Abstract
Between 1980 and 1985, the debate over private provision of public services rose to the top of the British political agenda. From its origins in a small number of Conservative-controlled local authorities, it spread rapidly to both central government and the National Health Service. The issue became particularly salient in the wake of the Conservative Government’s decision to require in-house hospital workforces to compete with the private sector for NHS ancillary work, an initiative which has involved tendering exercises for three separate services at some 2000 NHS hospitals. Yet this substantial programme represented only the first manifestation of the Government’s ambitions. Decisions to require both central departments and local authorities to go out to tender for an even wider range of services in the future were announced in 1985. These confirmed that the Conservative Government continues to view ‘contracting out’ – the private provision of public services – as an integral and important part of its campaign to introduce private sector discipline and efficiency into British government.
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Notes and References
1. M. Pine, Privatization (London: Adam Smith Institute, 1985), p. 21.
2. Information on asset sales can be found in Privatisation in the United Kingdom, Background Briefing (London: HM Treasury, 1985).
4. See D. Heald and G. Morris, ‘Why Public Sector Unions Are on the Defensive’, Personnel Management (May 1984), 30–4.
5. See S. Sonnenblum, J. Kirlin and J. Ries, How Cities Provide Services: An Evaluation of Alternative Delivery Systems (Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger, 1977).
6. P. J. Dunleavy, ‘Explaining the Privatisation Boom: Public Choice versus Radical Approaches’, Public Administration, 64 (Spring 1986), 13–34.
7. A further description of the changes in American municipal government in the 1970s can be found in H. E. Wesemann, Contracting for City Services (Pittsburgh: Innovations Press, 1981).
8. Competitive tendering was pioneered in Phoenix, Arizona where city agencies competed against private firms for custodial services, trash collection and street landscaping. In several cases, the city was divided up into districts which were bid for separately. H. P. Hatry, A Review of Private Approaches for Delivery of Public Services (Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute Press, 1983).
9. Information on the Connecticut study can be found in P. Kemper and J. M. Quigley, The Economics of Refuse Collection (Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger, 1976). The Columbia University study findings are summarised in E. S. Savas, ‘Policy Analysis for Local Government: Public versus Private Refuse Collection’, Policy Analysis (Winter 1977), 49–74.
11. W. J. Pier, R. B. Vernon, and J. H. Wicks, ‘An Empirical Comparison of Government and Private Production Efficiency’, National Tax Journal, 27 (December 1974), 653–6.
13. M. Forsyth, Reservicing Health (London: Adam Smith Institute, 1982), p. 14.
16. D. Fisk, H. Kiesling and T. Muller, Private Provision of Public Services: An Overview (Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, Press 1978).
20. See J. T. Marlin, Privatisation of Local Government Activities: Lessons from Japan (London: Aims of Industry, 1984).
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© 1987 Kate Ascher
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Ascher, K. (1987). An Introduction to Contracting Out. In: The Politics of Privatisation. Public Policy and Politics. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18622-8_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18622-8_1
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