Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
British politics is currently consumed by a single question – how much did various Members of Parliament spend on bath-plugs and various other expenses items?
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
For those of you who have not seen it, the UK National School of Government’s ‘Policy Hub‘ is a useful resource.
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
Participated in a useful roundtable discussion on performance reporting and management, organised by Public Finance magazine – for a full report see Public Finance
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
A flagship policy of the New Labour government was that it would introduce greater stability – no more ‘boom and bust’ as Gordon Brown loudly and frequently boasted. A key component of this approach was more a ‘strategic’ approach to public spending – embedded in the new 3-year ‘Comprehensive Spending Review’ (CSR) process first announced […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
In the USA there are reports of so-called ‘tea-party’ protests, modelled on the famous ‘Boston Tea Party’ protests against taxation imposed by the British government on the (then) US colonies. But the US protesters (in reality the Republicans) rather the miss the point – the ‘Boston Tea Party’ was not a protest against taxation, but […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
I recently attended a ‘professorial dinner’ at Manchester, the purpose of which was to discuss our future strategy. The main message at the start was – universities, after a decade of a relatively benign environment, face a decade or more of austerity. How are we placed to deal with this new reality and what should […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
So where are we now, after Budget 09, in terms of the size and shape of the state and public services for the future? The reduction of annual growth in public spending to a mere 0.7% in real terms, whilst protecting some big and sensitive areas like health and education, will mean real terms cuts […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
While everyone focuses on the Governments plans as set out in Budget 09, let’s pause for a moment and consider the Tories options.
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
When is a cut in public spending not a cut – when you can disguise it as an “efficiency saving”. The first big round of ‘fantasy efficiency savings’ took place before the 2005 general election when the Labour and Conservative parties competed via the Gershon and James reviews – the two aforementioned gentlemen being business-persons […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
New readers start here: Damian Green, a Conservative opposition spokesperson on immigration had his parliamentary and other offices raided by police investigating the leaking of secret information from the Home Office.