At last, the state monopoly over public services is being dismantled Giving employees a stake in their business ensures that they have more motivation and power to improve the services they provide. John Lewis, a well-known example of this business model, tops satisfaction polls and has half the average retail staff turnover and sickness rate. Employee partners at MyCSP Ltd will be offered real ownership of their company. They will have board-level representation and decision-making clout. And they will enjoy a share of the profits, ensuring they benefit directly from their efforts to improve services. As a mutual joint venture, MyCSP Ltd will be 25 per cent owned by its employee partners. Alongside them will be the Equiniti Group's Paymaster Business, which won the contract to buy a 40 per cent stake. Their involvement will bring capital investment as well as the business expertise to make MyCSP a market leader in pensions administration. The final thirty five per cent stake will be retained by the Government, as a check on the company making excessive profits at the taxpayers" expense. By retaining this share, the taxpayer will also benefit from the rising value of an improved service. MyCSP Ltd's new chairman will be the former Labour Cabinet Minister Lord Hutton whose knowledge and experience will help further drive success. We need creative solutions to keep improving our public services in the face of the economic and social challenges we face today. We know that those doing a job are more often than not the ones that know best how to do it. And we know that giving workers a stake in their work boosts productivity and spurs innovation. The impressive case for these new business models was spelled out in a report, Our Mutual Friend, that the Mutuals Taskforce published last year. Help is in place for entrepreneurial public servants interested in taking over the services they run. The Cabinet Office has a £10million fund to help with development costs and advice on taking those first steps can be accessed through the online Mutuals Information Service. MyCSP Ltd is a pathfinder that is leading the way. But although it's the first mutual to spin out of a central government business, mutuals are already providing health care services across the country to the value of a billion pounds. Across the public sector from social care to probation services, local authority services to fire brigades groups are considering spinning out into mutuals. This Government will back public servants who want to explore the opportunities for employee ownership. That way we will strengthen and improve the public services on which we all rely. Francis Maude is the Minister for the Cabinet Office