Government departments are funded by central government to provide national services that profit-oriented businesses are unlikely to fully or reliably deliver. Local government and health services organisations are founded to deliver public services to the general public.
As Adam Smith pointed out the young, the infirm and many others may be disadvantage in the cut and thrust of the competitive market place. It is difficult for the free ranging business to be sensitive to the needs of the wider population - those who are not its employees or perhaps not even its customers. This is the classic dilemma of capital and ownership. Whereas private businesses create wealth for their owners, governmental services deliver public goods and services for the well-being of the general population, regardless of specific need or status.
Some agencies e.g. the Department of Trade and Industry may even offer advice, guidance and support for wealth creation and distribution!
Governmental services obviously include
Government departments are funded from taxes and other funds flowing into the Treasury. Departmental funds are allocated in a budgetary process. In 1992 the Department of Social Security (DSS) was allocated £65 billion. Compare this to Tesco which in in 1992 had a turnover of £8 billion. The latter however is small in comparison to IBM, Microsoft or Toyota of Japan.
For government departments the corporate emphasis is not on sales and profits. Each department has a budget allocated to provide legally required public services. Thus value-for-money services, efficiency and cost reduction are the objective.
Each department or agency is a highly organised structure employing thousands. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority - Swansea and the Dept of Social Security - Newcastle upon Tyne, have moved from London with a view to sharing the benefits of government jobs out to the regions (cheaper office space also).
The size and complexity of government departments are scrutinised for bureaucracy and inefficiency. One view is that too much government and excessive civil service employment brings economic and social problems to the nation.
The UK government in the 1980's and 90's has pursued marketeer strategies to raise standards of service quality and promote the "releasing" of health authorities and other government departments as quasi-independent trusts/agencies (alternative forms of organisation). The "market forces" argument is that better VFM is achieved if decentralisation of decision-making and price competitiveness is introduced. The rationale is that competition and exchange within a market-place provides upward pressure on quality and downward pressure on costs.
Other types of government department include nationalised industries (increasingly privatised).
There may be contention between the VFM and public service objectives. The politics of the councillor is to find a central funding and regulation balance with local needs.
Local authority executive decisions are made by elected representatives who employ staff to implement/administer the services that the authority is authorised/empowered (by legislation) to provide. Local authorities are responsible for
Local government is legally bound to maintain certain services and it receives funding from several sources - mostly direct, central government grants, then council house rents and other fees. Most of the extra money is raised in the form of a local tax (the Council Tax). The central government grant/local tax proportion is one of the items at the centre of debate about central vs. local government democracy and control.
If a local authority's council tax is set at too high a level, central government can apply "capping" i.e. impose a maximum charge forcing the authority to cut some of its planned services to stay within regulated financing limits. Here central government exerts control over locally elected, democratic organisations. This offers potential for conflict and debate about organisational control. The 1993 Council Tax replaced the controversial community charge (poll tax).
Local authorities also raise finance as loans and use other financial arrangements.
Approval and the status/financial priviledges of a charity requires registration with the Registrar of Charities. Conditions including submission of annual accounts must be satisfied.
Large charities as businesses seek to
There is competition between charities for donor funds. The rise in the popularity of car boot sales hit the receipts of charity shops.
A large charity organisation has
