Public Services Policy & Management

Module code: 7SSMM408
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 60
Assessment:  coursework 

The dissertation is designed to give students experience in defining and researching a specific topic in the field of public services policy and management, building on the subject knowledge gained through taught courses and applying the methodological principles gained through the research methods course.

The dissertation requires candidates to display a command of both subject matter and research / enquiry techniques; to demonstrate autonomy and self-direction; to communicate complex material and make sound judgements. The mark given will count for 33% percent of the overall programme assessment.

Module code: 7SSMM406
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Semester:  Semester 1 (autumn) 
Assessment:  written examination/s 

This course will focus on issues in the management and change of the public sector workforce. The first half will explore the nature and changing structure of the public sector workforce; the growth of workforce flexibility and the challenges for management; industrial relations in the public sector; commitment and the changing psychological contract in the public sector; the health and satisfaction of the public sector workforce; and the relationship between human resource management and public sector performance. The second part will explore change in the management of the public sector workforce. It will cover analytic frameworks for the analysis of change, including diagnosis, change strategies and evaluation of change. It will use a number of cases such as the merger of departments (for example the Prisons and Probationary Services), implementing a new workforce strategy (for example the NHS in Wales) and the management of change in a traditional industrial relations environment (for example the Fire Service).

Module code: 7SSMM403
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Semester:  Semester 2 (spring) 
Assessment:  written examination/s 

Explores the nature and role of finance, accounting and audit in the management of public services and develops an analysis of the role of management (with particular emphasis on financial, accounting and audit) in the delivery of public services.

Course content: introduction to finance, accounting and audit; managing in the changing context of public services; strategic management and managing change in public services; managing public services through finance; managing public services through management accounting; managing public services through financial accounting; managing public services through audit and inspection; managing public services through performance indicators and targets; managing public private partnerships; the future of management, with particularly emphasis on finance, accounting and audit in the public services.

Module code: 7SSMM405
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Semester:  Semester 1 (autumn) 
Assessment:  coursework 

Coursework: 70%

Examination: 30%

The core aims of the course are to:

1. Outline the principal methodologies and methods used in empirical research on the public services
2. Explain methods of data collection and analysis, and foster the ability to use these in problem-solving
3. Develop familiarity with appropriate data sources
4. Develop a practical understanding and command of the methodology and methods of programme evaluation research
5. Develop the capacity to assess critically the evidence used in support and criticism of policies towards public services
6. Encourage a critical and systematic understanding of the meaning and limitations of evidence-based policy making

Course content will include: statistical concepts: frequency, probability; hypothesis testing, statistical significance; regression and correlation analysis; qualitative methods: case studies, comparative designs; evaluation methodology: issues, levels, evidence; the counterfactual and its implementation; cost-benefit analysis and equity; performance standards and programme implementation.

Module code: 7SSMM402
Credit level: 7
Semester:  Semester 2 (spring) 
Assessment:  written examination/s 

Examination: 70%

Mid-term test: 30%

This course builds on insights developed in the course 'Political Economy of the Public Services'.

Students will develop a comprehensive understanding, in an international context, of recent important research and policy agendas in the public services, especially those employing the criteria and methods of welfare economics. Leading research on policy implementation and management reform will be evaluated, drawing on work from political science, sociology and psychology as well as economics.

Course content includes: hierarchies, markets and quasi-markets; privatisation and outsourcing; regulation, inspection; and audit; technical change, productivity growth and the cost disease of the services; public choice; fiscal policy and fiscal restriction; public goods and externalities; welfare economics: efficiency and equity; cost-benefit analysis.

Module code: 7SSMM401
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Semester:  Semester 1 (autumn) 
Assessment:  written examination/s 

Examination: 50%

Coursework: 50%

This course explores, in international and historical perspective, the definition and meaning of the public services, and the role of the 'public sector' in their delivery.
It examines the major economic, political and sociological issues involved in the organisation, production and finance of the public services.

Sessions will explore and evaluate the extent to which policy alternatives can be generalised to the public services as a whole, as opposed to being service-specific.

Course content includes: definition and meaning of public services and the public sector: an international overview; patterns of public service provision and finance over time; patterns of public service provision and finance by country; concepts of individual choice; principal-agent relationships: contracts and trust; motivation: quasi-markets; professions and professionalism; ownership, corporate governance and stake-holding. Topics will be covered with reference to specific applications: e.g. vouchers, retirement care, broadcasting.

Module code: 7SSAM195
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Semester:  Semester 1 (autumn) 
Assessment:  coursework 

This module aims to develop students understanding of the theory and practice of designing public policy, enabling them to gain a thorough theoretical and practical understanding of how public policy is made in general and how specific public policies are designed and developed. The course is delivered through a mixture of formats that include formal lectures; group exercises; in-depth case studies and outside speakers.

