Policy Styles, Public Service Delivery and Devolution in the United Kingdom and Beyond

2011 ◽  
Vol 74 (First Serie (1) ◽  
pp. 68-78
Author(s):  
Michael Keating
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Service Delivery ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Policy Styles

Central Coordination and the Policy Network

1985 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Sharpe
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Public Service ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Policy Network ◽  
Implementation Gap ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Severely Handicapped ◽  
Central Coordination ◽  
The Uk

Where responsibility for a public service is divided between the centre and sub-national government, legislative intention is unlikely to match service delivery. This is the implementation gap or control deficit, which, it is claimed, will always arise because of inherent limitations on central coordinative capacity. However, this claim seems to be derived from states like West Germany where conditions are such that the centre is severely handicapped. In states where the centre has fewer constrictions, like the United Kingdom, the centre appears to be able to minimize control deficits by a number of means, including the co-option of national associations of sub-national professionals, and sub-national units themselves. The UK centre is also able to restructure the sub-national system itself in order to enhance its control capacity.

Influence of Knowledge Management Practices on Public Service Delivery by Municipalities

Mousaion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charleen Musonza ◽  
Ndakasharwa Muchaonyerwa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Eastern Cape Province ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Public Service Delivery

This study examines the influence of knowledge management (KM) practices on public service delivery by municipalities in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The study sought to determine the factors that have triggered the implementation of KM practices; the effectiveness of KM practices towards public service delivery; and the extent to which KM practices have influenced public service delivery by municipalities in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in this study. Quantitative data were collected through a survey questionnaire administered to a sample of 202 employees at the Raymond Mhlaba Municipality in the Eastern Cape. Qualitative data were collected through observations and interviews of 2 senior managers. The data collected gave a response rate of 72 per cent. The quantitative and qualitative data were analysed descriptively and presented verbatim respectively. The results indicated that the internal and external factors included in this study have contributed to the implementation of KM practices in the municipality. Furthermore, the effective use of KM practices has increased the organisational KM initiative, as well as the provision of services such as electricity, education, transport, and social services by the municipality. The study recommends the establishment of KM awareness and the establishment of an integrated system that will assist in effective knowledge sharing, retention and acquisition across municipalities in the Eastern Cape.

scholarly journals Are public service media distinctive from the market? Interpreting the political information environments of BBC and commercial news in the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
pp. 026732312110121
Author(s):  
Stephen Cushion
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Television News ◽  
Information Environment ◽  
Political Information ◽  
The Political ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
International Issues ◽  
Market Driven

Public service media face an existential crisis. Many governments are cutting their budgets, while questioning the role and value of public service broadcasting because many citizens now have access to a wide range of media. This raises the question – do public service media supply a distinctive and informative news service compared to market-led media? Drawing on the concept of political information environment, this study makes an intervention into debates by carrying out a comparative content analysis of news produced by UK public service broadcasters and market-driven media across television, radio and online outlets (N = 1065) and interviewing senior editors about the routine selection of news. It found that almost all BBC news and commercial public service media platforms reported more news about politics, public affairs and international issues than entirely market-driven outlets. Online BBC news reported more informative topics than market-based media, which featured more entertainment and celebrity stories. The value of public service media was demonstrated on the United Kingdom’s nightly television news bulletins, which shone a light on the world not often reported, especially BBC News at Ten. Most market-driven media reported through a UK prism, excluding many countries and international issues. Overall, it is argued that the influence of public service media in the United Kingdom helps shape an information environment with informative news. The focus of the study is on UK media, but the conceptual application of intepreting a political information environment is designed to be relevant for scholars internationally. While communication studies have sought to advance more cross-national studies in recent years, this can limit how relevant studies are for debates in national political information environments. This study concludes by recommending more scholarly attention should be paid to theorising national policy dynamics that shape the political information environments of media systems within nations.

Public service delivery in the Nordic Region: An exercise in collaborative governance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elin Cedergren ◽  
◽  
Diana Huynh ◽  
Michael Kull ◽  
John Moodie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Collaborative Governance ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Public Service Delivery ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Nordic Region

Nordic welfare states are world renowned for providing high quality public services. Nordic municipal and regional authorities, in particular, play a central role in the delivery of key public services in areas, such as, health, education, and social care. However, in recent years, public authorities have faced several challenges which have reduced capacity and resources, including long periods of austerity following the 2008 financial crash, rapid demographic changes caused by an ageing population, and the COVID-19 health crisis. In response to these challenges many public authorities have looked to inter-regional, inter-municipal and cross-border collaborations to improve the quality and effectiveness of public service delivery (OECD 2017; ESPON 2019). Indeed, collaborative public service delivery is becoming increasingly prominent in the Nordic Region due to a highly decentralized systems of governance (Nordregio 20015; Eythorsson 2018).

A review of Zimbabwe’s macro-fiscal forecasts

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chathebert Mudhunguyo
Keyword(s):  
Root Mean Square Error ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Mean Square Error ◽  
Root Mean Square ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
Mean Square ◽  
Public Service Delivery ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Forecasting Errors

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate accuracy of macro fiscal forecasts done by Government of Zimbabwe and the spillover effects of forecasting errors over the period 2010-2015. Design/methodology/approach In line with the study objectives, the study employed the root mean square error methodology to measure the accuracy of macro fiscal forecasts, borrowing from the work of Calitz et al. (2013). The spillover effects were assessed through running simple regression in Eviews programme. The data used in the analysis are based on annual national budget forecasts presented to the Parliament by the Minister of Finance. Actual data come from the Ministry of Finance budget outturns and Zimbabwe Statistical Agency published national accounts. Findings The results of the root mean square error revealed relatively high levels of macro-fiscal forecasting errors, with revenue recording the highest. The forecasting errors display a tendency of under predicting the strength of economic recovery during boom and over predicting its strength during periods of weakness. The study although found significant evidence of GDP forecasting errors translating into revenue forecasting inaccuracies, the GDP forecasting errors fail to fully account for the revenue errors. Revenue errors were, however, found to be positive and significant in explaining the budget balance errors. Originality/value In other jurisdictions, particularly developed countries, they undertake regular evaluation of their forecasts in order to improve their forecasting procedures, which translate into quality public service delivery. The situation is lagging in Zimbabwe. Given the poor performance in public service delivery in Zimbabwe, this study contributes in dissecting the sources of the challenge by providing a comprehensive review of macro fiscal forecasts.

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