Lecture Will Explore How Policy Of Choice Has Affected Public Services
27 September 2012
Dean of the Faculty of Education, Health and Sciences, Guy Daly
In this lecture I will explore the extent to which the concept of choice is understood and welcomed by the public and what such an emphasis means for UK citizens.
”At a time when people are increasingly being asked to make important choices about the public services they access; from deciding which hospital to go to for treatment, to which school they send their children to, a University of Derby social policy academic will explore the impact of 'choice' at a free public lecture.
In his Inaugural Lecture, taking place at the University's Kedleston Road site on Wednesday October 10 at 6.30pm, Professor Guy Daly will explore successive Governments' attempts to increase choice for the recipients of public services and increase competition between providers.
He will examine some of the reasons why Governments have taken this approach, and the impact it has had.
Professor Daly, who is the Dean of the University's Faculty of Education, Health and Sciences, will share his insights gained on the issue through a career of academic research into social care and health policy, and during his eight years as a councillor on Birmingham City Council.
He said: "Over the last twenty years the Government and public service organisations would assert that the public have been given more opportunities to choose aspects of the public services they receive where they would previously have had little option.
"Governments have argued that giving service users these choices give them control over how they experience the service, and the element of competition pressures providers to up their game. But whether this is the eventual outcome is still being debated, and is frequently contested.
"In this lecture I will explore the impact these changes in social policy have truly had on services, and the extent to which the concept of choice is understood and welcomed by the public and what such an emphasis means for UK citizens."
To book a free place at the Inaugural Lecture entitled 'Citizenship, Choice and Care' on Wednesday October 10 at 6.30pm visit website www.derby.ac.uk/daly
For more information on studying Sociology at the University of Derby visit www.derby.ac.uk
