Policy Press

From recession to renewal

The impact of the financial crisis on public services and local government

Edited by Joanna Richardson

Published

Nov 10, 2010

Page count

240 pages

ISBN

978-1847426994

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Nov 10, 2010

Page count

240 pages

ISBN

978-1847427007

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Policy Press
From recession to renewal

The banking collapse and ensuing global financial crisis has been the subject of much analysis and speculation. One growing certainty is that there will be an impact on the delivery of public services and on local government and governance. This topical book examines and debates the challenges posed, on a local, European and global level, by the imperative to balance a fiscal need for smaller public expenditure with a social need for strong governance and protection of the most vulnerable in UK society. Leading academics in the field of local governance contribute to a diverse set of analyses on the impact of the financial crisis. 

"this book is a really interesting insight into changes in local government in the midst of one of the deepest crisis of the capitalist system." International Journal of Housing Policy

"this book is a really interesting insight into changes in local government in the midst of one of the deepest crisis of the capitalist system." International Journal of Housing Policy

"Is there an alternative to our children having to learn Mandarin, and becoming losers in a cut-throat global market? Although it is often claimed this is inevitable, this book presents some other options and perspectives." Danny Dorling, University of Sheffield

Joanna Richardson is a Principal Lecturer in the Centre for Comparative Housing Research at De Montfort University, Leicester. In addition to her teaching and programme leadership, she has research interests in the impact of the financial crisis on vulnerable groups, Gypsies and Travellers, and housing and the customer. She has written and edited several books including The Gypsy Debate: Can Discourse Control? (2006), Providing Gypsy and Travellers Sites: Contentious Spaces (JRF, 2007), and Housing and the Customer (2010).

Foreword: The financial crisis and the public sector ~ Ken Livingstone; Introduction and current context of the recession and the public ~ Jo Richardson and Colin Copus; The global context of the crisis: from Bretton Woods to market fundamentalism ~ George Lambie; European effects on the UK crisis: solutions for a recovery ~ Stuart Holland; Local political context of the recession ~ Steve Leach and Lawrence Pratchett; Financial methods of intervention ~ Fred Mear; Efficiencies in public sector delivery ~ John Seddon; Choice, personalisation and empowerment in a recession? ~ Tim Brown and Nicola Yates; Protecting the community from the effects of the financial crisis ~ Jo Richardson; Governmentality: who provides 'public' services and does it matter? ~ Vivien Lowndes and Helen

Sullivan; Conclusions and next steps ~ Jo Richardson.