STATUTORY & NON-STATUTORY PUBLUC SERVICES

In this report, I will be describing what statutory and non-statutory public services are, include
examples of them and justifying exactly why both types of public services are needed to meet
and solve these issues.
Statutory Public Services
Statutory public services are the uniformed public services, who are wholly government funded.
They are put into society and given their ability to operate by the government. As a result, these
organisations are government organisations, meaning that they must fully adhere to all
legislations and laws carefully. These public services require a great deal of training and
preparation for the job, due to its heavy and life-threatening demands. There are multiple
examples in my case studies above. Paramedics are one of them and are placed in the
community to serve and protect individuals when they are in need of medical attention. They are
expected to arrive in a timely manner through a quick response time. The police are another
example, which have been commissioned to prevent and fight crime, respond to threats and
much more. The final statutory public service which is mentioned above is the fire services, who
have a role in preventing large fires and putting fires out.
Non-Statutory Public Services
These organisations, which are often not government funded, are operations that have the
purpose of providing a solution for an issue or doing what they can to fight that issue. Often,
these organisations are temporary, meaning that they may only serve for some time or until their
purpose is met. Many of the staffing involved with these organisations are not remunerated as
they believe the value they get out of serving society is enough. A good example of a nonstatutory public service is the Kely Support Group, which is a private sector charitable
organisation in Hong Kong that looks at providing a service to youths that helps them through
their teenage years in regards to stress, alcohol and drugs. They provide a huge public services,
having a presence at many major events in Hong Kong.
Involvement of Statutory Public Services in Providing Support to Citizens
The statutory public services like the police, paramedics and fire services provide citizens with
protection against harm, whatever that might be. They are responsible for ensuring that the
greatest possible number of people are saved and to maintain a low level of violence, conflict
and crime. An example was during the 9-11 terrorist attacks in New York, the police, paramedics
and fire services were all involved in saving as many people as possible and protecting them
from harm. This is beneficial to society as it allows them to feel safer living in their community,
knowing that there is someone to look after them. On the contrary, uniformed public services
are huge cost towards the government and may take funding out of things like infrastructure
development and education.
Involvement of Non-Statutory Public Services in Providing Support to Citizens
Although non-statutory public services may not have as significant of an impact on society as the
statutory public services, they still have an aim in protecting and helping citizens. These
organisations actively find ways to better support the community in ways that the government
does not. The Kely Support Group aims to educate teenagers on the best ways to tackle teenage
life in a way the police or health services cannot. The advantages of this is that small issues, that
can make a huge difference to some can be solved whilst very little or even no government

expenditure is made. On the contrary, some may not believe in the strategies and methods that
these organisations employ. Parents may not always believe in the way that the Kely Support
Group operate and may wish that their children have no involvement in their programmes.
My Views
In my opinion, although statutory public services play a far more significant role in keeping
citizens physically safe, both the public services types have a huge role in society. It is crucial that
all citizens feel safe, whether that is in being protected by the uniformed public services or
being provided services from non-statutory public services organisations. I believe that both
forms of public services are really needed for a community to be considered safe or even
looked after. It is important that those in the private sector can actively make a difference to
society.