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Role of the State - one of the six areas under review
- Public Services
- Economic Dynamism
- Environment and Energy
- Britain and the World
- Security, Crime and Justice
What people want and expect from Government is constantly evolving so the role and scope of the state has always evolved to respond to these changing social and economic pressures. For example, the state’s role greatly expanded immediately after the Second World War to rebuild industry and guarantee minimum standards of living for all citizens.
In more recent decades, the role of the state has changed again as better educated and more prosperous citizens with higher expectations want more responsive and personalised services. This has led to the state moving from providing services itself to commissioning, regulating and guaranteeing them.
These trends, and the changes they spark, seem certain to continue in the coming years. More choice for users of services not only meets their wishes but also helps improve standards. But at the same time as the public has become more involved and demanding as consumers of public services, there is less involvement directly in politics. A big challenge for the next decade will be to find other ways to communicate and engage with the public in shaping decisions and services.
And these services will need to be overseen by a better-skilled, more flexible civil service. The Capability Reviews which the Cabinet Office launched last July have already started the process of looking at how Whitehall can respond to the challenges of the next ten years.
A paper on the Role of the State from the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit has been published.
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