Upcoming Events :
Housing Seminar: Partnerships with the Public Sector – Avoiding the pitfalls
Thu 31 May 2012
Minerva House, 5 Montague Close, London, SE1 9BB
Private companies to advise public sector bodies
Thu 12 Aug 2010
Public sector bodies are to be given advice on how to involve staff in managing their organisation by several private companies.
John Lewis is among the brands that are taking part in the initiative, as it is a mutual and therefore partly run by its employees.
This forms part of the government's plan to set up Pathfinder mutuals, which will enable entrepreneurial public sector employees to have a greater say over the services they provide and how money is spent.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said this could lead to more public sector bodies adopting a "genuinely ground-up" approach to management.
Indeed, he stated that staff are the "real experts" who know how working methods and internal processes can be improved.
Mr Maude said that while existing constraints mean this cannot be done, this will change under the new scheme.
He added that the process of turning public sector bodies into mutuals is "enormously exciting".
Simon Randall, local government consultant at Winckworth Sherwood LLP, said: "The coalition government's plan for public sector mutuals or co-operatives was a key policy with the Big Society concept.
"Hailed by David Cameron as ground-breaking, firms such as John Lewis will be able to enthuse public sector employees to become their own bosses setting up new entities to undertake public services.
"The co-operative structure best suits the entrepreneurial approach and should become the norm."
This comes shortly after prime minister David Cameron unveiled details of his Big Society idea, which he hopes will foster a culture of social action, philanthropy and voluntarism in the UK.
