INTRODUCTION
In 1997 the Labour Government set out its policies for modernising government in the United Kingdom. It was the concept of 'out with the old and in with the new'; the Public sector was in need of major transformation as it found itself moving more towards the private sector. This was evidenced by the way local authorities were working and the heavy reliance upon private sector contracting firms. The New Labour Government seized upon the concept of a means of improving Local Authorities in terms of improving existing business processes and making the Authorities become more competitive in the way they carried out business. Hence the term 'New Public Management' was born. In addition to the transformation aspects of the Labour manifesto, the Public Sector itself was receiving tremendous drivers for change i.e. the result of increasing environmental pressures from home and abroad, changes in service expectations from the public and an increase in demand for greater government accountability and transparency. This all resulted in the need for local authorities to obtain a more accountable strategic management focus. (Bennington 2002)
One of the early introductions into the reformation of the Public Sector was that of 'Performance Indicators'. This created much more of a flexible approach and dispensed with inflexible rules and regulations from the old regime. There became much more of an emphasis focused upon profitability, the evaluation of performance and strategic planning. The reforms created a structure that was more of an enabling force for the public to engage more closely with the private sector. This integrating the private sector into the local authority business planning. The concept of being driven by goals as opposed to inflexible management practices and as such this resulted in increased innovation and creativity together with more integration of business practices. (Grimshaw H 2002)
The early changes have been criticised by those that feel the changes are a direct result of the Central Government not having the capacity to fulfil its mandate. Hence regional devolution of power and responsibility is a means of avoiding centralised accountability. These changes have been particularly felt in the housing sector social housing policy. For example in 1979 42% of all British people lived in Council Houses rented from local authorities. By 2007 that figure had dropped to 10%. In social terms this being the erosion of the working class. Regrettably much of the change was being fuelled by the Financial Institutions giving out large mortgages which exceeded individual capacity for repayment and was a large contributor to the financial crisis experienced in the UK.
IMPACT IN THE HOUSING SECTOR
Cheshire East Council
This local authority has developed an integrated strategy in order to assist housing development within this area. They have accomplished this by building strategic partnerships with local private sector firms and harmonising these services into the business plan for achievement of the goals and objectives. An integral part of this strategy has been to build a number of new homes in the region that fall within the general income range of the people living in this community. The council has also created financial support schemes that enable vulnerable people to continue living in their homes. The council have worked hard at the development of internal leadership skills and motivation of their staff; this being accomplished by investing into training programs that improve public sector management skills. They have focused upon streamlining costs in order to optimize the value of the public services that they provide. The National Audit Commission in 2007 rated the council as " A fair service that has promising prospects for the future" (National Auidit Committee 2007). This authority still has room for improvement but it is a sound example of one that is moving in the right direction. It has developed a strategic outlook setting goals and objectives and moved away from inflexible rates and regulations. Areas for improvement include more direct engagement with stakeholders, greater affordability in rural housing, increased sustainability in and new and existing housing and more involvement in meeting the needs of the local community.
New Public Management
The face of New Public Management was presented in the 1990's as " A Public Management for all Seasons" (Hood 1994). Tony Blaire made it clear in 1997 that the days of the local all-purpose authority were over. The future of local government rested on the improvement of leadership skills and the weaving together of various stakeholders. The new policy in housing will be to move the responsibility of council housing from elected councillors ( who need to deal with the more strategic job of the authority) transferring this to the day to day operational management. (Malpass 2005).
The Website of East Cheshire Council [1] provides a very good insight into how New Public Management has been adopted within the framework of that council. It contains a very fresh look of green and white, emphasising its rural aspect and focus on green issues. The housing page has been geared up towards provision of information for the residents. It is extremely service oriented and provides a range of options, together with suitable council contacts, for the range of services that the authority provides. The Mayoral team are introduced on the front page in a holistic strategic capacity with the operational managers shown under each service function of the authority. The shop image of the council looks very professional, well organized and appears friendly to the public. They have shed the rule based authoritarian image and produced a more polished service oriented perspective.
NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Advantages of New Public Management
There is no doubt that many local authorities have benefitted from the introduction of New Public Management concepts. It has had the significant advantage of splitting large cumbersome beurocratic organizations into more flexible management units. This has also evolved decision making from authoritarian councils to that of the operational managers who are more in touch with the customer's service needs and requirements.. This in turn leads to easier contract management and the interface with the private sector partnerships. Overall this has been seen to reduce costs and drive up performance measures allowing for more streamlined operating procedures. Investment in technology and training has facilitated the development of leadership skills and created a more motivated and opportunistic workforce. Essentially this was an intellectual shift in business transformation and similar to that of the private sector in placing the customers as key stakeholders of the business. (Brown 1999) Those in favour of NPM have argued that it has increased the effectiveness of non-profit organizations and made them more accountable for their actions. As such addressing fundamental weaknesses in their organization management structure and improving public sector service levels (Kate McLaughlin 2002).
