Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
This is the written evidence i presented to the PASC back in 2011 on the so-called cull of quangos, setting out why they are an important part of any democratic state: IN DEFENCE OF QUANGOS why arms-length bodies are a vital part of our democratic system of public administration and what should be done to organise them better.
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
by Martin Smith (York University), Dave Richards and Patrick Diamond (both Manchester University) There is little doubt that the previous Labour Administration and the current Coalition Government have discernibly different governing projects. Despite a rhetorical appeal to the contrary, Labour substantially increased both the size and role of the state, developing a new set of […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
The political debate about public spending in the UK is bedevilled by myths and spin about how much we actually spend. So I thought it was time for a little myth-busting primer, with some pretty diagrams, about how we should be discussing public spending….
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
This week saw an extraordinary outburst from the most recently retired Head of the Civil Service, Lord Gus O’Donnell. He said, on the BBC, “”When governments go through difficult patches you are looking for who you can blame. The issue comes up of ‘well, let’s try and blame the Civil Service’. It does not usually […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
A civil service colleague wrote to me following my previous post about Civil Service accountability, pointing out the role of the ‘Civil Service Code’ in their accountability. He was of course correct to point this out, but the ‘Code’ does not actually go as far as the ‘Armstrong Doctrine’ or the ‘Osmotherly Rules’ I talked […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
Dame Helen Ghosh DCB is, I’m sure, a very fine civil servant in may ways, but sensitive to others perspectives she’s clearly not. Speaking at the NAO Conference on Performance yesterday (22 Feb 2012) Dame Helen was explaining how the Home office was attempting to devolve more powers to police forces, when she came up […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
I reprint below an excellent briefing by Professor Allyson Pollock and colleagues on key clauses of the Health and Social Care Bill. It addresses two critical issues: The removal of legal responsibility from the Secretary of State to prove health services and The confusing mixture of ‘person-based’ and ‘area-based’ arrangements for patients (and consequently funding […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
From the Financial Times Minimum wage rated top policy, say academics By Nicholas Timmins, Public Policy Editor Published: May 1 2011 What is the most successful policy of the past 30 years? Ask a bunch of political academics and their answer – perhaps surprisingly – is the minimum wage, followed by devolution, privatisation and the […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
Today’s report from the Public Administration Select Committee (see here and Press Release reproduced below) makes complete sense. It argues that as Ministers reduce the size of the House of Commons (from 650 down to 600 MPs) and devolve power (allegedly) away from Whitehall, there should be less need for so many Ministers and their […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
Andy Coulson may have gone, but the evidence of the spin-s dark arts at work permeates the Coalition government’s strategy. Before the election both Tories and Liberal Democrats made much of the fact they were going to be open and honest with voters about the effects of the cuts they were proposing (as opposed to […]