CBI boss calls for better services

Jun 26 2008 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

THE need for public sector reform is greater than ever and now has widespread support, a business leader will say today.

CBI director general Richard Lambert will say that the current state of the UK’s public finances should not affect reforms to schools, hospitals and other public services.

To back up his argument, the CBI will publish an opinion poll of over 2,000 adults showing that fewer than one in three believe public services have improved in the past decade, with half saying they have got worse.

Mr Lambert will tell a conference in London: “It is exactly when a period of fiscal belt-tightening is upon us that we should strive to find innovative ways of delivering services and discuss new ideas that will help meet people’s desire for more and better services while being affordable to the country.”

Mr Lambert will warn that people should not become “obsessed” with how much public money is spent, but rather how it is spent and what the effect is.

“One thing recent years have shown us is that extra money alone has a limited effect on service outcomes.

“It doesn’t take a political genius to work out that yet more money is not the answer here, in part because there is almost no public appetite for further tax rises and in part because sinking more resources into inadequately reformed systems will not work.

“Many trade unions, enjoying a spike in their bargaining power with the government, are drawing up wish lists and trying to strong-arm the Government into reversing reforms. The unions and ministers need to recognise how out of kilter with public mood any anti-reform stance is.”