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• Select committee inquiry

The Case For User Choice In Public Services

The Government is committed to extending choice throughout public services where that is feasible and desirable.

John Hutton, Minister For State for Department Of Health; Nick Raynsford, Minister of State for Local and Regional Government; and Stephen Twigg, Minister of State for School Standards provided a joint memorandum to the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee Inquiry Into Choice, Voice And Public Services which gives current examples of the application of user choice in public services, and provides an argument and supporting evidence for giving more choice to users.

It concludes that::

• User choice is an effective instrument for promoting quality, responsiveness, efficiency and equity in public services. It is in many cases more effective than alternatives, such as voice mechanisms. However, it should not be assumed that extending user choice is an option for all public services, or that it is the principal determinant of reform.
• There are also some reasonably stringent conditions that have to be met if choice is to achieve the aims of government policy. Good policy design is the key to extending user choice; undertaking such design is a key task of the current Government.

Downloads:

Executive Summary [Word 36KB] [Rich Text Format 33KB] [PDF 95KB]
Memorandum [Word 263KB] [Rich Text Format 969KB] [PDF 282KB]
Education Annex [Word 51KB] [Rich Text Format 63KB] [PDF 101KB]
Health Annex [Word 106KB] [Rich Text Format 193KB] [PDF 166KB]
Local Government Annex [Word 63KB] [Rich Text Format 59KB] [PDF 147KB]