Colin Talbot

About Colin Talbot

Colin Talbot is professor of government and public administration at the University of Manchester Business School, and a former adviser to the Treasury select committee. He writes and comments widely on public management reform. Colin has worked with numerous national and international public sector organisations, as an adviser, consultant and researcher. He blogs at Whitehall Watch.

Whitehall: new buzz words, old woes

24 January 2012 | Colin Talbot

Will the new civil service regime be any better at ‘implementation’ than its predecessor was at ‘delivery’? It seems highly unlikely Read more...

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Osborne’s statement: we’re all doomed

29 November 2011 | Colin Talbot

The Autumn Statement and OBR figures show there is no jam today, tomorrow or the day after that.  Instead, the chancellor is robbing Peter to pay Paul Read more...

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My Big Fat Greek Government?

8 November 2011 | Colin Talbot

‘Big government’ has not been the downfall of Greece. What happened in the country is more part of the continuing legacy of the years of occupation, civil war and dictatorship Read more...

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An alternative to the OBR?

31 October 2011 | Colin Talbot

We await the Office for Budget Responsibility’s view of the public finances. But what is really needed is a Parliamentary Budget Office Read more

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PFI: the wrong diagnosis?

23 September 2011 | Colin Talbot

It is unfair to blame PFI for the NHS’s woes. The problem is not the initiative itself, but the way it has been implemented over the years by the ‘gifted amateurs’ in Whitehall Read more

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The riots: under-class vs uber-class

9 August 2011 | Colin Talbot

The unacceptable violence we have seen over the past few days has come from society’s under class. But there is also an uber class of financiers, directors, derivative traders and newspaper moguls who believe that the ‘normal rules’ don’t apply to them Read more

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‘Staggering’ savings? I don’t think so

2 August 2011 | Colin Talbot

There is nothing ‘staggering’ about Francis Maude’s announcement  of £3.75bn savings other than the audacity of making such inflated  claims Read more

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Open services, closed political minds

26 July 2011 | Colin Talbot

The Open public services white paper is full of ‘new’ policies that have been around for ages. It rehashes failed ideas and rubbishes the public sector at almost every opportunity Read more...

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Public services: mutually assured destruction?

20 July 2011 | Colin Talbot

The ‘Big Idea’ in the Open Public Services White Paper is the creation of worker mutuals. But the hurdles to these are formidable and the possible dynamics hazardous Read more

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Phone hacking: all in this together

7 July 2011 | Colin Talbot

The News of the World phone hacking revelations have opened up a huge can of worms for the political establishment Read more

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