TY - JOUR
T1 - Un-charted territory? Experiences of the purchaser/provider split in local authority children's services
AU - Kirkpatrick, Ian
AU - Kitchener, Martin
AU - Owen, Diane
AU - Whipp, Richard
PY - 1999/10/1
Y1 - 1999/10/1
N2 - A primary goal of Conservative government policy, expressed in the 1990 National Health Service and Community Care Act, was to encourage the development of market mechanisms through the separation of purchaser and provider roles. The main target for reform was to be adult services although, in the absence of specific guidance, a number of local authorities also implemented purchaser/provider structures in services for children and families. To date, little attention has been given in the literature either to describing what purchaser/provider structures involve in this context or to assessing their impact. Drawing on case study data from seven local authorities, this article seeks to address these deficiencies. It is argued that many changes have been cosmetic and that, while it is not possible to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of the model, there is evidence that it can have some negative consequences for the co-ordination and delivery of services.
AB - A primary goal of Conservative government policy, expressed in the 1990 National Health Service and Community Care Act, was to encourage the development of market mechanisms through the separation of purchaser and provider roles. The main target for reform was to be adult services although, in the absence of specific guidance, a number of local authorities also implemented purchaser/provider structures in services for children and families. To date, little attention has been given in the literature either to describing what purchaser/provider structures involve in this context or to assessing their impact. Drawing on case study data from seven local authorities, this article seeks to address these deficiencies. It is argued that many changes have been cosmetic and that, while it is not possible to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of the model, there is evidence that it can have some negative consequences for the co-ordination and delivery of services.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033247722&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/bjsw/29.5.707
DO - 10.1093/bjsw/29.5.707
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0033247722
SN - 0045-3102
VL - 29
SP - 707
EP - 726
JO - British Journal of Social Work
JF - British Journal of Social Work
IS - 5
ER -