UK a world leader in outsourced public services, says independent review / Public Technology, 11 July 2008
http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=16586
"The contribution of outsourced public services to the UK economy has grown 130% since 1995 and now represents the most developed public service industry in the world, according to a report on the Review of the Public Services Industry published yesterday. The industry has grown so significantly over the past twelve years that it is now second in size only to the US, and with a turnover of £79 billion contributes more to the UK economy than key industries such as communications and electricity, gas and water supply."
Public services industry review: PDF - http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file46965.pdf
Public services industry in the UK: PDF - http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file46938.pdf
The market for public services: international comparisons: PDF - http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file46939.pdf

Less is more / Guardian, 4 July 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/04/public.service.agreements?gusrc=rss&feed=politics
Jane Dudman
"Originally, there were hundreds of PSAs, but last year the government began rowing sharply backwards from the piles of specific targets involved. There are now just 30 PSAs and the measures of success have become vaguer. "It's about learning lessons," said Yvette Cooper, the chief secretary of the Treasury. "Now, we want to focus much more on implementation drive at the local level. This is a new phase and we need to reduce targets substantially." What Cooper didn't say is that PSAs have had to be changed in part because the targets involved weren't linked by the Treasury to actual performance. So departments could fail to meet their PSA targets but still receive their budgets, as allocated under the comprehensive spending review."

£128m paid out in bonuses to civil servants across Whitehall / Guardian, 7 July 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jul/07/whitehall?gusrc=rss&feed=politics
David Hencke
"The rewards were agreed by the Cabinet Office as part of a package to encourage the most senior civil servants to meet government targets set by the Treasury, which include introducing new computer systems and cutting tens of thousands of jobs from some of the biggest ministries."

Slim pickings from belt-tightening / Guardian, 4 July 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/04/efficiency?gusrc=rss&feed=uknews
Anna Bawden
"So-called value for money delivery agreements have been published, setting out individual departments' obligations. Health and education have to find the biggest savings: £8.2bn and £4.5bn respectively. Of the other main Whitehall departments, defence has to find £2.7bn, the Home Office £1.4bn, work and pensions £1.2bn and communities and local government £0.9bn. Most of the £20bn economies in these seven departments will come from their delivery arms: the NHS, schools, the police, housing and so on. ... But to be successful, the government will have to be much more vocal about the need for more efficiency. And if the public hasn't noticed any improvement in efficiency at all, the chances of Gershon 2 having an impact are very slim."

Technology is key to public services / Computing, 27 June 2008
http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2220259/review-technology-key-public
Tom Young
"Technology enables public services to offer more personalised services by providing information on citizens and enabling government to tailor delivery, while joining up systems reduces the number of departments people have to deal with. The review – Excellence and fairness: Achieving world class public services – cites NHS Direct as an example of how well structured information available online can improve people's lives."
Report: PDF - http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/work_areas/public_services.aspx

Governance of Britain: Revitalising the Chamber: the role of the back bench Member: the Government’s response to the Modernisation Committee’s First Report of session 2006-07; HC 337 / TSO, 18 October 2007
PDF - http://digbig.com/4ttne
Cm 7231

[New Zealand] Policing Act 'wiki' launched / New Zealand Police, 25 September 2007
http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/3370.html
"Today's launch of a Policing Act wiki gives Kiwis an innovative way to suggest the wording for a new Act of Parliament. The wiki is the latest step in a comprehensive review of the 1958 Police Act. If successful, one outcome is for the wiki Act to be given to the parliamentary select committee considering the official Policing Bill next year, along with other consultation information generated during the 18 month long review.
The wiki can be accessed at http://wiki.policeact.govt.nz."

UK moves up e-government rankings / vnunet.com, 21 September 2007
http://digbig.com/4tqgt
Rosalie Marshall
"UK ranks fifth place for sophistication and availability of online government services."

Public sector IT must become greener, says minister / CIPFA, 20 September 2007
http://www.cipfa.org.uk/publicfinance/updates_details.cfm?news_id=31375
"Public sector computer systems need to become greener and more efficient, a Cabinet Office minister has said. Gillian Merron told a European ministerial e-government conference in Lisbon that information technology was responsible for about 1bn tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year, or 2-4% of global energy. She called on the UK’s Chief Information Officer’s Council to reduce the carbon footprint of government computers."

How do we measure who in the tribe is ready for change? / Ideal Government [blog], 18 September 2007
http://digbig.com/4tpyr
"We want government and public services to treat people with respect, as if they were the servants not the masters, cost less money, sort out problems honestly and quickly and behave in a generally ideal manner. That means, I think we can agree, a pretty deep and broad culture change in the best part of 5m people and a huge number of institutions [...] So here’s a question. Is there a simple way of measuring how ready people are to change?"

