Category Archives: Public Management

Surpluses, Budgets, Parliament, and Accountability Down Under (Australia): some random thoughts

Posted on May 19, 2012 by

I am in Australia as “Accenture-Crawford School Distinguished Visiting Professor” at Australian National University in Canberra. Many thanks to both Accenture and the excellent Crawford School of Public Policy. I’ve been doing a fascinating series of meetings, seminars and lectures … Continue reading →

Posted in International, Political Economy, Public Administration, Public Management, Spending, Whitehall | Leave a comment

Jeremy Hunt (DCMS) debacle raises again the issue of Civil Service Reform

Posted on April 26, 2012 by

This week saw an extraordinary outburst from the most recently retired Head of the Civil Service, Lord Gus O’Donnell. He said, on the BBC, “”When governments go through difficult patches you are looking for who you can blame. The issue … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Public Administration, Public Management, Whitehall | 3 Comments

BT Infinity – Infinitely Unavailable?

Posted on April 5, 2012 by

Yesterday I got an email from BT, once again extolling the virtues of BT Infinity* and inviting me to sign up. As I am a BT customer – which is why they had my email – it wouldn’t have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Economy, Politics, Public Management, Whitehall | 5 Comments

Saint GP. Why have GPs been elevated to special status in the health debate?

Posted on March 11, 2012 by

The whole NHS reform is based on an assertion – that GPs are somehow better placed to decide what NHS services need to be provided because they are in some sense ”closer to patients”. The news story today that GPs … Continue reading →

Posted in NHS, Politics, Public Administration, Public Management | 9 Comments

Is the Civil Service Accountable to Parliament? Hodge vs O’Donnell spat opens a can of worms.

Posted on March 10, 2012 by

Is the Civil Service accountable to parliament? Margaret Hodge MP, the formidable chair of the powerful Public Accounts Committee of Parliament says “yes”. Sir (now Lord) Gus O’Donnell and other ex-Mandarins say firmly “no”. (For details see the Guardian website here). … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Parliament, Politics, Public Administration, Public Management, Whitehall | 5 Comments

Implement That

Posted on January 20, 2012 by

Watch out for the word “implementation” in 2012. It’s the new in-word in Whitehall.

Posted in Politics, Public Administration, Public Management, Whitehall | 1 Comment

My Top Ten (most read) WhitehallWatch posts of 2011 (so far)

Posted on December 22, 2011 by
Posted in International, Performance, Political Economy, Politics, Public Administration, Public Management, Spending, Whitehall | Leave a comment

Academy Schools Funding System Fails – quelle surprise

Posted on December 8, 2011 by

I have been predicting for some time that some of the big structural changes to public services are likely to destabilise the financial systems in health, education and local government. So it comes as no surprise that tens of millions … Continue reading →

Posted in Public Administration, Public Management, Spending, Whitehall | Leave a comment

Theresa May: déjà vu all over again

Posted on November 8, 2011 by

[I appeared briefly on Newsnight commenting on this - the item is about 20 mins in]. A British Home Secretary faces a media firestorm over a major blunder in one of the Home Office’s Executive Agencies. A senior agency official … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Public Management, Whitehall | 1 Comment

My Big Fat Greek Government?

Posted on November 7, 2011 by

The Greek crisis has given neo-liberals a a great opportunity to criticize ‘big government’ Hellenic style – they see the problem as a Big Fat Greek Government (apologies to the film of nearly that name). But as usual the truth … Continue reading →

Posted in International, Politics, Public Administration, Public Management, Spending | 2 Comments

The ‘Managerial Revolution’ is Over: They Won?

Posted on October 28, 2011 by

“Income Data Services, which totted up pay, bonuses and various share awards, says the average FTSE 100 executive director pocketed a 49 per cent rise in the last financial year to bring their remuneration to £2.7m a year. Chief executives … Continue reading →

Posted in International, Political Economy, Public Administration, Public Management | 3 Comments

Universities and the logic of public interest

Posted on September 22, 2011 by

  My trade union, UCU, is campaigning against the establishment of “private” universities in the UK. They have a point about the way in which this is being done, which is in my view with reckless disregard for quality and … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Public Management, Spending, Whitehall | 1 Comment

Soviet Planning Meets Parliamentary Boundaries, and it’ll end in tears

Posted on September 13, 2011 by

The imposition of soviet-style ‘one size fits all’ Parliamentary constituencies on the complex organic realities of England is an extraordinarily clumsy and contentious move. It smacks of moving towards Amercan-style boundary ‘Gerry mandering’, as well as distancing Parliamentary representation from … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Public Management, Whitehall | Leave a comment

Politicising the Met Won’t Help Policing

Posted on September 13, 2011 by

The appointment of Bernard Hogan-Howe as the new Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police is a political appointment, and all the poorer for it. I don’t mean Mr Hogan-Howe is a Tory, although he has been publicly cosying up to their … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Public Management | Leave a comment

Virtual Life… after Death

Posted on September 13, 2011 by

This doesn’t really have anything to do with Whitehall or Public Management, but I got this extraordinary Press Release this morning and was so taken aback I just thought I needed to share it. Maybe it should be relevant to … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Public Management | Leave a comment

Rebuilding Libya: Transitions in Public Management

Posted on August 24, 2011 by

Gaddafi is gone, and Libya faces a new future. Of course, the fighting is not completely over and he and his scions are still at large, but few doubt the regime is no more.

Posted in International, Politics, Public Management | 2 Comments

Why Greece is a Basket Case?

Posted on June 28, 2011 by

An excellent analysis over @ flipchartfairlytales which shows that the root of the Greek crisis is the failure of tax collection and the size of the shadow economy. My comment was:

Posted in International, Public Management, Spending, Whitehall | 1 Comment

Public Servants or Public Leaders?

Posted on June 22, 2011 by

David Cameron’s remark that he sometimes felt like saying to our military chiefs “you do the fighting and I’ll do the talking” has raised some interesting issues.

Posted in Politics, Public Management, Whitehall | 1 Comment

Public Service Reform White paper delayed…. Again

Posted on June 16, 2011 by

Jill Sherman reports in today’s The Times (16 June 2011) that the Coalition government’s long delayed public service reform White Paper has been delayed, again.

Posted in Politics, Public Management, Whitehall | Leave a comment

Mis-Placing NHS Funds?

Posted on June 15, 2011 by

The NHS has traditionally been organized, like most public services, on the basis of place. This has been both a control and a planning mechanism. It is a planning mechanism because it uses available information about the demographic and health … Continue reading →

Posted in Public Management, Spending, Whitehall | 7 Comments