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	<title>Blog &#187; Political leaders</title>
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	<link>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog</link>
	<description>Institute for Government Blog</description>
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		<title>I didn’t predict a riot</title>
		<link>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/3305/i-didn%e2%80%99t-predict-a-riot/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/3305/i-didn%e2%80%99t-predict-a-riot/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:56:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Catherine Haddon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[New models of governance and public services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Accountability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Political leaders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Riots]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/?p=3305</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The riots that began in London, and have now spread to other cities, represent the first big domestic crisis that this Government has faced. When they get a chance, senior politicians will want to sit back and reflect on how their reactions held up. In previous work on the lessons from past crises, we have identified a number of roles that ministers needed to focus on, including: • reaction and awareness in an emerging crisis • accountability and delegation • communications and public expectations • different behaviour Reaction One of the top lessons for ministers is ‘recognising that you are in a crisis’. This is tough. Having repeatedly resisted calls for their return, the Monday escalation of the riots eventually forced senior politicians to leave their holidays. There is now a danger of them looking like they are responding to the horse that has already bolted. Few of us appreciated that the riots would escalate on the Monday night in the way they did – nor that they would spread to other cities. Ministers, including the Mayor and the Prime Minster, will have to reflect on how the official machine kept them in the loop, whether they should have responded [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Who is fit and proper?</title>
		<link>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/3098/who-is-fit-and-proper/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/3098/who-is-fit-and-proper/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:56:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zoe Gruhn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Leadership for government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cabinet Secretary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Political leaders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transparency]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/?p=3098</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The headline grabber inevitably centres around the Prime Minister’s judgement. There are however other important issues which this has highlighted. These are about the processes for senior ‘political’ appointments which come within the purview of Prime Ministers but which involve people who work at the heart of government. The current system is pretty opaque. Even though some of these appointees may operate as quasi civil servants, can the civil service influence such senior appointments up to and including the power of veto? It appears not. Certainly the Civil Service Commissioners, although they are involved in the appointment of senior public figures, do not have a locus in this area. Positive vetting cannot, of itself, prevent appointments and is more likely to focus on personal behavioural matters such as sex and drugs than, say, someone’s business background. And does the Cabinet Secretary have a role? At this point the mists descend but the likelihood is that, whatever reservations he might have, ultimately, if a Prime Minister decides to run with an appointment, he gets his way. Not the first time Is this sustainable? This is not the first time questions over the behaviour of political appointees have been raised. More recently [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/3098/who-is-fit-and-proper/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Supporting the Prime Minister</title>
		<link>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2979/supporting-the-prime-minister/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2979/supporting-the-prime-minister/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:19:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David Atkinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Parliament and the political process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[No 10]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Political leaders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Centre]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/?p=2979</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Institute’s new working paper, Supporting Heads of Government, compares the support the UK Prime Minister receives with five other countries and highlights some key differences, especially in the type and amount of advice he receives on policies. The debate in the UK is typically characterised by a very negative attitude towards increasing the amount of assistance our leaders receive. So you might expect the evidence to show that the Prime Minister has a larger support system than in other countries; our international research suggests that this is not the case. Examples from other countries For instance, there is a key difference between the capacity of the UK centre to challenge policies and policy advice from departments as compared to other countries we studied. Civil service policy advisers at the Prime Minister’s Department in Australia, the Privy Council Office in Canada and the Chancellery in Germany provide advice which is critical and independent of departments. We found that the UK has a much more limited capacity in this area. Though comparisons are difficult, we estimate that there are around 10 times more policy advisers supporting the Canadian leader than the UK Prime Minister, even with the new Policy and Implementation [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>For how long should ministers be in place?</title>
