EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC OWNERSHIP
We own it: locally
Nine councils run their own buses across the UK – publicly owned companies like Reading Buses and Nottingham City Transport win awards every year.
Local councils are also providing great public alternatives to outsourcing on everything from waste to social care.
We own it: nationally
The NHS was found to be the best healthcare system in the world in 2014 – scoring especially highly on quality and efficiency (despite being undermined by the government.)
While water in England is privatised, Scottish Water is publicly owned and is the most trusted utility company in the UK. Not for profit Welsh Water helps low income households to pay their bills.
On our railway, the East Coast line was run in public ownership from 2009 to 2014. It had 91% customer satisfaction and returned £1 billion to the Treasury. (Today, half of our rail services are run by foreign state owned companies.)
Channel 4 is commercially run but publicly owned. It makes innovative programmes that reflect the UK’s diverse community.
Ordnance Survey has mapped every corner of our country since 1791. Its digital data underpins an estimated £100 billion of our economy.
The Land Registry has returned a profit to the Treasury in 19 of the last 20 years. Its customer satisfaction rate is 94%.
The Royal Mint is our oldest publicly owned institution – it’s been making our coins for over 1100 years.
The Met Office is one of the world’s top two global weather forecasters for accuracy. Government and business rely on its data.
NATS is the leading provider of air traffic control services. It keeps 220 million passengers safe every year.
The Royal Mail, before it was privatised, was making millions in profit for all of us.
Public ownership around the world
Take a world tour of public ownership: the Transnational Institute has put together a report containing 835 examples of public ownership initiatives in 45 countries worldwide. Cities and citizens all over the globe are turning away from privatisation - and embracing public ownership!
Across Europe, public ownership is totally normal. Watch this video on 10 places public ownership is the norm: