A revolution is underway in Bromley. The average time that it takes for a leg ulcer to be treated and healed has been cut from 21 weeks to 5 weeks. The partnership that has achieved this dramatic improvement is one of 100 new public sector mutuals employing 35,000 people across England. These are employee-controlled businesses that have been spun out of the public sector, and which now account for £1.5bn worth of public services.
Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, is possessed by ‘missionary fervour’ for mutuals. He told Coffee House that they ‘improve morale and boost productivity.’
Productivity is among Maude’s foremost concerns. Public sector productivity, according to the ONS, flattened between 1997 and 2010 — a result of stultifying management and low morale. The Cabinet Office says that after a mutual is spun out, absenteeism and staff turnover fall by 20 per cent 16 per cent on average, and the improvements in Bromley are an indication of what can be achieved when the state entrusts public services to the people who run them.
Why does mutualising make a difference? ‘Ownership is a very powerful thing,’ says Maude.
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