ABSTRACT
This chapter is a consideration of the possibility of creating a new form of quasitrust structure which operates in the expanded public sector. By ‘expanded public sector’ is meant the developing range of quasi-public institutions which provide services to citizens. Examples of this phenomenon are numerous: in contrast to the straightforward provision of social housing by government agency, such housing is provided by housing associations and housing action trusts;1 healthcare services formerly provided by local health authorities are now provided by NHS trusts;2
and there are also many instances of government ministries being replaced in their day-to-day activities by the Next Step Agencies.3 The legal means by which public services are provided by private persons like NHS trusts is principally through contract, and public expenditure on capital projects frequently by the private finance initiative (PFI). This phenomenon has been dubbed by the commentators as ‘government-through-contract’.4 Significantly, this is a combination of public law concepts (that is, the public law treatment of the services provided by these agencies) and the principles of contract law which govern the operation of these schemes.
