Achieving Radical Reform
The Centre for Welfare Reform’s strategy presumes that radical reform will require:
- Deeper understanding of the problem - This will require a sustained and coherent effort to draw public attention to the flaws of the current system and the need for reform - outside the framework of partisan politics. No change will be possible without a strong sense of the injustice and incoherence of current arrangements.
- Agreement to the principles for redesign - More important than new policies and services will be a clear and coherent account of the new principles and constraints within which any new system will be developed. Forming these principles is not just an intellectual challenge - it will require the creation of a new community of policy leaders who can ‘agree enough’ on what they are trying to do and can operate within their own organisations and leadership roles.
- Building practical solutions - New systems will need to be based upon real innovations that can be reproduced on a larger scale. Many of these innovations exist, but many need to be further developed and expanded and some of these new approaches have not been tested. Again the challenge here is not just theoretical - new models are developed or implemented by real people, leaders who need supporting and sustaining in a hostile environment.
- Realistic implementation - Even the best ideas can be destroyed by poor implementation - where it is possible to lose focus on the real innovation that is being implemented or put in place processes which encourage the corruption or exploitation of the innovation. The reform strategy will require a realistic implementation strategy.
- Sustaining the reforms - Beyond implementation is the question of how the political and governmental systems which sustain and protect the current welfare system will support any redesigned system. This will require constitutional thinking - putting in place institutional measures that will protect people’s rights and will help ensure that the state will operate with self-discipline and integrity in managing and improving the welfare state. It is also important to ensure that the reformed system is designed to leave room for on-going innovation and improvement.
The Centre will work to develop this strategy and to support a network of leaders committed to real change.
