Whitehall Watch

All this talk about balancing the budget is …

By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Westminster Watch, Whitehall Watch Posted: December 12, 2014

Remember the Maastricht criteria? No, I didn’t think so. Nor apparently do Britain’s political leaders, based on their manifestos for tackling the UK’s deficit. The Maastricht Criteria were the convergence criteria for European countries that wanted to join the Euro. Agreed in 1992 (including by John Major’s Conservative government) it covered inflation, deficits, debt, exchange […]

All Public Services are Local: why we need smaller, and bigger, local government (in England)

By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted: September 12, 2014

Here’s a simple question: why does the UK have a single agency, HM Revenue and Customs, to collect most taxes? This idea is so embedded in the UK political psyche that it is never, ever, questioned. But there are clear examples of alternatives that work perfectly well. In Denmark, for example, local government collects most […]

The case for a qualified Civil Service

By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted: July 9, 2014

Without effective policy deliberation, the Civil Service will struggle to do anything well. Professor Colin Talbot makes the case for postgraduate qualifications for the Civil Service Policy Profession. Since the introduction of ‘Professional Skills for Government’, we have had a defined group within the Civil Service known as the ‘Policy Profession’. Although the ‘Professional Skills […]

Making shared housing work

By Sue Heath Filed Under: Featured, Health and Social Care, Whitehall Watch Posted: July 3, 2014

The Government wants people on housing benefit to share accommodation to bring down costs. But, Sue Heath warns, voluntary arrangements usually work better than compulsion. The Government’s welfare reform programme is penalising under-occupation of social rented accommodation that is paid for by housing benefit. One approach favoured by the Government is more sharing of accommodation […]

Using ‘Big Data’

By Camilla Lewis Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology, Whitehall Watch Posted: July 2, 2014

‘Big Data’ will change many aspects of our lives and our public services – right down to waste management, explains Camilla Lewis. Big Data has the potential to transform much of our everyday lives and the way in which public services are delivered. This transformation is linked to the vast increase in computing power and […]

Responding to the ‘darknet’

By Anita Greenhill Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology, Whitehall Watch Posted: June 27, 2014

The ‘darknet’ is being used by criminals and political dissidents to avoid surveillance. Anita Greenhill suggests ways that governments can tackle it. While most people use the internet’s legitimate channels to shop, search for items, or communicate with friends and family, there are some who hide in the internet’s cracks and shadows. These less known […]

Challenging the cult of competition in the NHS

By Kieran Walshe Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted: May 13, 2014

Evidence is short that competition leads to improved healthcare performance, says Prof Kieran Walshe. Collaboration and service integration is a better policy goal. For some time – under both this government and its predecessor – there has been a powerful ideological belief that competition leads to improvements in performance in healthcare. It’s a belief unshaken […]

Breaking the Rules and Paying the Price: the lessons of Tony Benn, Cabinet Minister

By Dave Richards and Martin Smith Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted: March 27, 2014

Tony Benn found that without the help of officials, having radical ideas as a minister didn’t get him very far. On the day the veteran MP is laid to rest, Dave Richards and Martin Smith reflect on their interviews with Benn, his Cabinet colleagues and officials. Obituaries of Tony Benn considered his roles as campaigner, […]

Budget 2014: Smaller and Smaller – the end of ‘Big Government’ in the UK?

By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted: March 19, 2014

George Osborne’s fifth Budget as Chancellor delivered few real surprises or big changes. Many of the detailed adjustments were trailed in advance, and only in the pensions arena did he deliver any radical measures, writes Professor Colin Talbot. It is the pensions issue that will grab the headlines – as he intended. This was a […]

How and when will the Coalition end?

By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted: February 17, 2014

As our Coalition Government moves inexorably towards its end, what are the factors and events that will determine how and when the formal dissolution takes place? Speculation is starting to build, says Prof Colin Talbot, not least because of obvious ‘distancing’ tactics being adopted by both the partners to the Coalition. We have 15 months […]