ABSTRACT
Central government influences the distribution of resources between individuals and families through the taxation system and through returning resources to people in the form of benefits and services. Redistributing resources would probably be easier than maintaining standards under a more decentralised and plural system. Parallel to the development of rights to take initiatives outside statutory organisations should go the recognition of the rights of users to have a voice in the management of the statutory services themselves. Public involvement in statutory services is unlikely to have much meaning or effect unless the institutions involved are themselves local and managed in an open and responsive manner. Much of the energy of an authority intermediate between central government and the authorities with direct operational responsibility for most of the public services is bound to be absorbed in seeking co-operation and bargaining.
