Public service spinouts 2014: Needs and wants

The spinning-out of public services into mutuals and/or social enterprises represents one of the most ambitious aspects of public service reform in the UK over the past two decades. However, the impact that this has had on stakeholder participation; service design, quality, provision and sustainability; as well as on the local communities that they serve is to date limited. This is to be expected due to the newness of the spin-out sector and the relatively recent academic interest in the field. The research reported in this paper is the result of collaboration between the Transition Institute and the University of Northampton, and builds upon the ‘State of the Sector’ report that the two organisations jointly published in 2013.