Choice

Throughout parts of the public sector a new kind of employment competitiveness has actually been introduced by government decision. In the civil service, where there is no obvious market and certainly no global competition, the Conservative government introduced a system called market testing. In local authorities and the health service, the Conservatives introduced the process of compulsory competitive tendering by which public service work is packaged up and put out to tender. The Labour government has modified these procedures, but has maintained a similar pressure on the workforce. In place of compulsory competitive tendering, we now have the ‘Best Value’ initiative. In place of market testing, we have valuefor-money examinations. In place of the Public Finance Initiative we have Public-Private Partnerships. These are entirely artificial devices. They are not introduced because competition is global. They are introduced because government has decided that competition in the public sector is desirable to improve efficiency. Stripped of the high-sounding rhetoric, these policies are based on the value judgement that employees need to feel a certain degree of insecurity if they are to perform at a level which is good for the economy.