‘Citizen-centred’ public services: contestability without consumer-driven competition?

Abstract

Welsh policy-makers have rejected customer-driven market approaches to the delivery of public services. Instead they espouse a model of delivery rooted in collaboration and citizen engagement. Empirical evidence from two recent wide-ranging reviews of public services in Wales suggests that this approach could offer a viable alternative to user choice and competition but, for it to be fully effective, central and local government need to embrace other drivers of improvement.

Acknowledgement

This article draws on research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council under award number RES-166-25-0034.