Public Services under New Labour: collaborative discourses and local networking
| Author | Emma Clarence,Christopher Painter |
| Published date | 01 July 1998 |
| Date | 01 July 1998 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/095207679801300302 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Public
Services
under
New
Labour:
collaborative
discourses
and
local
networking
Emma
Clarence
and
Christopher
Painter
University
of
Central
England
in
Birmingham
Abstract
A
by-product
of
the
fragmentation
of
services
that
occurred
at
local
government
level
under
the
Conservative
Government
was
the
emergence
of
networks
and
other
forms
of
joint
working.
These
became
formalised
particularly
through
various
economic
and
urban
regeneration
schemes.
But
elsewhere
they
were
often
an
ad
hoc
response
to
the
changing
local
governance
structures.
The
election
of
the
Labour
Government
in
1997
has,
this
article
contends,
seen
the
emergence
of
a
more
collaborative
discourse
in
which
networking
and
partnership
are
the
intentional
outcomes
of
many
of
the
central
government's
policy
initiatives,
including
the
Education
and
Health
Action
Zones
and
the
Social
Exclusion
Unit.
This
collaborative
discourse
is
founded
on
a
perception
of
the
importance
of
trusting,
mutually
beneficial
relationships,
as
distinct
from
adversarial,
low
trust
relationships,
to
achieving
central
government
aims
and
objectives.
Based
on
interviews
with
local
authority
Leaders
and
Chief
Executives,
and
other
'elite'
actors,
the
article
explores
how
well
local
author-
ities
are
responding
to
the
challenges
and
opportunities
that
these
policy
initia-
tives
will
bring
both
with
regard
to
internal
structures
and
decision
making
processes,
as
well
as
to
the
role
of
the
local
authority
in
local
governance
networks.
Introduction
The
hallmark
of
new
public
management
during
the
Thatcher-Major
era
was
the
increasing
emphasis
placed
upon
economic
rationality
and
development
of
market-type
transactions
in
the
public
services.
However,
partial
-
and
in
some
respects
erroneous
-
ideas
about
how
the
private
sector
operated
appeared
to
shape
many
of
these
public
service
marketisation
reforms.
Adversarial
relation-
ships,
as
argued
by
Flynn
(1997,
pp.
140-141),
are
based
on
a
belief
that
organi-
sations
will
seek
to
benefit
at
the
expense
of
others.
Enlightened
private
sector
management
has
recognised
the
benefits
to
firms
of
relying
more
on
collabo-
Public
Policy
and
Administration
Volume
13
No.
3
Autumn
1998
8
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