One of the ways public sector organisations are looking to reduce costs in straitened times is by gaining the support and help of their clients in the delivery of service, sometimes labelled 'co-production.'  This term has become common managerial parlance - it's 22 years since flat-pack furniture first took its place in UK homes but it's not so long ago that the concept became an aspiration of service industries, even if the ideas can be traced to Richard Normann and others in the mid 90s.  Perhaps the time-shift is one part of the problem - of language losing its original meaning.

Understood as a means to add new value to the generation of products and services, the concept of co-production is about involvement in all parts of the process of creating value, of designing efficient, effective, and wanted, systems, products and services.

Yet I fear a different reality in the public service, where 'experts' know best and little attention is paid to a true customer focus, and where the pressure to cut costs but not services is immense.  I fear 'co-production' will just be about cutting the costs of production, by shifting costs, and time requirements, onto the consumer, whether explicitly and consensually or not.  Meaning 'co-production' becomes potentially exploitative, taking advantage of people without the power to resist. 

Yet used in its original context co-production is about co-design - in other words it is about joint decision-making and shared ownership of both the products and the ideas that lie behind them.  It is enabling and creative.  Which all sounds rather like the Fontis agenda.....

Where does the difference lie?  In the ability of those asked to participate to trust the motives (correctly) and actions of those who initiate the work of co-production.  To this end we think it would be helpful if those doing the asking are really explicit in their request,  making it clear it is co-design as well as co-production that they are seeking, that they can be held to account over this distinction and that their (shared) actions will demonstrate the reality.