Welcome to the second edition of ThinkSpace.
ThinkSpace is PA Consulting Group's e-journal focused on bringing innovative thinking to the strategic challenges faced by you as leaders of public services.
In this edition we explore the issue of social exclusion and suggest that making it a thing of the past requires a new take on policy. Traditional approaches treat individual symptoms whereas new approaches need to address all of the barriers to an individual's participation into society, but in a personalised way. We also introduce a radical new approach to designing policy – system reform – which adds demand-side considerations into the usual approach to citizen-centric government.
We are passionate about improving public services and are committed to offering fresh perspectives on new and existing challenges. As such we would welcome your feedback about individual articles, the ThinkSpace concept itself, or if you have a particular topic that you would like discussed please email your views to thinkspace@paconsulting.com.
| IN THIS EDITION |
| Including the excluded: How getting personal is the key to eradicating social exclusion |
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Social exclusion is a complex and seemingly insoluble problem for society signified by multiple symptoms and impacted by a number of government departments. There is also no single common experience of exclusion as the causes and symptoms will vary for different individuals. In this article, Nick Kennell and Rob Brown of PA Consulting Group explore how government can develop a co-ordinated national strategy centring on the diverse and unique needs of the socially excluded to provide a more effective solution based around personalised delivery. >more |
| The System Reform Model: A user-centric approach to policy design and business delivery |
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A key Government aim is to make public services more personalised to the particular needs of individuals, and to increase citizen involvement, both to improve outcomes and to increase levels of satisfaction with services. In this article Stephen Meek, Sarah Healey and Nana Reynier from the strategy unit at the Department for Children, Schools and Families and Mike Boxall and Rob Brown of PA Consulting Group describe a new approach to designing and delivering policy – the System Reform Model – which offers a more comprehensive and pragmatic way to enhancing outcomes and engaging with children, young people and families. >more |
| OTHER ARTICLES OF INTEREST |
Minority impact: behavioural change will drive Scottish public sector reform
How can Scottish senior civil servants turn the challenge of operating in a minority government into an opportunity for robust and quick policy delivery? >more
Protecting the public: do they need to feel protected?
As part of PA Consulting Group and Ipsos MORI’s joint newsletter series we ask how far should Criminal Justice Boards be working with Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements and other agencies to raise awareness collectively amongst the public about public protection issues; and how far does the Criminal Justice System need to make people feel protected in order for them to feel confident in the system? >more
Field forces: a service-orientated approach to programme management
By adopting a standardised, and strongly service oriented, approach to programme management, a department’s use of field forces can become far more effective, both at the level of individual programmes and across all programmes. >more
Effective portfolio management: local delivery, national visibility
The key to retaining control of decentralised programmes, and also to making them as effective as possible, is portfolio management, enabled by a standardised (and strongly service-oriented) approach to managing individual programmes. >more
The mobile service arriving on platform 1…
New technologies are emerging all the time. In the transport sector, departments increasingly need to use technologies that will enable activities to be performed on the move or in remote locations.This first article in our technology series focuses on remote data access to enable a ‘passenger-centric’ approach to integrated transport. >more
Southampton City Council: Successfully negotiating a service partnership. >more
Sheffield City Council: From high performer to high performer - maintaining an upward trajectory >more
