1st Edition

Innovation in the Local Public Sector A Critical Analysis

By Lorraine Johnston, John Fenwick Copyright 2026
192 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

192 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

192 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

This book provides a critical exploration and assessment of public sector innovation, challenging conventional assumptions about the ways in which innovation is generated and how it may succeed or fail. Focussing on the local level of public sector, the book systematically reviews the multidisciplinary nature of public sector innovation through an intersectional lens that considers mounting... Read more

1. Introduction to Public Sector Innovation

2. Risks and Barriers to Innovation

3. Urban Leadership for Relational Public Sector Innovation: People make places!

4. Good Governance, Public Sector Innovation, and the Devolved Leadership of Metro Mayors

5. Innovation and Collaboration

6. Rethinking Local Public Sector Innovation: Co-productive and Relational Approaches for Complex Place-Based Challenges

7. The Darker Side of Innovation

8. Conclusions

Biography

Lorraine Johnston is an associate professor at the Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, UK.

John Fenwick is an emeritus professor at the Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, UK.

“Johnston and Fenwick have produced an innovative and impressive work on public sector innovation. “Crafted” would perhaps be a better word than “produced”, in that the work is ambitious and scholarly. It is also well written, being clear and concise, eschewing jargon, even when addressing complex issues. The book places innovation into its proper context; theory, history, dynamics, institutions, and barriers to innovation. It also explores the contemporary understanding of these things in terms of equality, inclusion, sustainability, and possible harms as a result of innovation since in drawing on the work of Hartley, the authors point out in order to innovate, organisations must change something and not all change is always good. Johnston and Fenwick draw on a range of theories and compare and contrast different levels of public sector innovation from a wide range of countries; an impressive piece of work of relevance to a range of disciplines.”

Andrew Massey, Professor Emeritus of Government, King’s College, London, UK