Co-production is a new vision for public services which offers a better way to respond to the challenges we face - based on recognising the resources that citizens already have, and delivering services with rather than for service users, their families and their neighbours. Early evidence suggests that this is an effective way to deliver better outcomes, often for less money.
NESTA's Lab and nef (the New Economics Foundation) worked in partnership to increase understanding of co-production and how it can be applied to public services. We established a network of front-line practitioners, whose approach marks a strong departure from mainstream service delivery in the public sector, and studied examples where professionals have co-produced services with users, their families and communities, delivering significantly better outcomes at lower cost. Starting from these practical examples, we have built a framework for co-production, which has been published in a series of reports.
The Challenge of Co-production provides the basis for both a better understanding and a stronger evidence base for co-production, as well as explaining what coproduction isn't. The paper sets out why a radically new approach - sharing the design and delivery of services with users - can break the logjam of public service reform and make services more effective for the public, more cost-effective for policymakers, and more sustainable for all of us.
Our second report, Public Services Inside Out, takes a practical look at co-production in a range of services across the UK through a variety of case studies. The report also details some of the challenges faced by co-production practitioners, including difficulties in securing support from existing funding and commissioning, traditional approaches to audit and accountability in public services, and developing the professional skills required to bring these approaches to the mainstream.
Right Here Right Now, the last report in our co-production series examines how policy needs to be radically rethought to support the wider spread of co-production and what 'achieving scale' means for services that are inherently local in nature.
The next phase of our work on co-production is People Powered Health, a practical programme supporting six localities to embed co-production in services and pathways for people with long term conditions.
The Coproduction Practitioners' Network was formed in October 2009 to provide a forum for frontline practitioners to discuss their work, the approach they take to co-producing services, and the challenges they face. As the network has grown - it now has more than 160 members - its membership developed to include a mix of commissioners, policy people and academics alongside frontline practitioners from a range of services, including housing, mental health, criminal justice, adult social care, co-design, disability equality, time-banking and healthcare.
For many of the members, being involved in the network is an opportunity to share learning and tools on how to implement co-production in practice, from commissioning and procurement to the reality of service delivery. It is also a chance to advocate for the principles of co-production to be applied more widely in public services.
A series of roadshows were held in 2011 to showcase great examples of co-production in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester and London.
We asked participants to talk about what co-production means to them and what they took away from the roadshows
If you are interested in joining the network, attending a practitioners' event or finding out more about any of our activities please contact Julia Slay at Julia.slay@neweconomics.org or on 020 7820 6388
T +44 (0)20 7438 2500
F +44 (0)20 7438 2501
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