This Community Development Foundation paper outlines the role which the principles and techniques of community development can have in changing the culture of public agencies. The main findings are that:

• empowerment should be embedded in all areas of service delivery
• staff must see advocacy as part of their job
• senior management needs to assess and increase public agencies’ openness to influence and to work with their staff in new ways.

Attempts to change culture are more likely to succeed if pressure and support come simultaneously from a number of directions, from central government, from citizens, from senior management and from frontline workers. Culture change cannot be forced onto a public agency.