The World Bank is updating its approach to public sector management.

I have never understood how on earth our current electoral system became known as “first past the post” (FPTP)? The metaphor implied is clearly that of some sort of race to a winning post, and the first one past it wins. The problem is, there is no winning post in our system. Or at least, […]

A very useful, balanced, discussion of the above over at Flipchartfairytales – including important international and historical perspectives.

The Public Management and Policy Association (UK) has just published a new report on Redefining Local Government, and is available for free download here. It includes a chapter by Carole Talbot and myself on “Local government strategies in an age of austerity” in which we analyse some of the possible responses and look at the […]

See my comment for Public Finance on “The Five States We’re In”

by Davy Jones 15 April 2011 The Introduction to the Government’s new Best Value: new draft statutory guidance announces the repeal of two statutory duties on local authorities: the duty to involve, and the duty to prepare a sustainable community strategy. This is explained as reducing “red tape” for local authorities.

Whitehall Watch has been more successful, both quantitatively and qualitatively, than I ever imagined when I started it up just over two years ago now. But it has been almost entirely a “one man band” and I’ve been trying to think of ways of changing that….

[This post is being updated as more information arrives, so please check back]. A friend and colleague at the University of Malawi (Chancellor College) has just sent this somewhat hair-raising account of a developing attack on academic freedom there:

Here’s a simple question about the NHS reforms – who’s going to count the beans? Bean counting gets a bad press, but as soon as someone fails to count the public sector beans – for which read “the taxpayers money” – properly all hell breaks loose.