Archive for July, 2010

IPSA has had the most controversial first few months of any public body since, say, the Child Support Agency. So Sir Ian Kennedy, its chairman, was inevitably on the defensive when he spoke at the Institute for Government about IPSA’s record and prospects.

According to Nick Clegg, the historic formation of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government signals “a permanent move to greater pluralism, diversity, and fluidity in politics” and a new era in which coalitions become the norm.

Welcome to the confused subject of arm’s length government. At the launch of the Institute last year, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell singled out the tangled landscape of arm’s length government as a suitable case for ‘IFG treatment’.

The recent release of official data on government websites allows us to make some comparisons. In a straight comparison of costs, the ‘Your Freedom’ site nearly makes it into the cheapest 20% of government websites.

It was a tough first audience made up of many familiar faces who helped shape his experiences as Prime Minister – and who were now busy settling in a new Prime Minister.