Author Archives: Colin Talbot

Dear Readers, Some of you may know that I have been exploring ideas about why humans seem so contradictory for many years. I even wrote a short, not very successful, book about it (The Paradoxical Primate 2004). I have decided to … Continue reading →

Unlike the historical HMS Titanic, NHS Titanic cannot be sunk, at least not easily and not in a hurry. That is the realistic view of what will happen now the Health and Social Care Bill becomes an Act.

I’ve had a very hectic day today, but one thought has been plaguing me all day.

In his Budget speech the Chancellor managed to claim several contradictory things at once about taxing the rich. First, he claimed the 50% top income tax rate was raising almost nothing. Next he claimed it was damaging the economy anyway. … Continue reading →

The IMF spent much of the 1970s, 80s and 90s promoting what was euphemistically called ‘structural adjustment’ in developing countries. What this boiled down to was shrinking the state – cutting public services, taxes and regulation. What we are seeing … Continue reading →

Just a quick note: Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has just let slip on BBC that there will be a Spending Review “over the next year or so” (i.e. SR 2013) as i have been predicting for some … Continue reading →

The issue of Ministers’ interest came to the fore with the Liam Fox/Adam Werrity affair last year. Today the Public Administration Select Committee passed judgement on the role of the supposedly “independent adviser” to the PM on the issue. It … Continue reading →

Localising, or regionalising, public sector pay has been a long dream of HM Treasury. But there are reasons it has never been realised, reasons that still militate against it happening in practice, whatever Mr Osborne decrees from the centre.

I received the following comment from a serving civil servant who wishes to remain anonymous. I publish it here (with their consent) and add a comment of my own at the end: ——– Although a civil servant I have some … Continue reading →

A civil service colleague wrote to me following my previous post about Civil Service accountability, pointing out the role of the ‘Civil Service Code’ in their accountability. He was of course correct to point this out, but the ‘Code’ does … Continue reading →

Britain has always had a fairly weak system for correcting public administration injustices when compared to many other countries, where there are much more formal systems. More than half a million complaints have to be addressed every year through a … Continue reading →

I have complained in numerous places [*] that the most recent “efficiency movement” in government, which started with the Gershon Review in 2004, was built on faulty concepts and analysis and that reported ‘savings were often a mirage.

Theresa May, Home Secretary, has announced the dismantling of the UK Borders Agency just a few months before the London Olympics. This is just the latest twist in a saga that goes back years during which Ministers (and senior civil … Continue reading →