How bold must New Labour have seemed to itself in 2001, when it re-branded the Department of Education the Department for Education and Skills. And again, in 2007, when it reconfigured the DfES and the DTI into three new departments: one for Children, Skills and Families (DCSF), a second for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS)… [Read More]
By Lara Sonola Some might call it a poisoned chalice, or instead, a great opportunity for an up-and-coming young minister to make his mark in a challenging department. Either way the approaching years, (or year) depending on your political outlook, will be very challenging for Andy Burnham, the new Secretary of State for Health.
Entrepreneurial, or dangerous? Creative, or subversive? This week it was disclosed that staff at a top Merseyside grammar school, St Anselm’s College in Birkenhead, have successfully foiled a plot designed to break Jamie Oliver’s heart: sweet racketeering.
The cat’s out of the bag. In an erudite and commendably candid paper, the NHS Confederation tells it as it is: the NHS will not be immune from the financial crisis, it will face real term cuts (Tory or Labour government, don’t believe either of their protestations to the contrary). And they will be of… [Read More]
Last June, the lamp-posts of Dublin were strewn with Libertas posters calling on voters not to sell Ireland’s future to unelected bureaucrats in Brussels, writes Luke Clark. Others appealed to Ireland’s nationalist spirit – some even reproduced the ‘Proclamation of Independence’. The campaign against Lisbon was significantly aided by the incomprehensible text of the Treaty… [Read More]
Today marks the publication of Education for All: The future of education and training for 14-19 year olds, the long-awaited outcome of the five-year long Nuffield Review of 14-19 education and training.
Last week we wrote about the purpose of patient choice as a policy aim and its potential outcomes in practice. Interestingly, the Health Service Journal has just reported that Local Involvement Networks (LINks), the government’s newest patient and public involvement initiative, claim they are not receiving enough financial and directional support from the DH.
This year, Cambridge University is to email exam results to students before displaying them in public outside the university’s senate house. On receipt of the email, students will have the opportunity to remove themselves from the public list, if they can prove ‘exceptional circumstances’ such as mental health problems. The move comes after lengthy debate with the student union, centring on the premise that public failure is humiliating and ‘stressful’.
The Economist carries an article this week that the NHS – and not least the new Competition and Cooperation Panel – would do well to look at. ‘Innovation through regulation’, ‘America’s stunning success in information technology was not the free market but government regulation’ punches a strange headline.
When ballots are cast in tomorrow’s European Parliament (EP) elections, most voters will be sending a message to one destination: Westminster, and not Brussels, writes Luke Clark. A month ago, Labour’s concerns centred upon voters’ unhappiness with the government leading to abstention and gains for UKIP, the Greens and BNP in a sort of apathetic… [Read More]