		<link>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2678/for-how-long-should-ministers-be-in-place/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2678/for-how-long-should-ministers-be-in-place/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 May 2011 12:00:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Riddell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Leadership for government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ministerial effectiveness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[permanent secretaries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Political leaders]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/?p=2678</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A near universal complaint of former and current ministers and civil servants interviewed for the Institute’s new report The Challenge of Being a Minister is about the damaging effects of over-frequent reshuffles on the quality of government. There are big variations. The most senior ministers, not just prime ministers but also chancellors of the exchequer and foreign secretaries tend to serve longer than other cabinet ministers. Over the 31 years of the last two governments, there were just seven chancellors, four of them serving four years or more. But just in the 13 years of the Blair and Brown Governments, there were six defence secretaries, eight trade and industry secretaries and six home secretaries. This is not the way to ensure consistency in the leadership of departments or in policy. The German example By contrast, since 1949, Germany, including the former West Germany, has had just 15 ministers for the economy/business, against 35 in equivalent positions in the UK. And no one would argue that Britain has had a superior industrial performance. German policymakers seem puzzled by talk of reshuffles which seldom occur in the Federal Government, where ministers are generally appointed for the four year length of an administration [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2678/for-how-long-should-ministers-be-in-place/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Shifting the blame</title>
		<link>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2136/shifting-the-blame/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2136/shifting-the-blame/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Mar 2011 16:14:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zoe Gruhn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A more effective Whitehall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[civil service reform]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Organisational change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Political leaders]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/?p=2136</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[John Reid had a go when he described the Home Office as &#8220;not fit for purpose&#8221;. Last week the Cabinet Secretary revealed that he had had to write to the Prime Minister asking him to rein in special advisors after personal attacks on a public official. And yesterday the Prime Minister himself was at it with his attacks on the &#8220;enemies of enterprise&#8221; in government departments and local authorities. So far, so much fun. But how much fun is it if you’re a civil servant in BIS, UKTI, the regions or wherever who works your socks off helping to support British business, and in particular SMEs, to succeed at home and abroad? Might you not think that, at a time when there is a threat of job losses some support for and understanding of what you do rather than a public hammering might be more appropriate? The civil service duopoly What this does is crystallise two perennial issues – who provides leadership for the civil service and how do you best motivate and lead people, particularly though times of major change? The civil service is, of course, politically neutral. It works for the government of the day, providing a seamless [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2136/shifting-the-blame/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>99 and not out</title>
		<link>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2112/99-and-not-out/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2112/99-and-not-out/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:56:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew Adonis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Leadership for government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[elected mayors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Localism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Political leaders]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/?p=2112</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Leeds has more councillors over the age of 80 than under the age of 35. Not that it is short of councillors.  It has 99 in all, only one member fewer than the Senate of the United States. No-one I met in the city thought that the very great size and average age of the council was a mark in its favour. Apart from the councillors I met, everyone was supportive or open-minded about the benefits of a mayor if they could deal with what Duncan McCargo, professor of politics at Leeds university, called the &#8220;shocking lack of strategy and leadership on the council for the last 20 years and the deep social divisions which separate the affluent north-west of the city from the large poor council estates of the south and east.&#8221; A city doing well Leeds is the financial capital of the north and one of the fastest growing cities in the country. First Direct, GE Capital, Alliance and Leicester and Direct Line are all based in the city. In the constant trans-Pennine rivalry for private sector jobs, the city has done well. But in terms of public institutions and regeneration, the contrast is far less favourable. A [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2112/99-and-not-out/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>An elected mayor for Newcastle United?</title>
		<link>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2052/an-elected-mayor-for-newcastle-united/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2052/an-elected-mayor-for-newcastle-united/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Feb 2011 10:49:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew Adonis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[New models of governance and public services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[elected mayors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Localism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Political leaders]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/?p=2052</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Of all the cities I have visited so far, Newcastle is the least enthusiastic about reforming its system of government. Labour and the Lib Dems dominate the city council and I could not identify a single councillor or MP from either party in favour of the mayoral proposition. Newcastle has form on the subject of city bosses. People still talk about T Dan Smith, the dictatorial Labour leader of the city in the 1960s, who had grand visions of Newcastle as the &#8220;Brasilia of the North&#8221; and &#8220;the outstanding provincial city in the country&#8221; but ended up in jail for conspiracy and corruption. T Dan Smith’s ghost stalks the city’s breathtaking Scandinavian-style civic centre, a monument to his vision but equally a reminder that power can corrupt very badly indeed. Recent experience Recent experience of elected mayors elsewhere in the north-east has also put local politicians off the idea. Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and neighbouring North Tyneside all have mayors. Their record is fairly positive, but two of the three won as anti-party candidates (ex-police chief Ray Mallon in Middlesbrough and Stuart &#8216;the monkey&#8217; Drummond, ex mascot of Hartlepool FC), while in North Tyneside there is Tory Mayor confronting a Labour council. [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/2052/an-elected-mayor-for-newcastle-united/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Would an elected mayor change Birmingham and Coventry for the better?</title>
