1 The nature of a public service Paul Spicker International Journal of Public Administration 2009 32(11) pp 970-991. Public services have been misunderstood. They are not simply services in the public sector, they are not necessarily there because of “market failure”, and they cannot be analysed by the same criteria as market-based provision. They have four defining characteristics. They exist for reasons of policy; they provide services to the public; they are redistributive; and they act as a trust. They consequently operate differently from production for profit, in their priorities, costs, capacity and outputs. Key words: public services, market failure, social services. Public services The definition of any term depends on the way it is used and understood in practice, and so the process of understanding what a “public service” is must begin with an examination of its use. When the UK Cabinet Office published its recent review of public service reform, it did not explain directly what a “public service” is, but it did claim: “we have restored our nation’s pride in our public services and they are more firmly than ever part of the fabric of British national life. Some of our public services have done even better. Our top schools, hospitals, universities, and police forces – as well as our armed forces - are admired around the world. But we should also not shy away from the fact that in some places public services are still not good enough ...” (Cabinet Office, 2008, p 5) There is clearly a sense here of what the public services include: they cover education, health, policing and defence. In another document, the focus extends to social housing, income maintenance, community and family services. (HM Government, 2007) It seems possible to say that the term “public services” is typically applied to • activities of government in the public domain, such as policing and public health; • activities done for the benefit of the public, like public service broadcasting or rubbish collection; and • ‘social services’, like medical care, housing, education and social care. This might seem to imply a definition by function, but public services cannot be identified simply in terms of the things they do. Services like energy supply, medical care or transport can be public services, but they can also be commercial activities. Some public services deliver