22nd European Social Services Conference

John Halloran, Chief Executive of the European Social Network (ESN), shares his reflections from the recent 22nd European Social Services Conference in Rome.

With over 400 delegates coming to Rome from across Europe and beyond, people who understand the strategic and operational challenges of managing public social services, the European Social Network (ESN) conference focused on reform and investment in the future of a social Europe.

Against the backdrop of growing dissatisfaction with European and national efforts to build both economic growth and a more caring inclusive society, the debate could not have come at a better moment. At the recent European Parliamentary elections, for the first time ever, people had voted not just on European policies, but on the very opportunity to keep working together as Europeans, stated Nicola Zingaretti, the President of the Lazio Region in Italy and former MEP, in his welcome speech.

The problems in recent years have been not only low growth and high unemployment, but also increasing inequalities which are contributing to the rise of anti-systemic parties, we heard during the plenary sessions. Public social services are now facing growing demand, but the resources are simply not enough to cover all social needs. Thus having evidence about what works and for whom becomes essential in helping policy makers take those tough decisions.

With traditional sources of government finance restricted, public services should explore opportunities for unlocking private capital through social impact investing. Technology as well can help public authorities achieve greater impact by taking a small localised pilot and up scaling it, and by getting effective value for money.

Those who use services themselves clearly have a key stake and we were reminded of the need to involve users in the design of services – to deliver more effective and personal care, and more economic benefits for all. We need to build a ‘participation’ society, encourage those who are tired of being considered a burden to become a resource.

From the four plenary sessions and 30 workshop presentations and discussions in Rome, what I take away is that we need to transform our services to deliver better outcomes for people. And there are many directions we can take: evidence-based decision making, an ambition to promote user and citizen participation, a more strategic approach to building in quality and responsiveness to services and a willingness to work across sectors and to see the opportunities of technology and new sources of finance.

We need to acknowledge that we are, in many ways, still at an early stage of development and should look to exchanging expertise on all these issues. ESN, with 15 years’ experience of connecting social services across Europe, is ideally placed to bring this debate forward and I would like to personally invite interested MEPs from the new European Parliament to join our discussions.

As we begin a new chapter for both the European Parliament and Commission, the message of the outgoing European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor at ESN’s Rome conference was one that I sincerely hope will be taken forward by all those with a commitment to both a caring and economically strong Europe – that investing in people makes for a more inclusive and more prosperous society and therefore investing in social services is the smart and sustainable way forward.

This article appeared in The Parliament Magazine, Issue 394/395, p17