		<link>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/1806/would-an-elected-mayor-change-birmingham-and-coventry-for-the-better/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/1806/would-an-elected-mayor-change-birmingham-and-coventry-for-the-better/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 Jan 2011 10:17:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew Adonis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[New models of governance and public services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Accountability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[elected mayors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Localism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Political leaders]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/?p=1806</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A million people, an annual budget of £4bn – yet an unemployment rate of 10 per cent and among the highest concentrations of poverty in the country. These vital statistics about Birmingham, Britain’s second city and the largest unitary local authority in Europe, are driving the debate on whether &#8220;Birmingham should have its Boris&#8221; and vote for a directly elected mayor in the referendum now set for next May 2012. Should Birmingham have a Boris? Arriving at Birmingham New Street station, one of the biggest eyesores in Britain, graphically illustrates the sense of malaise and failure in this city. The station is soon to be rebuilt, thanks in good measure to the efforts of the current council leader Mike Whitby, but the fact that it has taken so long, and that so much of the city’s infrastructure and social fabric remains blighted, highlights the challenge and opportunity for an elected mayor. Jerry Blackett, Chief Executive of Birmingham chamber of commerce, reels off a long list of urgent priorities for the city’s business sector not currently being delivered, starting with the city’s airport which has been due an extension for years but which is still not happening. Julia King, Vice Chancellor [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/1806/would-an-elected-mayor-change-birmingham-and-coventry-for-the-better/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bristol&#8217;s answer to Boris Johnson?</title>
		<link>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/1525/bristols-answer-to-boris-johnson/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/1525/bristols-answer-to-boris-johnson/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Jan 2011 11:24:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew Adonis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[New models of governance and public services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Accountability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[elected mayors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Localism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Political leaders]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/?p=1525</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bristol City Council has had seven changes of leader in eight years.  Yet another change of leader could be in the offing after next May&#8217;s elections. But even if the current administration – run by the Lib Dems – continues after May, no-one is sure whether the current council leader will be challenged successfully for the job within her own party group of councillors  after the May elections, as happened a few years ago before she regained the leadership in a later vote. The views in Bristol Virtually everyone I spoke to in Bristol today thought this was no way to run a great city, and that the city suffered from lack of stable, strategic leadership. There was strong support for an elected mayor from all the business, education and media leaders that I met. All of them rattled off a list of major challenges facing the city, where a &#8220;mayor with a mission&#8221; could make a big difference: inadequate transport links seriously underperforming state schools a shortage of housing to serve Bristol’s thriving economy chronic unemployment and poverty in many of the council estates in the south of the city. Bristol&#8217;s main evening paper is also behind the idea, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/1525/bristols-answer-to-boris-johnson/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>A suitable job for a woman</title>
		<link>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/1472/a-suitable-job-for-a-woman/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/1472/a-suitable-job-for-a-woman/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:54:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jill Rutter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Leadership for government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[permanent secretaries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Political leaders]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/?p=1472</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We are coming near to the end of the Permanent Secretary musical chairs which started in the summer. So far ten jobs have changed hands. Three appointments are outstanding – at Defra, as Chief Medical Officer and the second permanent secretary at MoD: Whitehall has collectively lost a lot of experience, with the retirements of long-serving permanent secretaries at the Home Office, Health, Work &#38; Pensions and Defence. Local government as a training ground The first thing to say is that in terms of experience it is pretty much as before. Some experience in the Treasury or Cabinet Office helps, but seems to be less essential than it once was. The big change is that two people have made the move from running big agencies / NDPBs to permanent secretary after long careers in local government. That accounts for the one discernible change in the proportion of time spent pre-appointment with a significant shift to local government. The converse is that there is a marked reduction in prior departmental experience.  None of the new appointees have any private sector experience. Thatcher’s daughters? The other significant change is that four of the ten new appointments went to women. Two were already in [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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