. Read it here.

Read the ResPublica report that started the debate here: