Making the Big Society Happen!
Getting More for Less: Co-producing Public Services with Communities and Service Users
Introduction
The Governance International Roadshow hits Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and London in June and July 2010! This half-day workshop gives you the chance to catch up with recent developments in co-production, the topic which is on everyone’s lips at the moment.
So what is all about? Well, it starts from the observation that citizen empowerment is at last getting serious in the UK. There is now a real interest in engaging with citizens in order to make use of the unique contributions which they can bring. Whether this is labelled as ‘co-production’, ‘co-delivery’, ‘co-commissioning’ or ‘co-managing’ or ‘co-creation’, the message is clear: citizens are an integral part of the service process and public services can only be effective if we make the most of their contributions.
Indeed, the survival of many public services may depend on making co-production work better in the future, as public expenditure cuts will force a rethinking of the ways in which services are run. Co-production can improve service quality and cut costs – but only if we take it seriously and manage it positively.
What this workshop will give you
The workshop will give you a clear idea of what co-production is and how it has been used in innovative case studies to bring savings and service improvements. There will be plenty of opportunities to share your views with us and with colleagues. By the end of the workshop you will have gained new insights into how to fit approaches of co-production to your organisation and partnerships.
All participants will be given the opportunity to do a brief co-production assessment of their organisation to identify existing strengths and areas of improvement based on the Governance International Co-Production Toolkit.
Tutors
The tutors will be two leading specialists in the co-production of public services.
Tony Bovaird is Professor of Public Management and Policy at INLOGOV, University of Birmingham and a Director of Governance International. He is currently leading a project on co-production for Birmingham City Council and has worked with IDeA to commission a series of reports on the current state and future prospects of user and community co-production of public services. He has recently acted as a consultant to OECD, the World Bank, the Audit Commission, the Cabinet Office, CLG, DCMS, and many local authorities.
Elke Loeffler, Chief Executive of Governance International, has led an EU citizen survey on the level of co-production in five countries. In the UK, she has recently produced an overview paper on the role of co-production in local government and a further paper on the efficiency implications of co-production (commissioned by UK Research Councils and central government departments). She is currently coordinating an international pilot project to develop a co-production audit for public services. Elke has been running training courses on co-production for UK and German local government and currently is organising study trips to co-production champions in the UK and across Europe.
Format of the workshop
The workshops will be half-day events, from 10.30 – 13.00 (with coffee in advance and a finger buffet to finish).
The programme will be as follows:
| 10.00 – 10.30 | Registration and coffee |
| 10.30 - 10.45 | Introduction |
| 10.45 - 11.15 | "How co-production can help to improve quality and lower costs of public services – case studies and success factors" with Tony Bovaird |
| 11.15 - 12.00 | "How public agencies can work more effectively with service users and communities – change management in four steps" with Elke Loeffler |
| 12.00 - 12.50 | "How co-production might be adopted or rolled out in your organisation": Roundtable discussion |
| 12.50 - 13.00 | LUNCH |
Fees
The fee for the seminar will be £195 for participants from public sector organisations and £95 for participants from third sector organisations. Further participants from each organisation will get a significant discount.
Venues and dates
The venues and dates for the seminars are:
Birmingham – 15 June 2010
Newcastle – 2 July 2010
London – 7 July 2010
Registration
You can register online by filling out our booking form
Further information can be obtained from Elke.Loeffler@govint.org