Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
By Alexandra Mullock Filed Under: Featured Posted:
Legislation to permit assisted dying will be debated in Parliament this week, after hitting the headlines at the weekend. Dr Alexandra Mullock explains the legal background and some of the issues Peers and MPs will need to consider. Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill – due to be debated in the House of Lords later this week – […]
By Anita Greenhill Filed Under: Featured Posted:
As cities get ‘smarter’ and are managed by ever increasing streams of data, so the need for clear cross-border legislation becomes paramount, says Dr Anita Greenhill. The news last week that the UK government was passing an emergency law to ensure police and security services can continue accessing people’s phone and internet records, is just […]
By James Nazroo Filed Under: Ethnicity, Featured Posted:
Despite government programmes to address high levels of unemployment in ethnic minority groups, inequalities persist, explains Professor James Nazroo. The impact of the economic crisis on members of ethnic minority groups has been strangely overlooked. Discussions of falls in unemployment rates and how these relate to part time and insecure – zero hours – employment, […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted:
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 […]
By Rob Ford, Will Jennings, Mark Pickup and Christopher Wlezien Filed Under: Featured, Polling Observatory Posted:
This is the thirty-eighth in a series of posts by Dr Robert Ford, Dr Will Jennings, Dr Mark Pickup and Prof Christopher Wlezien that report on the state of the parties in the UK as measured by opinion polls. By pooling together all the available polling evidence, the impact of the random variation that each individual survey inevitably produces can […]
By Hannah Quirk and Elaine Dewhurst Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
Following the four month ban issued to Luis Suarez by FIFA, Dr Hannah Quirk and Dr Elaine Dewhurst from The University of Manchester’s School of Law look at some of the legal consequences. FIFA, football’s world governing body, has banned the Uruguayan footballer Luis Suarez for four months and nine internationals for biting Italy defender […]
By Eithne Quinn Filed Under: Ethnicity, Featured Posted:
The use of rap lyrics to suggest guilt or bad character is prejudicing criminal trials, warns Dr Eithne Quinn. In April 2014, Nicky Jacobs was found not guilty of the murder of PC Keith Blakelock in the 1985 Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham, London. A key piece of evidence in the trial almost 30 years […]
By Sue Heath Filed Under: Featured, Health and Social Care, Whitehall Watch Posted:
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 […]
By Camilla Lewis Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology, Whitehall Watch Posted:
‘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 […]
By Georgios Papanagnou Filed Under: All posts, Europe, Featured Posted:
David Cameron failed to block Jean Claude Juncker from being nominated by the European Council for the post of European Commission President. Dr. Georgios Papanagnou takes a look at some of the weaknesses in the campaigns by Cameron and the British media. In the end “this time was not so much different” – Jean Claude […]