Cutting costs alone won’t cut it in the public sector. The case for shared services is growing ever stronger as political, technological and procurement obstacles are removed Read more
Ministers have called on business leaders to serve as departmental non-executive directors and help make Whitehall more efficient. But more could be done to ensure that the right people are recruited and departments make the most of the expertise they offer Read more
‘Command and control’ is the default position for politicians and public service managers. But, as the tragic failures in Mid-Staffordshire show, it is a deeply flawed delivery model Read more
Neither the brickbats nor bouquets being thrown at the memory of Margaret Thatcher accurately reflect her record Read more
A preoccupation with local government bookended Margaret Thatcher’s political career, but her time in Number 10 failed to resolve the fundamentals of the Whitehall-town hall dynamic. Read more
It might not seem like it to people working across the health service, but the NHS is one of the lucky ones when it comes to funding. Read more
The chancellor was quick to pass the blame in his Budget speech. But many of the problems have been caused by his own actions and he offered little to improve the situation today Read more
Rather than focusing on cunning infrastructure plans, the chancellor should listen to the chorus of voices calling for a capital-spending, debt-funded stimulus Read more
Payment by results seems to be going out of fashion in the public sector. PbR has been vastly over-sold, but it would be a shame if were to be killed off completely Read more
Whole of Government Accounts provide a consolidated view of the UK’s finances that should be used more to inform government policy making – yet failed to even get a mention in the Autumn Statement. It will be interesting to see if this is rectified in the March 20 Budget Read more
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