Introduction

In this chapter an evaluation will be made of New Labour’s reforms toaccountability in the welfare state. These reforms have sought to bringabout a new relationship between citizens and the welfare state, creatingmore accessible opportunities for the public, through representative andparticipative means, to contribute to the shaping and control of the welfarestate. Providers of welfare have been encouraged to innovate and becooperative, to maintain high standards of performance that are publiclydemonstrable, to be efficient in their work and to maintain opportunitiesfor users to be informed and feel satisfied with the services delivered tothem. New Labour’s reforms have represented an attempt to absorbmanagerialism within a model of public accountability revived principallythrough the ‘democratic renewal’ agenda, with its emphasisupon institutional reform, greater decentralisation and a focus oncitizenship and participation. The chapter outlines and evaluates theapproach of New Labour to accountability in the welfare state with regard totwo key dimensions of its reform programme: democratisation andmanagerialism through enhanced performance management. It concludes thatpolicy has enhanced the democratic process of the welfare state and thatpower has been decentralised concurrently with centralisation also beingupheld, with the result that there are a number of tensions within the newaccountability that have yet to be resolved. The chapter begins with anoutline of New Labour’s overall approach, followed by an expositionand evaluation of the two key components of increased accountability:democratic renewal and enhanced performance management. After a briefoutline of the changes introduced by New Labour in its second term, thefinal section brings the two strands together and provides a conclusion.

New Labour’s approach

New Labour was elected to office in May 1997, it had revised its thinkingconsiderably about the means by which accountability was best secured withinthe welfare state. A change of approach had evolved during the long years ofabsence from national office as an outcome of a multiplicity of factors(Rouse and Smith, 1999). Pivotal to its new approach to accountability wasthe belief that there was a crisis of confidence in the political system.The system was centralised, inefficient and bureaucratic (Labour Party,1997). Accordingly, a broad programme for revision of the political systemwas proposed, the purpose of which was to restore the confidence of thepublic in the accountability of government and revive social democracy.