Opinion/blog

Unemployment: reasons to be even gloomier

14 February 2012 | Duncan Weldon

What are the prospects for replacing jobs lost in the public sector? Despite government claims, it’s hard to see how the private sector can fill the gap   Read more

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More disasters waiting to happen

14 February 2012 | Conor Ryan
Andrew Lansley is not the only minister making a hash of major reforms. It’s only a matter of time before Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare reforms hit the buffers
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Lansley: a suitable case for treatment

10 February 2012 | Malcolm Prowle

Reform is urgently needed in the NHS, but Andrew Lansley’s Health and Social Care Bill is not the way to do it. The health secretary failed to undertake a robust analysis of the proposed legislation’s feasibility, prospects of success or risks Read more

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The collaboration conundrum

9 February 2012 | Don Peebles

Scotland wants its public bodies to save money by working more closely together and in partnership with the private sector. But can savings really be made this way? US research suggests they can Read more

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Can the Work Programme work?

9 February 2012 | Colin Talbot

The government’s much-vaunted welfare to work scheme could end up having no effect on the overall numbers of long-term unemployed people Read more

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Regeneration revisited

9 February 2012 | Alex Thomson

Councils have to look for new ways of regenerating our towns and cities and should consider alternatives to the Private Finance Initiative such as Local Asset Backed Vehicles Read more

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The answer is ‘yes’. What was the question?

8 February 2012 | Alan Finch

Finance managers must be aware of the dangers of self-justification and pre-determination in decision-making. Fortunately, there are tools and techniques to help arrive at more objective outcomes Read more

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Reviewing the spending situation

7 February 2012 | Colin Talbot

Frequent Spending Reviews were meant to be so old Labour. But could George Osborne be about to pull another one out of the hat in his 21 March Budget? Read more

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Welfare Bill: an abuse of privilege

6 February 2012 | Claudia Wood

The government has reversed its House of Lords defeats on the Welfare Reform Bill by reaching for an archaic convention on ‘financial privilege’. It’s a very dangerous precedent  Read more

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