1. Public Services: Should terms and conditions apply? Ed Straw

2. 1.what is conditionality? 2. changing conditions 3. for example... 4. the benefits 5. questions

3. 1.what is conditionality ? Each of us spend most of our lives negotiating conditions...  these can be formal:  contracts of employment, appraisals, promotion, pay, and diversity  or informal:  insurance premiums conditional on health, lifestyle and claims history  adult relationships as a series of developing deals between couples non-conditionality is actually the exception

4. If then… There is nothing new about conditionality in the relationship between the citizen and the government....... conditionality simply implies that anything done by the state is tied to something being done by the recipient.

5. models Broadly, conditionality has been applied in three ways:  Action/incentive  Inaction/loss  Behaviour/avoidance behaviour inaction action incentive loss avoidance

6. new examples…  in some countries, legal divorce is conditional on ex-couple attending divorce education classes and agreeing on a parenting plan for time spent with children  parole for fixed-term prisoners is conditional on the individual taking cognitive behavioural therapy courses and convincing the Parole Board that they are no longer a risk

7. 2. changing conditions

8. conditionality vs. universality  welfare benefits were introduced as deliberately and universally free at the point of delivery health services : unemployment benefits : pensions  the needs of individuals were clear and overwhelming – the issue was provisioning, not judging neediness

9. Long term conditions… the history of welfare benefits has been a diversification of role:  from benefits to those who need them most  to benefits as a right  to even benefits as a lifestyle there is value where benefits alleviate hardship, but alleviation should be an intermediary objective Long-term solutions must incorporate elimination of the hardship – and of the benefit too – by focusing on prevention

10. 3. for example…

11. parenting orders  available nationally since June 2000  conviction rates of children fell from 89 per cent the year prior to the program to 61.5 per cent the year after  average offences per child fell from 4.1 to 2.1  of the 46 per cent of parents who were unhappy about being made to attend, only six per cent were dissatisfied by the end

12. Drug treatment and testing orders  introduced in October 2000 after pilot program showed them to be more successful than probation orders or imprisonment  for every £1 spent on drug prevention £3 is saved on criminal justice costs  average weekly spend on drugs fell from £400 in the month before the arrest to £25 in the first few weeks of the order

13. 4. the benefits  people respond to, not resent obligations  supports the agenda for user-centred service design  has the potential to reconnect money, output, and accountability  part of a wider movement to re-empower citizens and communities to take more control of and responsibility for their lives

14. 5. questions to consider  when is conditionality not acceptable?  Is conditionality a form of capacity building or a form of punishment?  are there tensions between conditionality and a commitment to liberalism?  how do we move from a system that emphasises rights to one which emphasises responsibilities?