When it is not framed around cost savings, discussion of public service reform these days mostly focuses on technology. This is most obvious in healthcare, where medical science drives change all the time: weight loss drugs, genetic cancer tests, and so on. The benefits and risks of AI are another theme, from education to criminal justice. But some of those involved in trying to improve public services are taking a strikingly different tack. Their work centres not on machines but on relationships.

This might sound like common sense. Pretty well everyone recognises the value of an inspiring teacher or trusted social worker. Wes Streeting has stressed his support for Labour’s........

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