Public is at a loss in poor state of affairs

IF public sector bosses devoted as much energy to effective management as they do to wails about underfunding, we might actually see some improvement in our services. 

- Leo McKinstry

In the run-up to the Autumn Statement, the airwaves were filled with endless tales of woe about cash shortages and lack of basic resources. Every part of the state machine is said to have been "cut to the bone". Every subsidised organisation is reportedly stretched almost to "breaking point".

At the core of this handwringing, refrain is the argument that if only the public sector were given a big extra dollop of taxpayers' money, then its operations would be transformed. With this new largesse, we are told, efficiency would prevail and needs would finally be met.

But this claim does not convince. The reality is that, despite recordbreaking financial support, too much of the state is badly run and lacking in enterprise. In its inward-looking, defensive culture, structures are too bureaucratic, productivity too low, the trade unions too strong and leadership too weak.

According to the Office of Budget Responsibility, public spending this year amounts to an unprecedented £1.1trillion, equivalent to £38,000 for every household in the country.

Moreover the public sector workforce, at 5.7 million employees, is larger than it has been in decades.