Responsibility and Public Services

Richard Davis is a founding member of Vanguard Consulting in the UK, and has worked with John Seddon for over 25 years. His was a significant role in developing the Vanguard method, which has allowed for dramatic improvements in public services.

In this important book, Richard turns his attention to the important issue of ‘responsibility’ – on both the government’s part and that of the users. While government wrestles with how to cut the cost of services, Davis shows that government can provide responsible, sustainable and effective services significantly more cheaply by focussing on what is of ‘value’ to individuals and communities. What is of ‘value’ can only be determined by fully understanding the context in which problems arise and then providing tailored support to get people’s lives back on track and as quickly as possible.

The emphasis changes from supplying services (chosen in advance by government regardless of actual need) to helping people to look after themselves and take responsibility for their own lives. It’s a simple logic.

The current system defines problems according to predetermined services and categories and if a person doesn’t fit with their definitions (which is often the norm), they remain in trouble. These are many people who never fit into the categories the system has designed and constantly fall between the cracks - so the wider system continues to spend money because the services are ineffective; it racks up costs and failure and rarely solves the problems.

But, as Responsibility and Public Services shows, the truth is that it is cheaper to help people directly than to continue providing the same old services. The thinking is that if a little time is taken to understand people in context and to find out what matters to them, the solutions are far easier and cheaper. It is not only cheaper to do this at the time but, because you build in resilience and help people take their own measures, it stays cheaper.

The book is a rich compendium of examples of what changes when a responsible approach is taken – examples are drawn from the care sector, prisons, the police force, hospital services, education and many more.