Governance reforms go off the boil

Pete Murphy and Russ Glennon, members of the Joint Universities' Emergency Services Research Team, respond to the new National Framework having failed to be impressed by the document, highlighting a "surprising number of inconsistencies

Editorial: The landscape of Lean across public services

Taken from start of article……Ten years ago in Public Money and Management (Volume 28, Number 1), Radnor and Boaden (2008) wrote an editorial entitled: ‘Lean in Public Services – Panacea or Paradox?’ (pp 3-7) as an introduction to a set of articles examining lean in Public Services. In this themed issue Radnor returns with Bateman and Glennon to reflect on the implementation of lean in public services ten years on. The first point to note is that lean (and associated techniques) is still being implemented and the question is still being asked! Can lean address the challenges of public service delivery (a panacea)? Or is it a distraction for public sector managers (a paradox)? In this editorial, we reflect on the original editorial and issue to understand how far we have (or have not) come, as well as examine the current state of play and introduce the articles in this issue. We will not give a detailed overview of lean, as this was presented in 2008 (Radnor and Boaden, 2008) and can be easily found in other sources (e.g. Liker, 2004; Ohno, 1988; Womack and Jones, 2010; Womack et al., 1990), with Holweg (2007) providing a useful genealogy of lean’s production origins

The impact of a changing financial climate on a UK local charitable sector: voices from the front line

Forced to compete with private and public sector providers, charities experience tensions as the quest for a more commercially-oriented position may conflict with their social imperative. Little attention has been given to understanding the experiences of local charities as service providers. This paper captures the reactions of those working on the charity front line

Stating the obvious: evaluating the state of public assurance in fire and rescue authorities in England

Purpose: To examine the form, content and reporting arrangements of 'statements of assurance' required from Fire and Rescue Authorities in England since their introduction in 2012 and identify potential improvements for future implementation. Design/methodology/approach: A multi-method approach was adopted which commenced with an analysis of the current official guidance, an exploration of the accessibility and structure of the current statements produced followed by a review of those statements through a desk based analysis complemented by a series of elite interviews. Findings: The current guidance was found to be too broad and open to interpretation to be fit for purpose. This has led to some significant inconsistencies in reporting, limiting the statements' usefulness to key users and stakeholders. Most authorities provided some form of report on their website but variations in respect of length, structure, name and content, limit their value. The research found that 30% of authorities did not have an up to date statement available online. These findings were supported by the series of interviews. The result has led to confusion amongst authorities as to the statement's role and the risk of it being perceived as a 'box ticking' exercise rather than a real contribution to public assurance. Practical implications: This paper provides potential lessons which could be adopted to inform future guidance in respect of the preparation and publication of the statement of assurance and its role in the wider public assurance regime for fire and rescue authorities. If adopted, these would improve the accountability, transparency and public assurance of Fire and Rescue Authorities which is a key objective of their governance arrangements. Originality/value: The statement of assurance has only been a requirement of Authorities since the current National Framework for Fire and Rescue was published in July 2012 and has not been subject to independent research since its inception. The government have recently issued a consultation on a new national framework, but this proposes no changes to the statements of assurance. The findings will therefore be of value to the government, the Fire and Rescue Sector and the recently appointed regulators for the service Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS)