Edinburgh Napier University

  Based upon a case study approach of two innovative local authorities, this thesis examines the changing role of professionals within the traffic congestion policy area as the decision-making process is widened to encompass other innovative solutions. The thesis takes a Post-Bureaucratic stance, arguing that the dominant New Public Management approach does not fully explain the changes that are appearing in local governance. The central arguments are that the rise of cross- cutting problems, in addition to the challenging of traditional professional claims to knowledge by other organisations including the private-sector, have eroded the traditional dominance of traffic management professionals on policy-making and delivery. As a result, the research highlights the increasing focus on more targeted, customer focused services and the declining influence of traditional professionals by other (particularly IT) specialists, the private-sector and project-based task networks rather than neo-bureaucratic relationships cited by the New Public Management approach. The changes outlined have lead to a situation where local authorities are more likely to contract out beyond easily specified contracts (as with Donahue’s 1989 arguments) to areas that are more discretionary in nature; the traditional professional areas. Contracting Out Discretionary Activity (CODA) matches the greater likelihood of local authorities to include other organisations within the generation of strategy of service delivery. The two case studies give examples of the private-sector becoming increasingly important for congestion solutions, through public-private-sector partnerships as the local authorities change from (neo-) bureaucratised hierarchical structures, to a more fluid approach using the flexibilities of Post-Bureaucratic project networks.