A new era for the public sector: the Open Public Services White Paper

The government's recently published White Paper has received many column inches and a great deal of air time, but, as Kate Murray's analysis reveals, it is more a bringing together of different strands of government thinking on our public services than a blueprint for reform.

Indeed, some of the thinking – for example the spinning out of mutuals from the public sector – is not really new, as it is already being implemented. In many areas it is vague and the specific, and potentially radical, proposals which will flow from the broad philosophy that it promotes are still to be developed.

This means however that there will be much discussion ahead about how the new diverse landscape of public service provision the government talks about can best be achieved – and housing organisations are recommended to take the opportunity to get involved in the consultation process.