Enabling reform of the public sector

What are relational public services?

Relational public services provide responsive methods designed to deal with the complexity of how the public sector can support people with the multiple needs that are affecting their lives. Rather than individually fixing single issues by different transactional services, relational services are designed to work combined around what matters to people. They allow relationships across the public sector to create flexible ways of working, where local government staff can mobilise themselves dynamically to work with people and other organisations at a local neighbourhood level. Where front line staff engage with people in a way that allows people themselves to decide where and how to begin their journey back into a balanced life.

Relational working is less about 'delivering services', and more about engaging and supporting, with staff able to make the right decisions at the right time. 
Relational services utilises strengths inherent in our communities and the voluntary sector, using techniques that recognise the complex systemic nature of supporting people. This is not new, many government agencies have been working in these ways around the world, but it is not common

We and others have got together to pool our learning through Human Learning Systems. This provides a common way to understand, design and manage a relational public sector. It provides a foundation of principles, concepts and methods that have been derived from a tried and tested evidence base that allow us all to learn and act from this perspective.

It allows us to understand and design the public sector from a missions based citizens perspective. 

Relational public services are needed because the majority of cost and resources spent in the public sector are those that focus on supporting people and families that are trying to get their lives back in control. Examples of this are health and wellbeing, supporting people back into work, caring for others, poor housing, and the various times our lives when we just cannot cope. The current design of our public services are highly fragmented, and focused on simplistic models of delivering standard 'things' to citizens. They do not allow us to deal with complex situations early or well, allowing these issues to escalate, increasing demand and costs, and increasing the strain on citizens and communities. People simply fall through the gaps.

​Relational public services at the national level

Probably Relational public services most important point is:  this way of working is not about government alone, it is in-fact a way to link central government, policy, civil service, local government and communities together, through a purpose defined by how we live and work.

For example, Sweden and Denmark have a person and family oriented mission driven ethos that is inherent in the roots of its society. In everything that they do, has this at its heart.

What we have found, from applying this 'test and learn' approach of working and evaluation through research for over 20 years, is that this approach is both more effective and efficient than the current design. It is more productive across the public sector, while at the same time outcomes significantly increase. People are supported back to a better place, both through the public sector, but also through their own efforts and through their communities. 
Counterintuitively, the amount of resource needed to work this way is actually lower in the long term. Costs for the public sector fall, often dramatically.
"The unifying goal for public services should be to enable citizens to be, and remain, in charge of their own lives.
This implies a profound shift in our thinking and practice. It requires an approach to mobilise the citizen’s energy, resilience and hinterland in the drive to secure personal autonomy – the process known as co-production.

Co-production is a collaborative process enjoining the citizen and practitioner. It thus requires the rehabilitation of the public service workforce from its current subsidiary and problematic status. Practitioners should become co-authors of public service improvement."​
Sir Peter Housden, Permanent Secretary of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

​Collaborative relational working with community, locality and neighbourhoods

This is the impact that we have seen in public services using these proven approaches:

• Multi-service hubs and focus on localities . Engaging with community groups.
• Strength based community based person centred services, helping people to take responsibility.
• Whole service design, where digital supports, rather than narrows your service workflow.
• Collaborative working across services, reducing silos between departments.
• New ways of working within local authorities, that are focused on a culture of learning and applying relational working principles.
• Collaborative and supportive management behaviours.

relational public service general process

​What relational working means for an organisation

Relational working is organisation wide, and even bigger, it is systemic across different organisations. But for one organisation, relational working applies to:

• In direct service delivery: between the practitioner and person or community being helped.
• ​In service management: between the manager and practitioner.
• In service leadership: between the leader/senior manager and operational manager.
• In service commissioning: between the commissioner and service leaders.
• In policy-making: between academics, policy-makers and commissioners.

List thanks to Joy MacKeith

What are mission driven relational services?

Looking at public service as a whole system, through a mission lens focused on people and communities, allows us to understand the complex issues that public services can work with. This focus emanates from our communities, it is a significant shift from focusing on legislation, policy documents and individual services. The shift needed to accomplish this is to liberate front line staff to be allowed to work with people by supporting them to get back on their feet. This organisation design is based on focusing value supporting what is needed by the local government and the local community, developed through test and learn methods. The way we think, design and behave in the public sector requires a shift for this to occur.

Mission driven examples are:
- to live a good life...
- to have a safe and nurturing place to live.
- to fulfil that which I am capable of.
- to contribute through fulfilling work.