Think services, think spending, think ‘place’
August 11, 2009
It has taken an unprecedented economic crisis and the likelihood of a drastic squeeze on public spending to get central government to finally come round to our way of thinking – to realise that we need to think 'place' when it comes to delivering public services and shaping public spending. Anna Turley, www.publicservice.co.uk

Can councils be the consumer’s best friend?
August 11, 2009
Perhaps the key to reorienting public services around the customer – and to revitalising local democracy - lies in allowing elected councils to coordinate the myriad of service providers and be held responsible for the results. Chris Leslie, The Guardian

Procuring for Place
August 4, 2009
Recent controversies in the press surrounding reverse e-auctions for care services have opened up the debate on exactly how we should be seeking to drive financial efficiencies. Nigel Keohane, Public Servant

Does Denham’s direction go the right way?
July 30, 2009

Lining up the Government’s offer and comparing it with the Conservative ‘Control Shift’ policy paper begins to give a sense of how the party manifestos may gestate over the coming nine months. Chris Leslie, Local Government Chronicle

It’s the sub-regional economies, stupid!
July 16, 2009
Government must wake-up now to the fact that to achieve this it must embark on a radical programme of devolution to enable a more citizen-centred and place-focused approach to public policy. Nick Hope, Progress

Revive democracy closer to home
June 8, 2009
With Labour suffering losses all over England, only following a radical path on policy can avert further meltdown. James Hulme and Jessica Asato, Guardian.co.uk

Word on the street scene
June 4, 2009
The idea that public services that work together rather than in silos will achieve better results and cost less to run might not be new, but it is one that has not yet been fully explored. Chris Leslie, Public Finance

Councils, don’t look £1bn jobs fund gift horse in the mouth
May 22, 2009
The little publicised Future Jobs Fund could help local authorities get young people back into work and prevent a future generation being written off by the recession. Anna Turley, www.publicservice.co.uk