O'Neill: 'Universal services deliver unequal outcomes'

The first challenge I feel we have to address is to avoid being seduced by the idea of the value of services being universal. Many people argue that if services are available to everyone then that is fair. Everybody will have equal access to them and equally benefit from them.  
 
Of course some of our services have to be universal. Everybody is entitled to services like education, leisure and health, but the truth is that services made available on a universal basis will deliver quite unequal outcomes.  
 
We know that those people who are already best off are more adept and successful in taking advantage of universal services and using them to secure even better outcomes for themselves. On the other hand, those who are already disadvantaged find universal services much more difficult to access and are less able to translate them into better outcomes for themselves and their families.  
 
To address this, I believe we must have a far greater focus on services which are specifically designed for particular communities and their circumstances. Services which treat the elimination of inequalities as a driving objective rather than a potential bi-product. I am not against universal services, but I am against the idea that a service is universal if it is delivered and made available in the same way to everybody.  
 
I know that there are different views on this but I think we do need to have a very frank debate about this, particularly in view of the austerity that we will continue to face.

Councillor David O'Neill is president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).