public sector

Unlocking innovation : why citizens hold the key to public service reform (Demos collection 24)

Collection of papers focusing on the theme of renewing and refocusing understanding of innovation. It explores the notion that everyday interactions between people and public services are a potential source of new ideas and that public services should be developed through participation and co-production.

The collaborative state : how working together can transform public services (Demos collection 23)

Collection of case studies and papers which advocate collaboration as a new approach to running local public services. It attempts to provide answers to the questions, why work together?, where can the beginnings of new approaches be found? and what form would government take if it was redesigned for collaboration?

Key messages: overview of mental health services

Key messages are presented from a study looking at mental health services provided by the NHS, councils, prisons, the police and the voluntary sector across Scotland for all ages. The study examines the accessibility and availability of mental health services and how much is spent on them.

The report provides an overview of mental health services and is the first in a series of planned reports in this area. The researchers carried out an overview to highlight areas for improvement and to identify priorities for future audit work.

Political debate about economic inequality: An information resource

This study aims to increase understanding of how politicians think and talk about economic inequality, both in private and in public. It compares politicians' attitudes across and between five major political parties: the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, and the Scottish National Party. The research is particularly relevant given the recent turbulence with the financial system, the correspondingly high levels of attention upon the City and bonus culture, and the recession.

Public sector employment (Radio 4 series: Thinking Allowed)

In this episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series, following the interview with Sociologist James Stockinger in September 2004, Professor Peter Nolan talks to Laurie Taylor on the uniqueness of the British the public sector ethos and finds out why its employees, despite being the most motivated, are the most demoralised sector of the workforce. This segment is second of three discussions in the audio clip.

Local authority? : how to develop leadership for better public services

Report focusing on the difficulties public sector organisations often have engaging with the communities they serve to find solutions to problems or winning legitimacy for leaders and public institutions. It questions why leadership in a partnership context is really necessary and arranges the issues into an agenda for practical action and policy change.

Leadership in the public sector in Scotland (ESRC seminar series)

Report providing a critical overview of developments in leadership theory in recent years and of its application through Scottish public sector leadership development training. It also aims to provide a stocktake of public sector leadership development provision with a view to helping inform conversations on the limitations of existing provision, how it might be improved and the challenges to leadership development posed by a difficult economic climate.