With NHS finances under pressure, there is a need for more data, transparency and consistency to fully understand the implications and role of independent providers in the provision of NHS-funded...
The consultation on the £200m in-year cut to local authorities’ public health grant has emerged very late in the day. The November Spending Review will be a litmus test of the government...
Little is understood about the impact of wider public sector cuts on people’s health. We need to build an evidence base to help guide spending decisions.
With concerns that Generation Y is missing out on government largesse, do public accounts need to be more transparent and reflect the costs of, say, future pension liabilities? It’s a question...
Last year’s Freedom and Choice reforms tore up the consensus that pensions policy needs to smooth income over retirement. However, research suggests that individuals still value pension...
If society is to continue funding higher education through taxes, universities need to open up and work directly with local communities, to become problem-solvers and drivers of economic change.
A banking scandal on an epic scale, flagrant misuse of public funds, fearless investigators and a grasping Scottish cabal in Westminster. Familiar? It happened 200 years ago.
The government is planning a further expansion of its academies programme, but it is not clear there is capacity in the system to transform all these schools
We need to shift from a focus on supply-side improvement to one on demand-side change. Here are five ground rules for a more collaborative approach to public services.
London needs the same fiscal powers as Scotland and the control over health and social care that has been promised to Manchester. The capital can’t be left out of devolution.
The government’s decision to pause the ‘capped cost’ care reforms for four years has probably killed off the policy, and represents a tragic waste of time and money for the care...
As the government has set out plans to increase the number of mutuals delivering public services, ministers must acknowledge the challenges ahead for mutuals as well as the benefits. There are...
Devolution in England is gathering pace. In the Budget, the chancellor made it clear that he considered that the process of shifting power away from Westminster has only just begun.
In a statement filled with policy announcements, the chancellor reiterated his commitment to devolution. Councils must get their proposals to the government before they get landed with someone else’s...
The Budget gave us the answers to where the £12bn in welfare cuts will come from. But we need a more sustainable and strategic approach to the drivers of welfare spending.
A National Audit Office report on open-book accounting creates the opportunity to develop new measures for greater transparency and accountability for outsourced public services
As the government prepares to devolve more powers to local areas, leaders and decision-makers in public services must ensure that accountability is as local as the delivery
The Barnett formula is increasingly regarded as no longer fit for purpose. A recent report from the Northern Ireland Assembly helps make the case for a needs-based approach.
