Integrated Service Delivery, U.K.

May 15 to 19, 2006, Birmingham UK

CAPAM and the International Development Department of the School of Public Policy at the University of Birmingham joined forces to bring CAPAM members and other public sector officials this in-depth course on Service Delivery.

Updated each year, the third running of this annual course built on past seminars and also covered citizen-focused, participatory service delivery. The course was delivered using a highly interactive format with practical learning exercises.

Space in the seminar was limited to 25 participants.

The Integrated Service Delivery Seminar was geared toward:

• Senior public service practitioners and policy advisors
• Senior local government officials
• Senior managers and other officials responsible for service delivery in health, education, water and other sectors
• Officials from voluntary organizations and the private sector involved in the delivery of public services
• Officials from international development and aid agencies supporting reforms in service delivery
• Management Development and Training Institutes

Introduction

Service delivery remains a challenge for all governments, especially in developing countries. Access to basic services, especially by the poor, is critical to the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In this context, state and non-state providers need to find innovative ways of working more effectively together to deliver affordable services. Integrated service delivery is sine qua non for improving service delivery in a networked environment with multiple providers and users. This was the focus of the third CAPAM-IDD seminar, held at the University of Birmingham in April 2006.

Seminar Objectives

The aim of this one-week seminar on Integrated Service Delivery was to share knowledge and experiences from across the Commonwealth on innovations and cutting edge ideas and practices for improving service delivery.

By the end of the seminar participants were able to:

• Understand and critically assess alternative service delivery
• Develop strategies for integrated service delivery in their own contexts
• Provide informed advice to their governments in the design and selection of strategies and tools for improving performance in service delivery
• Develop effective strategies for working with non-state providers of services

Programme Themes

The May 2006 seminar explored the following themes:

• Country experiences and issues in service delivery
• Understanding the problems and context of service delivery
• Citizen-focused service delivery
• Creating the service quality culture
• Voice, responsiveness and accountability in service delivery
• Non-state providers of basic service delivery
• Public-private partnerships for service delivery
• Decentralisation and service delivery
• E-Government and service delivery
• Financing public service delivery
• Monitoring and assessing performance in service delivery

The seminar was delivered through a series of highly interactive sessions combining presentations, group discussions, problem-solving exercises and case studies.

Download the brochure (PDF - requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).