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Planning the Public Sector

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From Dreams to Disillusionment

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Abstract

‘The traditional system of decision making can no longer… be effective in containing the growth of expenditure within whatever limit the Government have set… decisions involving substantial future expenditure should always be taken in the light of surveys of public expenditure as a whole, over a period of years, and in relation to prospective resources’.1 This argument was contained in the Plowden Committee Report in 1961, and the declamatory, confident tone of progressive reform comes over very clearly. The gains that were envisaged for such a system were just as obvious, especially given the context of the planning fervour. From this new system might emerge a clear-cut set of national priorities, a long-term framework for state spending, and a more rational, stable and efficient public sector.

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Notes

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oxford Brookes University, UK

    Glen O’Hara

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  1. Glen O’Hara
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© 2007 Glen O’Hara

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O’Hara, G. (2007). Planning the Public Sector. In: From Dreams to Disillusionment. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230625488_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230625488_4

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-28474-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-230-62548-8

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)

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