Shrinking the state or the Big Society? Public service employment relations in an era of austerity

摘要: The Big Society is an integral part of the coalition's plans for public service retrenchment, but it premature to dismiss as exclusively concerned with expenditure cuts and privatisation. signals government's ambition transform services rubric that being used shrink state undermine long-standing systems employment relations. This article considers origins meaning then assesses its consequences provision workforce. integrally connected deficit reduction voluntary sector increased emphasis on volunteering promoted a more user-centred cost-effective way delivering in tough times. For workforce, competition between diverse providers conjunction budget placing downward pressure terms conditions encouraging employers question continuation national pay determination many parts sector.