Case study: Government IT Profession / vnunet.com, 19 July 2007
http://digbig.com/4tftr
James Mortleman
"There has never been a better time for IT professionals to join the UK public sector, says Anne Waldron (who leads the Government IT profession).
"With the advent of joined-up government and shared services, the IT skills strategy to support the government’s transformational agenda is today co-ordinated centrally by the Cabinet Office’s Delivery and Transformation Group."

Shared Services in Government 2: BUILDING A PLATFORM FOR BETTER PUBLIC SERVICES AT LOWER COST / CISCO, July 2007
PDF - http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2007/eKits/AT_Kearney_Report_070307.pdf

Unlocking Innovation: Why citizens hold the key to public service reform / Demos, 10 July 2007
PDF - http://www.demos.co.uk/files/Unlocking%20innovation.pdf
Edited by Sophia Parker and Simon Parker

The CIOs transforming government IT / Silicon.com, 27 June 2007
http://management.silicon.com/itdirector/0,39024673,39167666,00.htm
Andy McCue

Public sector mergers ‘need thinking through’ / CIPFA, 29 June 2007
http://www.cipfa.org.uk/publicfinance/news_details.cfm?news_id=30845
"Whitehall and wider public sector reorganisation and mergers must be based on clear rationales and not political expediency, public sector leaders have warned."

Informing the public in a multi media age / Cabinet Office, June 2007
PDF - http://digbig.com/4tebf
"We live in a multi-media age. The variety of channels of information for the public is far greater than in the past, and growing all the time. Most households have access to the internet at home. Over 18 million homes have access to Digital TV. In this environment, people seek information in different ways than before. Like any organisation seeking to communicate with the public, Government has to adapt. The Government has to communicate with the public on a constant basis, be that through public information about safety eg, through campaigns against drinking and driving, or through more local information such as statutory notices about road closures, planning permission and so on. This paper is mainly concerned with statutory notices. These can be very important pieces of information. It is crucial that government communicates them as effectively as possible, within obvious resource constraints."

Leadership in Customer Service: Delivering on the Promise / Accenture, June 2007
PDF - http://nstore.accenture.com/acn_com/PDF/2007LCSDelivPromiseFinal.pdf

Call to open up public data use / BBC News, 8 June 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6733619.stm
"Government must do more to embrace Web 2.0 tools and communities, says a report."
The Power of Information: An independent review by Ed Mayo and Tom Steinberg / Cabinet Office, June 2007
PDF - http://digbig.com/4tbps

The Future of the internet revealed / DirectGov, 6 June 2007
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_068423
"Survey reveals nation’s wish list for online services
Reporting crime and bad drivers, having job interviews, calculating carbon emissions and truancy alerts for parents are just some of the services that Britons long to have access to online, according to research. The national study commissioned by directgov questioned parents, teenagers, over 50s, motorists and disabled people.
When asked what one online service they want from the internet in future the top answers were:
- ‘No show’ truancy alert if child doesn’t arrive at school (wanted by parents)
- Taking a virtual tour of colleges or universities (14-18 year olds)
- Guide to local services for older people (over 50s)
- Renew car tax online (motorists)
- Personalised journey planners mapped by accessibility (disabled people)"

CBI PUBLISHES FIVE-POINT PLAN FOR RADICAL TRANSFORMATION OF PUBLIC SERVICES / CBI, 8 May 2007
http://digbig.com/4swfe
"The CBI has published a five-point plan to transform the delivery of public services in the UK to meet the rapidly emerging challenges of the 21st century:

• Delivering flexible, higher-quality services and better value requires a new model of government. Instead of trying to deliver everything, government should take a strategic view of those services it can provide directly while increasingly commissioning other bodies to deliver the rest
• Introducing competition for the provision of public services, based on a level playing field between public, private and voluntary providers, should produce ongoing innovation and improvement.
• The most effective public services are very responsive to community needs. Citizens should be involved in public service design and delivery through consumer boards, user representation or citizen juries
• There is no reason for back office functions to be replicated by many civil servants sitting in expensive office blocks, or sitting in the UK at all
• The process of public sector salary determination has produced a structural imbalance in pay and pension which is holding back improvements in delivery as staff resist changes in order to protect their privileges. This needs to be overhauled while the government's failure to address public sector pension provision, with its unfunded liability of £700bn, is a matter which needs urgent reform"