I've spent 30 years working in the public sector, across policing, local government and the NHS in disorganised, fragmented and poorly aligned local public services, doing their best to be effective within the most centralised state in Europe.
I strongly believe one of the major enablers of real public service reform is the need for conterminous public services, at a local level. These services need to be of sufficient size and scale to be sustainable, backed up by fiscal devolution to reduce duplication, integrate provision and really focus upon improved outcomes. But they also need to be rooted in and for a place, aligned to communities and with a clear sense of identity.
