Being Accountable: Voluntary Organisations, Government Agencies and Contracted Social Services in New Zealand.

• Author: Pomeroy, Ann
• Position: Critical essay

BEING ACCOUNTABLE: VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND CONTRACTED SOCIAL SERVICES IN NEW ZEALAND BY JO CRIBB INSTITUTE OF POLICY STUDIES, WELLINGTON

Being Accountable focuses on the accountability of service providers in the not-for-profit sector in New Zealand. It is based on the research Jo Cribb undertook for her doctoral thesis at Victoria University of Wellington. The book is an exploration and analysis of voluntary sector managers' and board members' views of accountability, and it suggests useful ways to improve the relationship between government agencies and not-for-profit service providers.

The not-for-profit sector is a major deliverer of social services in this country, so questions about the accountability of the sector's service providers, how this is managed and measured, and the sector's own views on this subject are vitally important.

I found this book to be an excellent and enlightening read, as well as a very useful summary of issues the sector and contractors have been advocating for decades. As Cribb rightly points out in the preface, ensuring good provider performance doesn't lie in the contract documents but in the relationships and practices used to generate and monitor the contracts. However, I might add that since Cribb undertook her study the development of results-based (integrated) contracts (described on page 21) is proving to be a helpful tool for...