First, a quick note on language. In the West Midlands, our version of public service reform is called public service innovation. It moves away from top-down interventionist reform and instead focuses on change that is co-created with communities, including residents, businesses and philanthropy and is designed around shared outcomes rather than system structures. That distinction matters, because it speaks to a wider problem.
There is now broad consensus that public services must be organised differently if we are to improve outcomes. We talk confidently about place, partnership and prevention, but we continue to fund services as if none of that has changed.
