The week in public services — 1st August 2018
This week: the spending review sort-of starts; the LGA do DHSC’s job for them, and inequality in schools.
This is a non-comprehensive overview of what is going on in public services by the performance Tracker team at @instituteforgov. Did we miss something important? Let us know below.
The public sector pay cap — and the start of the Spending Review?
More analysis emerged over the course of last week, as people started to take in the consequences of new public sector pay rises. I argued that if Government relies too heavily on its other key strategy for controlling spending — getting staff to do more — then it risks deepening the recruitment and retention problems the pay rises are attempting to solve.
There is also the question of where this money is going to come from, something the Chancellor is also apparently asking. The Times reported this week that he has asked departments to start identifying savings in their ‘unprotected’ budget areas, in anticipation of next year’s Spending Review. Their implication is that currently ‘protected’ budgets (including schools) will continue to be excluded from the worst of the cuts, while that those which have already been cut heavily — such as local government — will be squeezed further. We shall see.
Health and Social Care
Unwilling to wait for the much-delayed Government social care green paper, the Local Government Association got on with publishing their own. It straightforwardly outlines different levels of provision the government could commit to (eg, full provision, or some means testing) and how much it would cost, as well as options for raising the money. They’re inviting comments from everyone right now.
Increasing numbers of people are providing unpaid care, and there was lots of analysis about them out this week. Sarah Scobie from the Nuffield Trust found that they were feeling increasing financial and emotional strain. The Social Market Foundation has found that the more hours of unpaid care someone provides, the more likely they are to reduce their hours or exit the workforce. And a new POST note provides a great overview of the topic.
Law and order
The BBC documentary Prisons has brought the reality of spiralling prison violence home to many people — including Justice Secretary David Gauke. In the Telegraph a couple of weeks ago, he spoke of a passion for turning prisons into sites of rehabilitation. Hardeep Mantharu wonders if this marks a turning point — but has found scepticism from campaigners about whether now is the time when the ‘rehabilitation revolution’ will become actions rather than words.
Children and Young People
Councils seeking to improve outcomes in children’s social care should focus on the whole ‘village’ of support that can and should support children in need — argues Doncaster Chief Exec (and local government legend) Jo Miller — not just acute interventions from social workers.
Neighbourhood Services and Local Government
An interesting bit of FOI reporting from Sky unveils the kind of concerns local councils have about Brexit, and the preparations they are making. The coverage has sassily highlighted the only positive outlined on these risk registers: fewer people will reduce demand for services.
Meanwhile, the fallout from Northamptonshire’s second declaration that they are unable to balance their books continues. Councillors will be meeting to agree ‘priorities’ for their spending. One wonders what non-statutory services they’ve got left to cut after last time?
