So what did the Audit Commission ever do for us? Not much, judging from the chorus yelling ‘good riddance’ as soon as Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announced the watchdog’s death. Read more...
Judy Hirst
Judy Hirst is deputy editor of Public Finance magazine. She has written extensively on public and social policy issues, for the Guardian, the New Statesman, Community Care and other publications.
The state we’re in, by Judy Hirst
We’re all in this together, the PM and his chancellor repeatedly proclaim. How right they are. Read more...
12 August 2010 | Judy Hirst
Public Enemy No 1, by Judy Hirst
The private sector, we were told last week, has so far borne the brunt of this recession. Many millions of its employees have had their pay frozen and pensions restricted, said the chancellor in his Budget speech. It’s time, he argued, for the ‘insulated’ public sector to ‘share the burden’. Read more...
1 July 2010 | Judy Hirst
Boxing clever? By Judy Hirst
We’re all in this together, said the chancellor, in his debut Budget outing this week. We’ve all got to share the pain. Read more...
24 June 2010 | Judy Hirst
Turning up the noise, by Judy Hirst
The ‘emergency Budget’ is almost upon us. It’s going to be a game of two halves. On the one hand, with the Office for Budget Responsibility acting as fiscal referee, there’s Cameron’s promise of pain, and yet more pain – the unavoidable penalty for all those foul-ups under the old management. Read more...
17 June 2010 | Judy Hirst
More heat than light, by Judy Hirst
Pay. It’s such a sensitive subject. In most workplaces, the public sector included, salary levels are regarded as a delicate, private matter, particularly when it comes to the highest levels of reward. Read more...
3 June 2010 | Judy Hirst
Plumbing the depths, by Judy Hirst
Governments come and go. But the political gameplaying never stops. So this week we had the new chancellor and chief secretary to the Treasury tut-tutting and sucking their teeth, like a pair of plumbers called out to fix the boiler. Read more...
20 May 2010 | Judy Hirst
The show goes on, by Judy Hirst
Big government or the Big Society? It was a constant theme throughout the election campaign. It was even returned to by that old trooper – Tony Blair – on the eve of polling day. Read more...
6 May 2010 | Judy Hirst
Ch-ch-changes, by Judy Hirst
Change. It’s what we all want, apparently. It’s the reason for a belated surge of interest in the election campaign, the eruption of Cleggmania, and a seismic shift in the polls. Read more...
22 April 2010 | Judy Hirst
Everyone’s business, by Judy Hirst
General elections used to be about big political issues: war, poverty, welfare, that kind of thing. Read more...
8 April 2010 | Judy Hirst
Analyse this, by Judy Hirst
Politicians are in denial. The public finances – already facing meltdown – will need up to £80bn more to meet soaring care costs. No-one is facing up to what it means. Read more...
18 March 2010 | Judy Hirst
Follow the money, by Judy Hirst
The markets, we are told, do not like uncertainty. Neither do public sector finance directors. That’s why, as the pound plunged this week, in response to speculation over a hung Parliament, those in charge of public service budgets were still preparing for the worst. Read more...
4 March 2010 | Judy Hirst
Our mutual friend? By Judy Hirst
Become your own boss. It sounds like one of those ads promising vast wealth from telemarketing. But this week the Conservatives gave an old catch phrase a fresh twist, with their souped-up version of workers’ co-operatives. Read more...
18 February 2010 | Judy Hirst
Another fine mess, by Judy Hirst
Who are the good guys? For the protagonists in The Road – the movie based on Cormac McCarthy’s dystopian novel – it’s a life and death question. Read more...
4 February 2010 | Judy Hirst
Just whistle? By Judy Hirst
For most of the past decade, localism has been the dog that rarely if ever barked. There were the occasional growls from think-tanks and pressure groups, and some yelps from hard-done-by councils. Read more...
22 January 2010 | Judy Hirst
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