Sean Worth
Head of the Better Public Services Project, 2012-14
Better Public Services: A Roadmap for Revolution, calls for a number of changes in the way services are delivered which puts power firmly in the hands of the public.
This research briefing gives an overview of the public’s attitudes to key issues of public services reform – specifically, issues of choice, quality and the use of more providers from outside the state, including charities, social enterprises and businesses. It uses new polling carried out for this study, as well as examining what is known from existing research.
Sean Worth, Head of Policy Exchange's Better Public Services Project, argues that while the easy option for Andy Burnham and Ed Miliband would be to continue to deny all culpability for the NHS’s failings, they should instead distance themselves from union extremists, and show they recognise where they have gone wrong. Their best approach would be to drop the ideological baggage and agree to some simple, tough decisions about how to prevent a repetition of the scandals that occurred on their watch.
Sean Worth, Head of Policy Exchange's Better Public Service Project, argues that the UK has a huge opportunity to bring in more money and improve public services by commercialising them abroad. By selling their brands and expertise as franchises abroad, they can be tasked with making cash to reinvest back home. He calls for the government to create overseas trade missions based explicitly on public service delivery and showcase our best providers to the world.
Sean Worth, Head of Policy Exchange's Better Public Services Project, suggests that the Chancellor focuses this month’s Spending Review on justifying his message for further cuts to tackle the deficit by showing the Government will embrace real public sector reform on issues such as breaking the monopoly on the public sector delivery of services. He also said that there should be a greater focus on cost of living issues, for example, lowering business taxes and taking poorer workers out of tax altogether.
Sean Worth, Head of Policy Exchange's Better Public Services Project, writes calling for disruptive innovation to help turn around the NHS. Sean argues that the best way to improve health services would be to allow patients to freely choose their providers, a case he makes for more widely for public services in general in Better Public Services.
Government must wage war on union strike militancy
Sean Worth, Policy Exchange's Head of the Better Public Services Project, argues that the unnecessary deaths of patients at Mid Stafford Hospital displays the urgent need for NHS reform, with greater accountability and choice. Sean calls for the old-boys' network of trade unions, Royal Colleges and top civil servants at the top of the NHS to be torn down.
Sean Worth, Head of Policy Exchange's Better Public Services Project and former special adviser to the Prime Minister, argues that the whole power base governing the NHS is an insiders' club serving the interests of powerful elites and must be smashed so that the NHS can be run for the ordinary people it was set up for.
Sean Worth, Head of Policy Exchange's for Better Public Services Project, argues that critics on the Left who oppose changes to how the public sector operates are infiltrating organisations at a local level to prevent more choice being introduced. He stresses the importance of greater choice for families when it comes to deciding which schools, GPs or other services are best.
Writing in the Telegraph, Sean Worth, Head of Policy Exchange's Better Public Services Project, argues that the Government must urgently reform public services as set out in report Do the Public Back More Reform of Public Services?In particular, he stresses that families should be able to choose the best free public services from the most reliable providers, whether government-run or privately run.
Writing in the Sunday Times, Sean Worth, Senior Consultant to Policy Exchange, proposes ideas to turbo-charge the Government’s plans to free up the supply of schools in poorer urban areas by removing restrictions on who could provide schools, as well as lengthy planning requirements.
Writing in the Telegraph, Sean Worth, Head of Policy Exchange's Better Public Services Project, highlights the work that Circle has done to turn around Hinchingbrooke Hospital in an article on how outsourcing can improve public services. Sean argues that OFT-style regulators charged with overseeing competition in public services should be set up to break government monopolies and allow more innovative providers to run public services.
