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FROM PROVIDING TO ENABLING: LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND THE MIXED ECONOMY OF SOCIAL CARE
Author(s) -
WISTOW G.,
KNAPP M.,
HARDY B.,
ALLEN C.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.313
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-9299
pISSN - 0033-3298
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9299.1992.tb00923.x
Subject(s) - discretion , competition (biology) , context (archaeology) , purchasing , business , government (linguistics) , local government , service (business) , mixed economy , social care , public relations , public administration , public economics , economics , market economy , marketing , political science , law , nursing , medicine , ecology , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , biology
Government policy seeks to introduce competition into the supply of social care through the separation of purchasing and providing responsibilities. A study of 24 local authority social service departments has explored the initial steps taken to prepare for the new enabling role, including the creation of a mixed economy of care. Very few were seeking to create a market in social care. Most argued that the inherent nature of social care rendered the introduction of service specifications and price mechanisms neither approriate nor feasible. Many authorities interpreted the enabling role in ways significantly different from that of the government. The study raises questions about the extent of local discretion in a context where the range of values and interests of implementing agencies may differ from those of the centre.