ABSTRACT
This chapter establishes the broad conceptual framework within which debates on managing local government have occurred, before exploring the exact nature of modernising agendas in the UK. It begins with a discussion of rationalism which underpins the whole New Public Management (NPM) movement and provides an important conceptual foundation for performance measurement. ‘Classical’ rationalistic approaches are then compared with ‘holistic’ or systemic approaches which emphasise the whole system rather than its constituent parts. The chapter then reviews the history of public sector management reform in the UK, and looks more closely at the ‘Best Value’, Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) and Community and Local Governance (CLG) initiatives that have been introduced in England in recent years. The chapter concludes by drawing out a range of key issues for public sector performance assessment, and by reflecting both backwards and forwards on the value of rationalistic and holistic approaches to performance measurement.
