Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Employee owned public services in Haringey?
Many of us have experienced that moment of wonder when you interact with an individual or department in the council and think, "Wow, why can't the whole council be like that?"
So what would it be like if departments like that in Haringey were given their head and allowed to mutualise and run services themselves?
This week Employee-owned public services got backing from the government after ministers endorsed 'John-Lewis'-style public services.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude announced 12 'public service spin-offs' would pioneer the development of mutual public service providers as part of the government’s Big Society programme.
Public sector workers will be encouraged to establish co-operatives or social enterprises and work across organisational boundaries.
The pilot schemes will also receive support from big firms such as the John Lewis Partnership, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG.
Among the first 12 are a social enterprise to be formed by NHS employees in Leicester, which will provide joined-up services for homeless people, and a co-operative in Swindon that will bring together community health and adult social services.
Good thing? Bad thing? Which services would we look at mutualising in Haringey?
So what would it be like if departments like that in Haringey were given their head and allowed to mutualise and run services themselves?
This week Employee-owned public services got backing from the government after ministers endorsed 'John-Lewis'-style public services.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude announced 12 'public service spin-offs' would pioneer the development of mutual public service providers as part of the government’s Big Society programme.
Public sector workers will be encouraged to establish co-operatives or social enterprises and work across organisational boundaries.
The pilot schemes will also receive support from big firms such as the John Lewis Partnership, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG.
Among the first 12 are a social enterprise to be formed by NHS employees in Leicester, which will provide joined-up services for homeless people, and a co-operative in Swindon that will bring together community health and adult social services.
Good thing? Bad thing? Which services would we look at mutualising in Haringey?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Omotn on
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I think it would be superb. If we don't like John Lewis we can go to BHS or Argos. If we didn't like, let's say, Haringey's, rat catchers could we go to Enfield's, or perhaps to the rival organisation Haringey's Pest Removal Operatives.
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Permalink Reply by Chris Setz on
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>>Good thing? Bad thing?
Bad thing. Whilst I wish any new business well, the state must provide public services, pure and simple - particularly for the least well off, particularly for health and housing, particularly if you're poor.
The income we get to spend on public service swings wildly. Who, for instance, could have predicted the billions we got [and are still getting] from North Sea Oil, which arrived when we really needed the cash? So, it's OK to borrow in lean times so as not to destroy the investment made in the past. The need for help is acute for some (have a look around the borough) and we tried letting charities do it all but they couldn't - it has to be the state.
The last time the Tories ruled they cut savagely - that was one reason they spent so long out of power - people remembered. Given that, this is probably an attempt to spin the abolition of public services. They've probably picked non-contentious areas to privatise first so as to justify a bigger 'self-help' society. When the economy recovers, the public will not see Tories re-instate lost public services, so this is a bad thing imho.
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