What is co-production?

Defining co-production

The importance of co-production has been recognised as a fundamental building block across all areas of public service. For example, the Cabinet Office (2008) defines co-production as 'a partnership between citizens and public to achieve a valued outcome.' It also concluded that:

• Co-production empowers citizens to contribute their own resources (time, will power expertise and effort) and have greater control over public resources to achieve a valued outcome
• Government should foster co-production in public services because, it is: popular, effective, value for money and a massive opportunity to create public value

A recent Social Care Institute for Excellence (opens new window) research briefing (2009) suggests:

At its most effective, co-production can involve the transformation of services. The transformative level of co-production requires a relocation of power and control, through the development of new user-led mechanisms of planning, delivery, management and governance. It involves new structures of delivery to entrench co-production, rather than simply ad hoc opportunities for collaboration. It can be 'a form of citizenship in practice'

Coproduction can be seen as operating at two levels of action (Boviard, 2007): the direct improvement of an individual's life; and the involvement of people in the planning and reshaping of services so that they enable effective coproduction. Both are important and inter related.