Are you being served?
by Duncan O'Leary
All of which reminds me of a speech I saw Alan Johnson make on regulation about a month ago. He reminded the audience that, when employed effectively, regulation can be used to increase competition between providers, adding dynamism to the market rather than reducing it. Which is generally good news if you're a consumer.
So you might have guessed by now that I'm edging towards admissions policies and competition, and regulation in the White Paper. This is personal view ' and I'm prepared to be proved wrong on it ' but it seems to me like admissions policies are one area where regulation may be necessary to ensure that the market serves the needs of all consumers and that provider-interests do not take over. i.e. if we want real competition, we need to ensure that it is children and their parents that are doing the choosing.
So, have a got the wrong analogy or is this fair comment..?
[As an aside, the White Paper also has some interesting ' if not fully developed ' implications for Children's Services more widely. John Craig has some thoughts on the role that headteachers could play as system leaders here [pdf], and Hannah and I focus mainly on leadership in local authorities here].