How places are contesting the privatisation of local public services

Abstract

The provision of essential public services—water, energy, health, housing, education, transport, social care and infrastructure—is a crucial determinant of successful regional socio-economic development. Public services favour community wellbeing, render places more attractive, fuel regional productivity and employment, help ameliorate inter-regional and urban-rural inequalities and play a key role in environmental sustainability (OECD, 2023). Their provision, therefore, should be at he heart of any successful regional development policy. In the post-war period, many countries – though with some important exceptions – brought such public services and utilities under state ownership (ie nationalised them) on the grounds of ensuring ‘universality’ of provision (in some cases as part of a new ‘social contract’ between states and their populations), ‘consistency’ (equal access and standards in every locality and region) and ‘efficiency’ (securing economies of scale).