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Colin Talbot is professor of government at the University of Manchester. He writes 'Whitehall Watch' in a personal capacity.
Colin’s Tweets
- Budget black hole at heart of George Osborne’s finances - FT.com on.ft.com/148L6J6 via @FT 14 hours ago
- RT @ukhomelessness: Anyone seen a white Suzuki Van reg GL54 KAK. It was stolen from Southwark Food Bank last night. They now can't fetch fo… 16 hours ago
- Sad indictment of "apprenticeships" - Why I'm pleased my stepdaughter won't apply to the civil service gu.com/p/3fnt6/tw via @guardian 2 days ago
- US Debt Not so bad after all: About That Debt Crisis? Never Mind nyti.ms/YVVOnp 3 days ago
Colin’s latest book
Comment is free…
Please feel free to comment and especially to add your own analyses or experiences. Just click on a blog and go to the comment section at the bottom. Or you can email me at colin.talbot@mbs.ac.ukTop Posts
- The Answer to Life, The Universe and Everything? It’s 43.
- Lies, Damned Lies and Government misuse of official statistics: Select Committee Attacks Government
- Universities and Public Policy
- ‘Poor Performers’ in the Civil Service - blame the poor bloody infantry
- UKIP: Building a Party when the "Party" is Over?
- Lord O'Donnell Suggests .... that someone rather like him should be put in charge of vetting government policy. Seriously?
- Power to the people? No thanks - Coalition government announces end of "duty to involve"
- The UK in 2013: A Failing Economy or a Failing State?
- About
- My Big Fat Greek Government?
Discussion
- Brat on Lord O’Donnell Suggests …. that someone rather like him should be put in charge of vetting government policy. Seriously?
- Inquisitive Practitioner on Lord O’Donnell Suggests …. that someone rather like him should be put in charge of vetting government policy. Seriously?
- Chris Wilson on UKIP: Building a Party when the “Party” is Over?
- brian carr on UKIP: Building a Party when the “Party” is Over?
- colinrtalbot on UKIP: Building a Party when the “Party” is Over?
Tags
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Tag Archives: Whitehall
Public Spending in the UK: Public Sector Debt
The debate on the future of the public finances and especially spending on public services has finally come to the fore after all the diversions of the past few months. What are the crucial questions that we should demand of … Continue reading
Doing the BIS: Lord Mandelson’s New Empire
The two-year-old Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) has been merged with the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) to create a new Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS or is it just BIS?).
Will Hutton on Prime Ministerial power and public administration
In a great article in today’s Oberserver, Will Hutton reviews the origins of the current political crisis in the UK in the constitutional set-up which confers monarchical powers on Prime Ministers, something I have written about frequently here and in … Continue reading
Posted in Public Management, Whitehall
Tagged Constitution, Departments, Ministers, Prime Minister, Whitehall
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Blears: Joined-Up Jargon Queen Quits Government
Hazel Blears, Communities and Local Government Secretary in the Labour Government has announced her decision to leave the government on the eve of local government elections in England, in what is being widely seen as direct attack on PM Gordon … Continue reading
Posted in Whitehall
Tagged CAA, CPA, government, jargon, joined up, local government, Whitehall
1 Comment
The Art of Public Strategy – Geoff Mulgan
Geoff Mulgan’s new book on ‘The Art of Public Strategy’ is an riveting read, fizzing with insights and ideas. Mulgan played a big role in the Blair government, as a policy adviser and Head of the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews
Tagged book review, government, policy, Public Value, strategy, Whitehall
1 Comment
Rate your doctor on-line? – another Whitehall-centric initiative
Even when the Government claims to be ‘empowering patients’ it manages to do it in a Whitehall-centric way.
Posted in Public Management, Whitehall
Tagged NHS, performance, public services, spending, Whitehall
3 Comments
Gizza Job? Jobcentres Plus stitched up by Minister.
“Gizza job”, those with long-enough memories will recall, was the catch phrase of the central character- Yosser Hughes – in Alan Bleasedale’s very dark BBC TV comedy ‘The Boys from the Blackstuff’ which aired in the middle of another big … Continue reading
Posted in Whitehall
Tagged government, public services, Select Committees, Whitehall
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Government Learning – an oxymoron?
A new NAO Report – Helping Government Learn – sets out to encourage better policies and practice for ‘organisational learning’ in government.
Posted in Whitehall
Tagged Civil Service, government, Ministers, NAO, public services, Westminister, Whitehall
1 Comment
Recruiting civil servants efficiently?
One the NAO’s latest reports points to a small but significant area of inefficiency in Whitehall – recruitment:
So What Would You Do?
In December I appeared as a witness before two Select Committees in the Westminster parliament: the Treasury Committee (TSC) which was responding to the government’s Pre-Budget Report; and the Public Administration Committee (PASC) which was investigating what standards of ‘good … Continue reading
Posted in Whitehall
Tagged broadband, Civil Service, railways, Select Committees, spending, Whitehall
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The Art of Performance
The major first report by the UK’s latest ‘think tank’, the Institute for Government led by well-known and outspoken former Permanent Secretary Sir Michael Bichard, bodes well for the future of the new body. It is a serious, measured and balanced … Continue reading
Posted in Performance, Whitehall
Tagged Civil Service, government, performance, Public Value, Whitehall
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Capable in a Crisis?
Sir Gus O’Donnell, head of the UK civil service, in a recent speech outlined why he thought the British civil service would perform well in the current financial and economic crisis. In an article – “Mandarin-tinted glasses” - published in Public … Continue reading
Posted in Performance
Tagged Civil Service, efficiency, government, NAO, performance, Whitehall
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