Editing Public service (section)

==Characteristics==
A public service may sometimes have the characteristics of a [[Public good (economics)|public good]] (being non rivalrous and non excludable), but most are services which may (according to prevailing [[social norms]]) be under-provided by the [[Market (economics)|market]]. In most cases public services are [[Service (economics)|services]], i.e. they do not involve manufacturing of [[goods]]. They may be provided by local or national monopolies, especially in sectors that are [[natural monopoly|natural monopolies]].

They may involve outputs that are hard to attribute to specific individual effort or hard to measure in terms of key characteristics such as quality. They often require high levels of training and education. They may attract people with a public service ethos who wish to give something to the wider public or community through their work.

The process of assessing the needs of the people of an area, and then designing and securing an appropriate public service to meet those needs, is often referred to in the UK as ''commissioning''.<ref name=ots>Cabinet Office, Office of the Third Sector (2006), [https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20081230015652/http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/third_sector/assets/psd_action_plan.pdf Partnership in Public Services: An action plan for third sector involvement], published December 2006, accessed 17 February 2021</ref> The commissioned services may be delivered by organisations in the public sector, [[private sector]] or [[Voluntary sector|third sector]]:<ref>Cabinet Office, [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/78924/commissioning-green-paper.pdf Modernising Commissioning: Increasing the role of charities, social enterprises, mutuals and cooperatives in public service delivery], page 7, published 2010, accessed 17 February 2021</ref> when the private or third sector is involved the process of commissioning will usually be linked with a process of [[Government procurement|procurement]], to determine who will provide the services, at what cost and on what terms. Commissioning is often seen as a cyclical process.<ref name=ots />