Meetings
The emergence of mutuals from the public sector
There has been much interest over recent years in the mutual movement and the growth in the number of social enterprises in the UK. At the same time, the last Labour Government and the current coalition Government have both looked to encourage the development of new ways of providing public services. The UN Year of the Co-operatives seemed a good moment to take stock and consider what has been happening, how far these reforms might go and how likely they are to provide demonstrable improvements in public services. Our guest speakers on 14 March 2012 were: Professor Julian LeGrand, the Government's Policy Adviser on Mutuals; Peter Walls, Chief Executive of Gentoo; and Paul O'Brien, Chief Executive of the Association for Public Service Excellence.