Public service reform in a time of cutbacks: Collaboration and the role of parliament
Dr Muiris MacCarthaigh (QUB) The financial crisis faced by political executives across Europe and the wider world has had a dramatic effect on public administration. In attempting to re-balance budgets, governments of varying political hues have adopted strategies to restructure the size and cost of the state bureaucracy. A common theme of such restructuring has been to economise by increasing the scale at which administrative functions are performed. This has been pursued by such means as centralisation, forging innovative partnership strategies, joint activities, consolidation of websites and using multiagency ‘shared services’. This presentation aims to advance policy-makers’ understanding of what
Making better use of evidence in public policy-making
Peter O’Neill (Alliance for Useful Evidence) and Prof Sally Shortall (QUB) Making better use of evidence is essential if public services are to deliver more for less. Central to this challenge is the need for a clearer understanding about the standards of evidence that can be applied to research informing public policy. The Civil Service Reform Plan (HM Government, 2012) suggests that there may be a need for an improved infrastructure to trial and assess what works in major social policy areas. The aim is to ensure that the commissioners in central or local government have the evidence to support