Disadvantages of New Public Management
Current critics state that NPM has now peaked and has now commenced a decline. This has been attributed to the advancement of technology and communications. We have entered the digital era of governance with a new computer literate customer base. This has shown increased customer interaction through such items as websites, online help facilities, call centres and e-mail. There still remains however those essential services like social welfare and housing that require hands on customer contact and service provision. Community service cannot be driven by technological solutions alone. Others have stated that technology is providing comprehensive solutions in the dissemination and collection of information, ability to provide more accurate and reliable statistical data, turnaround in a more expedient manner to the customers etc. The new authorities however are pointing out that no matter how efficient the technology it must only be viewed in a support capacity and must not negate the importance and progress made in leadership, training and provision of customer service.
David Marquand (2004) in his book 'the decline of public services' advocated that NPM was no more than a battle being played out between that of capitalism and democracy. He argued that the former was all about economic equality and competition whereas the latter was more focused upon rights based equity from civil deals. At the very centre of the battle is the struggle for professionalism. Whilst the counter argument is the improvement of public accountability through such programs as OfSTED. (Saville Kushner 2007).
Performance Management
Whilst not relatively a new concept this was embraced within NPM to gain increasing measures of accountability within local authorities, particularly in the areas of housing, health and social welfare. The Central Government used the Audit Commission as a means of collecting data on improvements being made and scoring the local authorities accordingly. Central funding being determined on the programs put in place and the progress being made as reported from the audits. The use of Performance indicators has been criticised in that they are used centrally for comparative analysis purposes and as such it is not always a level playing field between the different authorities. For example some may be relatively affluent rural councils where others have to deal with the housing, social welfare and poverty that the poorer inner cities create. (Tony Cutler 1997)
HOUSING POLICY
Most of the NPM research in the area of housing was devoted to policy change. The 1980's saw the debate focused upon class stratification and how the housing stock related to production i.e. houses around pits in the North and those centred around heavy engineering centres in the Midlands. NPM created a need to ensure that housing needs were available to meet the affordability of income groups within specific areas. Historically, the council house stocks were matched according to household types. This had social class ramifications in terms of those who could afford to stay on the waiting list, who obtained the best of the stock whereas the homeless and more disadvantaged were allocated the worst of the stock. (Marsh 2002).
Changes in the 1990's
The changes in the 1990's set out more direct intervention policies for local Government. This in turn embraced partnerships with a larger number of other agencies that included : the Housing Corporation, the Audit Commission, Housing Associations, Volunteer organizations etc. The idea behind this new arrangement had the objective of providing a more competitive market place and making the authorities work in collaborative partnerships to achieve more equitable results. (Susan Balloch 2001). East Cheshire Council is an example of a housing authority that acknowledged the challenge. "The Housing Options team are responsible for a number of services, including housing advice, working with private landlords to improve access to the private rented sector, services for people at risk of homelessness, and Choice Based Lettings, the new way of allocating social housing." (Cheshire East Council 2011).
NPM The Obstacles
Before many of the local authorities could start and implement the new policy changes, they had to remove a number of barriers. These included the in-house management system that was centralised and not geared up towards dealing with the changes on a project basis. This also created the need for more skilled project managers and training people in project management. Modification to out-dated financial systems was also required and dealing with the management of change, particularly those residents that feared privatisation would have an adverse impact on their lives. To many local authorities the concept of NPM was nothing short of a revolution, having been stuck in set routines for decades. Whilst progress has been made on many fronts, many authorities have approached policy reform as a means of solving their housing system problems as opposed to dealing directly with the needs and requirements of the people in their jurisdiction. (O'Connell 2007). Reformation problems were particularly difficult in Northern Ireland at a time of ongoing conflict. East Cheshire Council ensured that the policy changes were clearly articulated in their Vision Statement and this featured heavily in their communication policies "Our vision is that all our residents in Cheshire East are able to access affordable, appropriate and decent accommodation" (Cheshire East Council 2011).
CONCLUSIONS
There is no doubt that the mood swing is changing to that of a decline in New Public Management and that its' peak has been achieved. The initiatives spearheaded by New Labour have had a remarkable transformational effect on improving transparency, accountability and modernising the housing practices in the UK today. The shift from rental accommodation to more property owners has not been without social consequences. Many people moving from renters to owners of property have failed to realise the responsibility that comes with property ownership. This means maintaining the property and its value, this previously left to the responsibility of the councils under the renting arrangements. Equally many people have assumed large mortgages and have been unable to maintain the payments and this has resulted in a large number of foreclosures. This in turn impacts the persons credit rating and places them in a worse predicament than when they just rented property. Some of the blame must rest in the lack of education and awareness to those transitioning from rental to private ownership. Within the UK social strata moving people from working class conditions to middle class living. In 2010 the coalition Government leader David Cameron stated that he wanted to end council homes for life "The Prime Minister said yesterday that he wanted to free up social housing by switching new tenants to five-year or 10-year contracts." (Waugh 2010).
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