Christopher Pollitt & Johnston Birchall 
Decentralising Public Service Management [PDF ebook] 

Decentralise authority and let managers manage’ has been an almost universal message in UK public services over the last 15 years. But does it really work? Drawing on their own — and a wide range of other research — the authors show that behind the ministerial rhetoric the experiences of NHS trusts, grant maintained schools and housing associations were in practice distinctly mixed. The book offers a sophisticated theoretical analysis of the origins and results of decentralised public management in the UK.