By Lucy Phillips
16 June 2010
The government should initiate regional public debates that are streamed live around the country to help build consensus on where spending cuts should fall, according to a report out today.
The 2020 Public Services Trust said that town meetings should be brought into the twenty-first century to help citizens become more involved in the reform of public services. Such meetings would take place simultaneously across cities, connected by computer technology and live video streaming, sometimes with input from political leaders, says the report 2020 Vision: a far-sighted approach to transforming public services.
The call comes a week after Chancellor George Osborne announced there would be a public consultation on options for public spending over the summer.
The think-tank said the current political debate was ‘too narrow’ because it focused solely on the short-term fiscal crisis and that ‘urgent’ reform of public services was necessary. Citizens should be encouraged to play a greater part in the design and provision of state-funded services, helping to improve productivity at a time when financial resources were fully stretched.
The report was endorsed by Stephen Dorrell, a Conservative MP and commissioner for the 2020 Trust. The former health secretary said such a transformation of public services would require a shift in ‘culture, power and finance’.
