Citation
(2010), "UK public sector productivity falls", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 59 No. 8. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2010.07959hab.007
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
UK public sector productivity falls
Article Type: News From: International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Volume 59, Issue 8
Productivity of public services dipped sharply in 2008 despite a spurt of government spending in Gordon Brown’s first full year as Prime Minister, first official estimates have suggested.
After modest rises in productivity in both 2006 and 2007, the measure calculated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is shown to have fallen by 0.9 per cent in 2008. The biggest contributor to the fall by sector was adult social care.
The ONS is cautioning that its figures will be subject to revision and that its whole approach to measuring public services productivity remains “experimental” and under development. Nevertheless, the initial findings for 2008 will provide further fuel for critics of Brown’s premiership and for coalition government ministers seeking to justify spending cutbacks.