A commentary on local authority commercialisation strategies

Abstract

As growing numbers of local authorities in England are facing up to funding challenges, many of them are looking to commercialising services to increase revenue and to balance their budgets. This commentary paper outlines the characteristics of commercialisation and the drivers for it, reviews the commercial strategies being introduced by a number of local authorities, and offers some general reflections on commercialisation within local government. Although local authorities have created their own individual commercialisation strategies, a number of general themes can be identified within these strategies. These common themes include the drivers for commercialisation; the vision, aims, and objectives of commercialisation strategies; delivery plans and priorities; measurement; and risk management. In reflecting on local authority commercialisation strategies, the authors highlight the importance of developing both a communications plan and new skills and knowledge bases for employees, and they link their findings to the privatisation of public sector services and to neoliberal models of local service provision.

‘We need to put what we do in my dad’s language, in pounds, shillings and pence’: Commercialisation and the reshaping of public-sector planning in England

“…Fees rose from 15% in 2012 to 20% in 2018, generating £100 m more in 2017/ 2018 than in 2009/2010 (Kenny, 2019b). In the short term, fee income preserved jobs and kept statutory services running, but the introduction of commercial logics has deeper roots in longer-term changes to state service provision, defined by moves to charge for public services to generate profit or reduce costs, and also to create new markets (Jones and Comfort, 2019).…”