New development: Reconnecting public service ethos and multi-agency collaboration. What are the possibilities and prospects for new local collaborative environments?

Abstract

The public service ethos (PSE) is typically portrayed as the responsibility of public officers working for the public good, or described negatively as requiring intervention from the private sector. This article explores the relationship between the ethos and collaboration informed by findings from an empirical case study of public officers. It ends by identifying future avenues for research on the PSE by setting out possibilities and prospects for new local collaborative environments.

Keywords:

• Collaboration
• partnership
• public service ethos