Module code: 7SSG5107
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Semester:  Semester 2 (spring) 
Assessment:  coursework 

This module starts with a focus on meanings, approaches, and debates resolving around sustainable livelihoods and development from various perspectives. Thematic exemplars will involve in-depth coverage of current issues, such as fair trade, agrarian change, and natural resources management. There will also be focus on discourses of participation and community in development as it pertains to macro- and micro-level implications. This will be linked to broader debates about gendered livelihoods and gender-development debates. The module will involve in-class discussions, based on assigned readings that students are expected to read, as well as documentary analyses linked to the practical coursework assessment

Teaching staff: Dr John Meadowcroft
Module code: 7SSAM009
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:  Semester 2 (spring) 
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 1500 word essay (30%)
1 x 3500 word essay (70%)



Evaluating Public Policy introduces the theory and practice of policy evaluation.  The aim of the module is to equip students with an understanding of the challenges that different approaches face when attempting to evaluate public policies and the different techniques of policy evaluation that may be used to overcome these challenges.  The evaluation techniques studied include Social Experimentation, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Participatory Evaluation, Targets and Performance Measurement and Auditing.

The module aims to:

-Introduce students to the idea of policy evaluation within the context of policy process and the theoretical ideas that underpin different approaches to policy evaluation.
-To introduce students to the practical challenges that face different approaches to policy evaluation and how those challenges might be overcome.
-To ensure students have an understanding of how evaluation takes place in the contemporary world of policy making and have a sound knowledge of (what has been termed) 'the evaluative' state.
-To provide students with the knowledge, skills and techniques required for advanced critical analysis of the theory and practice of policy evaluation.

Module code: 7KNIM110
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 30
Semester:  Full-year 
Assessment:  coursework 

This course aims to equip you with the skills and knowledge required to identify best evidence for your practice. It focuses on searching for, appraising and synthesising evidence from health care research. You are introduced to a range of electronic databases for accessing evidence and the principles of systematic review. Learning is facilitated through lectures, workshops and a student-directed search for evidence to address a question emerging from your own practice. Issues surrounding research implementation and evidence at the level of the individual practitioner and the health care organisation are addressed. Assessment is by means of a review of literature which answers a focussed question utilising explicit methods.

Module code: 7SSMM409
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Semester:  Semester 2 (spring) 
Assessment:  written examination/s;  coursework; 

The core aims of this course are to: 1. Foster a critical understanding of the context for key issues in health policy. 2. Develop a systematic understanding of the major economic, political and sociological issues involved in the organisation, production and finance of health care services, both nationally and internationally. 3. Develop a critical awareness of key debates in the funding and provision of health care, such as the role of the state and the private sector. 4. Analyse the roles of professionals and users in the making and implementation of health policy through the use of case studies. 5. Explore issues of measuring and managing performance in health care. 6. Examine, through the use of case studies, the making of health policy and how specific health policies can be evaluated. Course content includes: introduction: what is health policy and why study it?; determinants of health: role of health care, public health etc.; funding health care systems; organising health care; role of the state and the private sector in health policy; role of professionals and users in health care and health policy; globalisation and the role of international organisations in health policy; measuring and managing performance; making health policy; evaluating health policy.

Module code: 7SSMM414
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Semester:  Semester 2 (spring) 
Assessment:  coursework 
Assessment:

80% coursework – 20% Assessed Tutorial Participation

Gain knowledge and critical understanding of a range of perspectives and theories on leadership and innovation in the public services; critically understand leadership and innovation in a variety of organisational contexts; gain experience of leadership development processes and exercises in tutorials.

Module code: 7SSMM411
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Semester:  Semester 1 (autumn) 
Assessment:  written examination/s 

The Course examines the changes in the organisational, financial and operational management of Defence in the United Kingdom, the reasons for those changes and assesses their success, against the background of the international geo-strategic scene, and the globalisation of terrorism. No previous knowledge of the subject is assumed.

Starting with the geo-strategic environment, the course briefly explores the nature of war before discussing the higher direction of defence at the political level, both nationally and internationally, the senior military management, and the relationships between the military and society at large. It examines the management of the human resource in defence, and moves on to discuss the management of force structures and of resource control in defence and the supporting industry more generally. A special case study is made of the procurement of equipment, since this is the driving force in defence expenditure and force structure and has been the subject of the greatest reforming efforts in recent years. This case study will examine and assess the acquisition process and consider its future. The course completes with a discussion of the financial scrutiny and accountability of defence spending.

The course draws on academic sources, contemporary documents and the practices of the UK defence establishment although comparative reference is also made to the methods and processes of other countries.

Module code: 7SSEM040
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 30
Semester:  Semester 2 (spring) 
Assessment:  coursework 

In recent years, the gaze of researchers and policy makers has focused increasingly on teachers and teacher change. In this module, teacher development is considered as an area of knowledge from a range of perspectives including historical, philosophical, ethical, sociological, ethical, and political. Within these various concepts of 'teacher' are introduced and tensions among them explored. These include notions of the teacher as, for example: domain knowledge specialist; curriculum worker; bureaucrat; exemplary life coach and pastoral carer, and so on. The roles and representations of teachers (for example, as 'professionals' or as 'change agents') are explored in depth. Teachers' careers touching on their social, personal and professional growth are considered e.g., the reflective practitioner, the competence facilitator, the practitioner and practice oriented researcher, the professional leader, educational manager. Participants are expected to use their knowledge and experience of their own and their colleagues' development to interpret and inform their reading and discussions.