Monthly Archives: November 2009

Good will hunting, by Heather Wakefield

30 November 2009 | Heather Wakefield

Few could take issue with the notion of a National Care Service, given life in last week’s Queen’s Speech. Unison certainly doesn’t. We want the promised universal access and national standards. We believe that the NCS should provide care on the same basis as the NHS and could be funded through increased National Insurance contributions and/or other means of taxation. Read more...

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The political is managerial, by Steve Freer

27 November 2009 | Steve Freer

Delivering major cuts in public spending over the next few years poses both political and managerial challenges. To an extent these two agendas can feel like sharply contrasting takes on the hurdles and pitfalls which lie ahead. On the contrary, however, they are overlapping perspectives with a high degree of interdependence. Read more...

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Mend the roof after the rain, by Tony Dolphin

27 November 2009 | Tony Dolphin

Politicians are prioritising plans to reduce the budget deficit in the run-up to the election. But they should hold off major spending cuts until growth picks up Read more...

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The X factor, by Peter Holbrook

27 November 2009 | Peter Holbrook

Social enterprises should be given credit for the extra social benefits they provide when running public services Read more...

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Ensurance agents, by Paul O’Brien

27 November 2009 | Paul O'Brien

Councils must be more active in reducing tensions that can arise when local issues clash with wider considerations Read more...

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Sour grapes about PFI, by Tim Care

26 November 2009 | Tim Care

Shadow chancellor George Osborne has fired the first shot, declaring that the Private Finance Initiative is ‘flawed and must be replaced’. The months leading up to the election will get many politicians out of the woodwork, providing their penny’s worth on this issue. With the development of the UK’s schools and hospitals and other infrastructure on the table, the stakes are high. Read more...

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Erasing the rubber stamp, by Colin Talbot

26 November 2009 | Colin Talbot

The Fiscal Responsibility Bill will give Parliament real powers to scrutinise ministers’ spending plans – and not before time Read more...

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The biter bit, by Mike Thatcher

26 November 2009 | Mike Thatcher

Christine Gilbert had a glimpse this week of what it’s like to be berated for poor performance and to have your apparent failings dissected by what were once known as Fleet Street’s finest. Read more...

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Shooting the messenger, by Conor Ryan

24 November 2009 | Conor Ryan

Today’s Ofsted annual report has both good and bad news. There has been a substantial increase in the number of ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ schools – the equivalent of 1800 extra good schools in three years – but there remains a stubborn group where teaching is poor. Read more...

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What’s the point of the Child Poverty Bill? By the Institute for Fiscal Studies

20 November 2009 | Institute for Fiscal Studies

One of the 13 bills in the recent Queen’s Speech was the Child Poverty Bill, carried over from the previous Parliamentary Session. The most eye-catching part of the Bill is the duty it would place on the secretary of state for work and pensions to ensure that child poverty in 2020/21 is eradicated (how eradication is defined is discussed below). But it would also establish a Child Poverty Commission to advise the government on its strategy, require future governments to publish a strategy and report annually on progress, and place duties on local authorities and other “delivery partners” in England to work together to tackle child poverty, as the House of Commons Library explains. Read more...

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