The UK is not equipped for the revolution in public service mutuals that the government seeks, according to a report from an organisation enthusiastic about making the idea a reality.Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, has been vigorously promoting the idea that staff can leave public service employment to sell their services back through various forms of mutual and social enterprise, sometimes through joint ventures with the private sector.

A “right to request” to form a mutual has been set up, and a national taskforce along with a string of pilot projects have been created, in the hope of getting perhaps 1m public service employees in to mutuals by 2015.