Lab Log

The debate we're in

Laura Bunt - 26.06.2009

We need to address the real challenge: how we redesign services for better outcomes at lower cost.

The lines are being drawn for the next general election. While the Tories ridicule the Government's commitment to investment, Labour warns of the danger of cuts.

Clearly, the state we're in demands difficult choices. However, cuts vs. investment distracts us from a greater - but potentially far more productive - challenge: how to re-design public services to produce better outcomes at lower cost.

In the current debate these are posed as opposites. But ultimately, what will make services more efficient is making them more effective - that they are better at recognising people's real needs and better at responding to them.

The debate needs to move to how we go about redesigning services around user needs. Re-thinking the relationship between citizens, communities and the state, as well as the way the services are delivered, requires a bold and ambitious innovation agenda that is honest about the challenges we face and imaginative in its solutions.

All the main political parties promise to decentralise, strengthen accountability and empower users. But turning this rhetoric into practical reality requires the courage and conviction to listen to the ideas of those closest to the problem, whether employees, partners or citizens.

Whether to cut here or cut there won't cut it; it's time to welcome new and unexpected solutions that can transform services for the better.