No end of a lesson, by Anthony Browne

No end of a lesson, by Anthony Browne (PF 8/6/07)

Need for markets in public sector. Education – need to loosen up supply side to let new schools be set up and good schools expand. Neither command/control nor targets really work.

All systems go?, by Michael Cross

All systems go?, by Michael Cross (PF 22/6/07)

IT rationalisation. Public bodies should not all keep their own data, but trust each others’. Short-term savings. Ultimate goal of only using direct.gov.uk and businesslink.gov.uk websites. Proposals for common registration/identity system.

Comment – Caring and sharing, by Peter Coates

Comment – Caring and sharing, by Peter Coates (PF 23/11/07)

In support of SBS. Not just savings; financial control improved, centralised e-procurement, automated FIMS reports.

Best for everyone

Best for everyone  (Economist 24/11/07)

“The contradiction at the heart of Mr Blair’s reforms was always the absurdity of removing the dead hand of local government, only to impose an even tighter grip from the centre. Over the past decade schools have been showered with directives on everything from school meals to classroom layout. Syllabuses and teaching methods have been specified narrowly. Although academies can ignore their local councils, to set one up requires approval by the schools department in Whitehall. Centrally imposed targets have distorted both what is taught and measuring how well it is taught.”

Nine NHS trusts under scrutiny after continued failures

Nine NHS trusts under scrutiny after continued failures (PF 26/10/07)

Failure is an inevitable consequence of disaggregation. Much re-aggregation seeks to take failing organisations in hand.

Water merger wins MSPs’ backing

Water merger wins MSPs’ backing (BBC News 6/12/01)

“Scotland requires a single, efficient, publicly accountable and locally responsible water authority to keep down charges and manage the investment that will assure us of first class drinking water and cleaner beaches.”

Fears that it opens the door to the privatisation (rather perverse) and that it may become a hidebound bureaucracy.

Mandarins ‘treating budgets as virility symbol’

Mandarins ‘treating budgets as virility symbol’ (PF 2/11/07)

This kind of bureaucratic oversupply idea was one of the drivers for disaggregation and may have a part to play in pushing re-aggregation.

Scheme for merging justice watchdogs dropped

Scheme for merging justice watchdogs dropped (GU 19/10/06)

“The government has dropped plans to merge five watchdogs in the criminal justice system, including chief inspector of prisons, after the measure was comprehensively defeated in the Lords.”

“We have recognised the serious concerns about aspects of our proposals and agree with you that the focus of our effort should now be on finding ways to strengthen and improve joint working rather than on proposals for organisational merger,”

Joined-up government is not inevitable or desirable

Joined-up government is not inevitable or desirable (GU 18/1/07)

Aggregation of data. Government plans to merge various data systems to give a single view of citizens.

Pathways to perfection

Pathways to perfection (GU 7/2/07)

“Government policy spills out in directions antagonistic to efficiency. One West Country police force ran a call centre for fire and ambulance as well as the police. Unit costs were cut all round. But the government is setting up regional fire control rooms and insisting that the local ambulance trust merge with another, breaking up the cost-saving arrangement.”