Going privately: partnership and outsourcing in UK public services

Grimshaw, Damian, Vincent, Steve and Willmott, Hugh ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1321-7041 2002. Going privately: partnership and outsourcing in UK public services. Public Administration 80 (3) , pp. 475-502. 10.1111/1467-9299.00314

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Abstract

Public private partnerships provide an important illustration of the way the traditional role of government as employer and service provider is being transformed. While policy–makers argue that the growing role of the private sector is not driven by ideological thinking – that, in fact, both public and private sector organizations can benefit from working together in partnership relations – in practice it is the norms and rules of private sector management that underpin reforms. This paper assesses evidence from two detailed case studies of partnerships and demonstrates, first, that there is little evidence of mutual gains from partnership arrangements and, second, that because of an imbalance of power between public and private sector partners, any gains achieved are not distributed equitably. These results suggest that current reforms need to be refocused around building on the distinctive qualities of services provision in the public sector, rather than expanding the private sector world of markets and contracts.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management H Social Sciences > HJ Public Finance
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0033-3298
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2022 10:20
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/39908

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