Having service users involved in the design of public services seems an obvious way to ensure that their needs are met. But a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Demos, a think-tank, says that public services in the UK lag behind those of other countries in doing so.

Across the world, public services are becoming more complex and resources more stretched. Collaborative design is an international movement, with more than 90 per cent of survey respondents across the world having taken part in a project that involved service users in its design or development.

But in the UK co-design still occurs at the fringes of mainstream public service design and policy, the report finds. Only 28 per cent of UK projects were described as completely collaborative, against more than 42 per cent in Europe and almost 47 per cent in Latin America. The more consumer-focused US was said to be more confident in involving “customers”.

“The UK has a lot to learn from more consumer-focused societies,” says Julie Mellor, a partner in government and public sector practice at PwC.

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Could the criminal justice system be the worst offender? A taskforce led by Clinks, a charity, says that prisoners, ex-offenders and their families should have a greater say in criminal justice policies, Inside Time (July) reports. “In other areas of social policy it is common to engage with people to ensure their treatment and recovery is effective,” says Rob Allen, the director of the International Centre for Prison Studies. “But in the field of criminal justice, it is as though a conviction removes any chance of having your point taken seriously.”

A reluctance to go public

Charities certainly work for the public good, but can they really be considered public bodies? The Ministry of Justice plans to consult the third sector on whether charities should be designated public bodies to bring them in line with the Human Rights Act.

But charity leaders don't think that they should, Third Sector (July 2) reports. Stephen Bubb, chief executive of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, describes the proposals as “clumsy”, while a spokesman for the National Council for Voluntary Organisations says that it has “real concerns about what being designated a public authority means in terms of ... the independence of voluntary organisations”.

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