BBC Politics Show reports on success of the LATC model
September 30, 2010
The BBC Politics Show has interviewed Mark Lloyd – CHS Director and Managing Director of Essex Cares on the success of the LATC model. This links in with the current spate of interest in such models including Social Enterprises and Mutual Societies. Most recent publicity this week relates to the intentions of Suffolk County Council to commission nearly all its social care services from external providers prompting speculation of the potential tidal wave of transfers to the independent sector.
Mark told the BBC that the Essex Cares LATC experience had been extremely positive with significant back room savings made, front line staff protected, and the freedom to trade giving a real future to the organisation and workforce to respond quickly to the changing health and social care market. Essex Cares has just published extremely positive first year performance results including a dramatic drop in sickness rates reflecting the high morale of a galvanised workforce. For more information visit the Essex Cares website – www.essexcares.org to read the first year Impact Report.
The programme was aired on BBC 1 on Sunday 3rd October. You can catch a repeat of the show on the BBC iPlayer using the link below, which will be available until Sunday 10th October.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00v2437/The_Politics_Show_East_03_10_2010/
Social Enterprise the right answer for public sector workers
September 21, 2010
Much is being made in the media at the present time concerning the pros and cons of social enterprise models for public sector workers. Indeed one of the Coalition Government’s commitments is to see greater opportunity and ownership by public sector workers in the management and control of front line services. Various models are mentioned in the press and by politicians including cooperatives, mutual societies on the John Lewis model of share ownership, and Trading Companies. All models achieve the same outcome namely the externalisation of current in-house services into the commercial market place but with the crucial freedom to chart their own direction and freedom to trade. In other words entrepreneurialism will be awarded.
A spate of articles are now appearing in the media pre the 20th October 2010 Government announcement on Public Sector Cuts. On the 22nd September Craig Dearden-Phillips has written an excellent article in the Guardian Society on ‘how to solve the third sector pensions headacre’ with the externalisation of services into Social Enterprise models. He highlights the pension deficit gaps and the continued legal obligations of NHS and Local Government to meet this shortfall. Much will depend on the impending Hutton Report in terms of addressing Public Sector Pensions.
John Burchill’s article in the Guardian on the 16th September 2010 ‘Switch to Social Enterprise’ raises the question of how do public sector workers gain the necessary savvy to operate in a commercial environment. The answer is very simple all of the above models give freedom to trade to former traditional in-house services. The opportunity for a workforce to take ownership and control of there services for most represents a wonderful opportunity which most people will respond well. There is nothing like responsibility and freedom to manage a business without the ‘bureaucracy’ and slow decision making processes of the public sector.
Any service transfer requires a full and detailed analysis of running costs through a business case which documents and confirms actual needs for the new business versus year on year allocation of corporate costs. The culture change of any new organisation will be profound. So give public sector workers the opportunity to prove their abilities to run their businesses in the interest of the communities they serve.