Veterans of relations between Number 10, the Cabinet Office, advisers and ministers would find nothing new in the noisy process of producing the plan. Sir Jeremy Heywood was characteristically sanguine at the Public Accounts Committee recently as he acknowledged the ‘frustration’ experienced by those trying to drive change in the Civil Service. Rather than...
U-turn is among the most over-used terms in political debate along with ‘the most disastrous week ever’; ‘it’s not brain surgery/rocket science’; ‘UKplc’. It is part of gotcha journalism and politics, when a government weakness and policy change is highlighted — as is happening now with the withdrawal of Budget proposal on hot takeaway...
Last week I participated in a panel at a Green Alliance event on the Green Deal. Someone from Chiswick complained that he had asked some local builders for quotes to renovate his newly acquired house – they had all offered to install solar panels – but none had offered him ‘Green Deal’ improvements. That...
Today, the phrase “community trigger” was coined, as Home Secretary Theresa May proposed that the police would have to respond when a certain number of families complained about antisocial behaviour. Doesn’t this look rather like a target demanding 100% compliance backed up by legislation? Also today, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced that he...
‘Celebrity reviews’ got a bad name in Whitehall under Gordon Brown. The accepted modus operandus was for a big name to be hauled in to do a review under the close supervision of the Treasury – and come up with recommendations in line with the thinking of the Chancellor’s key advisers and provide cover for...
The ten policy making commandments: 1. Thou shalt be clear about the outcomes that you want to achieve Agreed. Policy fundamental number one is to be clear about your objectives. 2. Thou shalt evaluate policy as objectively as possible Agreed. Fundamental no. 7. Evaluation important – but still an area of weakness when Gus...
Yesterday, the Queen opened the second session of the current parliament. This follows the unusually long 2010-12 session that began after the May 2010 election; each session begins after the monarch’s speech and divides up the ‘parliament’ that lasts from one election to the next. The coalition government has been perceived as having front-loaded...
The government’s intention is clear: to turn a page on the difficulties of the past few months and recapture the political agenda from its opponents, including those within the governing parties. But government renewal, as a forthcoming Institute for Government report will argue, is a tough task made more complex still by the pressures...
Special advisers are subject to their own strict code of conduct and the ministerial code states clearly that ministers are responsible for the management and conduct of their spads and are also ‘accountable to the Prime Minister, Parliament and the public for their actions and decisions in respect of their special advisers.’ The lines...