Trust and Contracts: Relationships in Local Government, Health and Public Services - Softcover

This is a book about trust - in local government, in the health service, in military leaders, in politicians, between regulators and those they regulate. It starts from first principles, and should be a useful reference for students of the public sector who want to understand why "best value" and "relational contracting" are replacing pure private sector models such as Compulsory Competitive Tendering. The publication also sets out to stimulate creative thought. It aims to influence managers - not in the naive sense that they trust regardless, but as an incentive to examine their practice, and that of their organizations, to see how more trust might lead to more efficiency and to a greater involvement of ordinary citizens in the services they use.

Andrew Coulson, School of Public Policy, Institute of Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham