Public sector reform

ePolitix.com Stakeholders comment on the government's public sector reform agenda..

Stakeholder Response: Amicus

Amicus general secretary Derek Simpson said: "There is a fundamental conflict of interest between profit and providing the best service to people but the problem is not simply a matter of cost and evidence.

"These policies take for granted a set of values that idealise competition and see public services as consumer goods.

"There is no evidence that profit-driven privatisation provides better services or improved value for money.

"In fact privatisation is often more expensive detrimental to service delivery and creates significant inequalities.

"Our public services have wider benefits than simply economic and individual gain.

"They contribute to an enriched, participative and socially engaged society and help build solidarity and compassion.

"In other words, public services are a good thing and worth paying for."

 

Stakeholder Response: NASUWT

 

Chris Keates, general secretary of NASUWT, said: "NASUWT is today uniting with trade unionists from across the whole rage of public services to send a strong message to MPs of all parties that they need to act to protect public services.

"Public services should operate in a public interest, promoting community cohesion and be valued and respected.

"They should be owned by the public and managed and delivered in trust by the public.

"Public services will create a better society, tackling inequalities and delivering social and economic justice for all.

"These principals are in danger of being eroded away by the policies of successive governments.

"There is increasing concern across the trade union movement about the role of the private sector in pubic services.

"Previously public assets are being handed over to private sponsors.

"Huge funds of public money are being wasted on engaging private sector companies and consultants in the delivery of public services.

"The jobs and livelihoods of public sector workers are being sacrificed, despite the fact that there is strong evidence that private sector involvement results in high costs and poorer services.

"The time has come to stand up for public services and defend the public service ethos."

 

Stakeholder Response: ATL

Martin Johnson, ATL acting deputy general secretary, said: "How can we recognise societies which are both wealthy and civilised?

"One way is that they use their resources to make sure everyone, particularly the less fortunate, has access to a decent standard of living and the key services we all need. 

"How can such societies make sure the key services meet everyone's needs? 

"The only way is for them to be accountable to the people's representatives, not a sectional interest.

"Some sections of our society are more interested in the wealth than the civilisation. 

"But we believe the money be shared out, especially in the form of services free to all at the point of use. 

"There is something about our members in public services that makes them different - they have different motivations.  It's the client not the company.  It's the people not the profit. 

"With such motivations, we'd have schools and colleges built up to a standard, not down to a price.  We'd have them open to meet need, not to meet a contract. 

"We'd have staff doing the least pleasant jobs on a decent wage, not a minimum wage.

"...[T]o protect our public services, we need politics which put people before profits, which recognise that in funding public services we attack inequality, and, above all, politics which welcome and support the efforts of staff who keep our public services going."