Whitehall

The UK productivity-governance puzzle

By Dave Richards, Patrick Diamond and Anna Sanders Filed Under: British Politics, Devo, Growth and Inclusion, Inclusive Growth, Levelling up, OnProductivity Posted: December 2, 2022

The productivity issue in the UK is often framed as an issue driven by economic outcomes. This idea neglects some of the more complex structures that exist and contribute to the economic gaps in the UK. Professor Dave Richards, Professor Patrick Diamond and Dr Anna Sanders outline how government policy in the UK is too […]

Grand Brexit Strategies – Can Whitehall Cope? A Potted-History of [Not] Joining Government Up

By Dave Richards and Martin Smith Filed Under: All posts, Brexit, British Politics Posted: December 6, 2016

Brexit is a political challenge on an unprecedented scale. The process of exiting the European Union impacts every government department, and requires a level of co-ordination that UK governments have rarely managed to achieve. Here, the University of Manchester’s Dave Richards and the University of York’s Martin Smith survey the size of the challenge facing […]

Will a Greater Manchester Mayor mean even more great stuff happens?

By Andrew Wilson Filed Under: All posts, Devo, Featured Posted: April 17, 2015

At the Summat New event in Leeds, a group of 20 people from the North, who had never met before, sat in a circle and asked this question: “Are the voices of people living and working in places in the north of England fairly heard in our national conversation?” Here Andrew Wilson answers the question. The […]

Against Ad Hocery: UK Devolution and the Need for Consultation, Consensus and Consideration

By Martin Smith and Dave Richards Filed Under: Devo, Featured Posted: April 16, 2015

Last month the Political and Constitutional Reforms Committee published a report on the future of devolution, in the wake of the Scottish Referendum. Here Dave Richards and Martin Smith pick the report apart and look at the implications for devolution in the UK. The newly published report on the Future of Devolution after the Scottish […]

DevoManc should be viewed with suspicion

By Michael Dawson Filed Under: All posts, Devo, Featured Posted: March 17, 2015

In her most recent article, Professor Francesca Gains contends that DevoManc is “an idea whose time has come” and that any opposition “underplays” the combined authority’s years of hard work. With the greatest respect to Prof Gains, her arguments overlook the reality of Manchester’s situation. The facts are as follows: In 2012, David Cameron stated […]

‘Neither Unified, Nor Uniform – So What Civil Service for the Twenty-First Century?

By Francesca Gains and Dave Richards Filed Under: All posts, Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted: January 26, 2015

In the final part of our special series on the Civil Service, Francesca Gains and Dave Richards sum up the debate and assess the future of the service during a period of great change. The most striking theme to emerge from the Policy@Manchester series of Civil Service ‘stocking-taking’ blogs by Martin Stanley and Colin Talbot […]

Civil Service Accountability to the Public part II

By Martin Stanley Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted: January 19, 2015

In the second of three blogs Martin Stanley examines whether senior officials should be more accountable – especially to MPs – for the advice that they give to Ministers. This is the fourth post in our series on the Civil Service. How would officials react to greater public scrutiny? Most of them, I suspect, would […]

Civil Service Accountability to the Public

By Martin Stanley Filed Under: All posts, Whitehall Watch Posted: January 14, 2015

In the second of our series of posts exploring the corridors of power in Whitehall, former senior civil servant and public sector chief executive Martin Stanley discusses how we are governed and the tensions between the needs of Ministers, MPs and the wider public. The electorate clearly believe that ‘the Westminster Village’ is incompetent and/or […]

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 […]

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, […]