Personalisation, the lead role of the local authority in ‘place shaping’ and the focus on producing outcomes rather than delivering services are all examples of the radical rethink that is affecting the development and work of public services. What has been missing, however, is a thorough analysis of how outcomes are produced and the role that service users and social capital play alongside service providers in producing those outcomes.

This paper describes the concept and practice of the co-production of outcomes. We explore what is meant by co-production, how it can be used to re-frame the way local people and whole systems of public services work together to achieve outcomes, describes its practical use in making joint commissioning more effective and explores its implications for democratic renewal.

We think it will encourage managers to think in the widest sense about the opportunities they have to achieve improvements in the quality of people’s lives by harnessing co-production and the interests and desires of the citizens they serve.

October 2007 A5 28pp
ISBN 978 1 898531 99 9
£5.00 (inc post & packaging)

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