If Labour is to dramatically improve the living standards of the British people that will mean further improvements in public services. While the financial crisis and declining real wages has put the state of the economy centre-stage, the condition of the health service and education are still hugely important issues for British voters, as Ed Miliband acknowledged in the Hugo Young memorial lecture.

A Labour government in 2015 will have to revitalise public services to meet today’s challenges. As our paper on Reform in an Age of Austerity makes clear, what we mean by public service ‘reform’ has to be more clearly spelt out. Sure enough, healthcare today is about preventative treatment, adapting public behaviour, and integrating services, especially in social care. Markets and competition are only ever part of the answer in a world where a ‘whole system’ approach will be needed to solve the challenge of rising demand and declining resources.

Schools should not be industrial age ‘exam-factories’, but beacons of creativity and knowledge where the cultural sector, healthcare, science, education and innovation will be hugely important assets for the British economy in the future. On law and order, police reform is essential so that frontline officers focus on their core mission: reducing the level of crime in neighbourhoods. As Ed Miliband acknowledged in his lecture, public services have to be personal, shaped around the citizen’s needs – not the interests of the provider.

The lessons learned during the Blair and Brown years ought to be heeded by the next Labour administration. Pouring more money into the public sector isn’t sufficient: with extra financing there has to be improved outcomes for the public. Diversity of provision with self-governing schools and hospitals is the norm throughout social democratic Europe. Neither is the private sector a panacea for every instance of public service underperformance: outsourcing and contracting-out have imposed their own costs on the public realm. There should always be democratic oversight.

In an era of austerity, governments have to work alongside communities: the ‘big society’ was a proxy for replacing the state with Burke’s ‘little platoons’. But civil society and active government must work in partnership, advancing social justice and the public good. One place to start would be transferring borrowing powers to local government expanding social housing, setting a bold target of half a million affordable homes within a parliament.

The electorate acknowledge that Britain is facing major upheavals: no party can promise endless growth and continuously rising living standards. Instead, making costed, credible pledges and keeping will be pivotal for governing success. In an age of insecurity, Labour politicians will have to set out clearly the choices their country faces.

——————————————

Patrick Diamond is a lecturer in public policy at Queen Mary, University of London

——————————————

Progress’ recent thinkpiece ‘Reform in an Age of Austerity’ is available here, authored by Patrick Diamond, Joe Goldberg, Hopi Sen and Jacqui Smith.

The full text of Ed Miliband’s Hugo Young memorial lecture, which took place last night, is available here.