'Being Bolder' and the questions: "What might it mean?" and "What might we do?" framed a wide-ranging discussion about how public agencies might respond to a marked downturn in budgets and about how they might set about exploring alternative strategies and policy options to maintain services or otherwise mitigate the negative impact on services. The discussion was prompted by a working assumption that this downturn is likely to be an extended one, reaching well beyond the present Parliament and Assembly; and one that is likely to become progressively more pronounced.
As Treasury concerns mount over the state of the economy, doing what we have to do with even less money will become ever more challenging. In such a context 'Being Bolder' would be likely to involve a mix of solutions: funding things in both conventional and in new ways, and working smarter -- doing what we do in a variety of ways and more often working collaboratively with others both inside and outside of government.
A summary of the discussion is available here.
For more information contact Kim McKnight, (T) 02890 347400.