When money and resources were plenty, our personal accountability is often forgotten about and environmental sustainability goes out of the window. Why? Some may call it 'greed', I call it a human hoarding instinct which in pre-historic times helped us survive however in the modern world can have serious economic and environmental implications. The metaphor below sets out a simple lesson in the importance of being open and transparent in the current climate.
When money was plenty, the world created gas-guzzling 4x4s and demand for them grew as they promised safety and reliability. The negatives, i.e. impact on the environment by guzzling the earth's resources among others, were given little consideration. Today, with much more openness and transparancy about the state of the world's resources and the environment, many people are taken more personal accountability and are wanting to minimize the strains on their pocket, wishing to purchase a car which is less costly to run and kinder to the environment.
So how does this metaphor help the Public Sector to prioritise its activities? Similarly, at times of plenty the Public Sector has created a number of luxury services at no 'direct' cost to the customer. In the current climate, Council needs to consider prioritising their services to cope with financial constraints and needs to more openly and transparently communicate their financial reality with the communities it supports.
The result of not communicating will lead to communities not fully accepting and supporting the changes, and a continuation of legal and costly challenges triggered by the changes in service provision.
The Commissioning approach, if it includes a full commitment to openness and transparency, will act as an enabler of this prioritisation exercise for the Public Sector. It will allow the Public Sector to analyse its activities in light of financial, economic and environmental sustainability and current demands for services.
