2009 PAC Conference | About
This year’s Public Administration Committee (PAC) Conference, held at Glamorgan Business Centre, University of Glamorgan, between September 7-9th September, is on the theme of Competing Narratives of Public Service Reform – Politics, Devolution and Service Improvement.
Conference highlights
- Special themes and panels
- The Frank Stacey Memorial Lecture – Professor John Clarke, Open University
- The National School of Government Lecture – Professor Bill Rodgers, Rutgers University, USA
- The Sage Best Graduate Paper Prize – Public Policy and Administration
- Award for the Best Paper – International Journal of Public Sector Management
- Special Issues of Journals – Public Policy and Administration; Public Money and Management
- A workshop on Skills for Tomorrow’s Public Services
- Drinks reception in the National Assembly for Wales
- The Annual Public Administration Dinner to be held in the Wales Millennium Centre, with guest speaker, Rhodri Morgan, First Minister National Assembly for Wales
- Dedicated Conference Venue
Conference themes
Reforming public services has been a key part of the New Labour agenda since 1997. Services have been refocused and reorganised and the citizen/consumer roles have been enhanced through a number of public participation initiatives. The Conservative party also has public service reform at the heart of its policies. However, this time the focus of policy is more around the consumer agenda. Both parties view public service reform from different perspectives around changes in politics, devolution and improvement initiatives. Thinking more globally, there are key issues around the reform of public services with new governments, new ideas and new agendas.
The 2009 PAC Annual Conference will explore the competing narratives of public reforms and will include papers on all aspects of public service organisation and delivery. The key sub-themes of politics, devolution and service improvement are likely to feature prominently within all papers. In addition to the academic papers, the Glamorgan Conference builds on and further develops the ‘Practice Forum’ which was introduced in York in 2008. In Glamorgan, the forum will focus on the theme of delivering service outcomes in practice.
Here is a selection of the panels for the 2009 PAC Conference at Glamorgan:
- Narratives of Public Service Reform
- Devolution – 10 years
- Devolution – some reflections, Jon Shortridge, Former Permanent Secretary, Welsh Assembly Government
- Partnerships for Public Service – Theory and Practice
- Research Methods in Public Administration
- The Politics of Public Service Delivery
- The Management of Emergency Response Services
- Rationalising Public Services
- Practice Forums – Skills for Tomorrow’s Public Services
- Devolution and Public Services
- Participation and Involvement in Public Services
- Civic Engagement
- Public Service Improvement
- Public Service Performance
- Teaching Devolution and Public Administration
- New Developments in the Co-Production of Knowledge
- Sub-National Government/Meta Governance
- New Perspectives on Central-Local Relationships
The Conference organisers have secured a number of special issues with key public administration journals in place for conference papers. Some of the conference papers will be published in Public Policy and Administration and also Public Money and Management. There will be a prize for the ‘Best Paper’ from the International Journal of Public Sector Management. Public Policy and Administration is awarding a prize to the best paper from postgraduates and other early career researchers at the conference.
The 2009 Conference will bring together academics and practitioners from a broad range of disciplines including public policy, public administration, public management, social policy, politics to explore theoretical, empirical and practical questions about the changing nature of public service reform.
For further details contact Catherine Farrell, Professor of Public Policy and Management, University of Glamorgan on cfarrell@glam.ac.uk.
- Please note: registration will take place between 2-5pm on Monday 7th September.
If you would like to organise a panel for the conference, or would like any further details about the conference, please email Catherine Farrell, Professor of Public Policy and Management, University of Glamorgan on cfarrell@glam.ac.uk.
