According to the government there is scope for more competition in theprovision of children's services. It recommends more private andvoluntary sector involvement in service provision and wants localauthorities to be commissioners rather than providers.
But a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) report from 2004 pointed out thatthis can only really happen if certain barriers are removed. They arenot insurmountable. This is particularly so given that the key obstacleis political and cultural, in the form of local authorities robustlydefending their interests and seeing no reason to change the statusquo.
The argument for greater contestability is based on the idea that acontestable market is more likely to achieve high-quality provision. Butif the costs of the market are too high for suppliers then they may welljudge it too risky to enter, meaning it can never develop and mature.The provider community must be convinced it is worth the necessaryinvestment.
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