‘Tackling inequality is the new centre ground of politics’ as Miliband sets out a new future for public services
“It is very frustrating when good new policy gets garbled by our rubbish media. Two very important speeches last week on the future of public services deserve much wider readership and decent commentary.” Steve Hilditch consdiers the significance of Ed Miliband’s Hugo Young lecture and Jon Trickett’s speech to the Fabians.
G4S prison guard sleeps while prisoner takes selfie
“A photograph of a prison inmate purportedly taking a selfie photograph next to a slumbering G4S prison guard has been released on twitter this morning.” Scriptonite looks at the role of G4S in delivering outsourced public services.
Grayling’s political epitaph
“…(this blog) started as a personal whinge and discussion of practice, became embroiled in the fight against TR, and now is increasingly becoming a platform for colleagues to record their feelings.” Jim Brown shares reflections from people who work in the Probation Service on Chris Grayling’s plans for Transforming Rehabilitation.
The best local government blogs of 2013
Here’s our own selection of the best blogs we’ve published this year in local government - from cuts to cooperative councils, privatisation to local democracy.
The best justice blogs of 2013
Here’s our own selection of the best blogs we’ve published this year in justice - from outsourcing prisons and probation, to cuts in the courts and Legal Aid.
Why social care is different from double glazing
“There is a basic fallacy in all this: health and social services are inherently and fundamentally different from the manufacturing or service industries.” The Masked AMHP explains why you can’t apply models of the private market to the public sector.
UK Govt has sold your student loans to debt collectors: corruption, plain and simple
“It’s hard to believe that a little over a decade ago, we viewed higher education as a social service. We clubbed together to put our young people through university, as an investment in their (and our) future.” Scriptonite Daily examines the Government’s decision to sell-off £900m of student debt.
G4S admits stealing £24m from taxpayers, Govt gives them £1bn of public money
“Private security firms G4S and Serco have over charged tens of millions of pounds for electronic tagging services provided to the Ministry of Justice, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) confirms.” Scriptonite looks at G4S’s record of delivering public services and wonders why they continue to win contracts.
Distorted thinking
“No prizes for guessing that the blog returns to one of our favourite topics, that of G4S and the astounding news that leaked yesterday that they had offered to repay the government £24.1 million in respect of the electronic tagging contracts.” Jim Brown looks at what the G4S debacle means for outsourcing of public services.
Boris Johnson says super rich are an ‘oppressed minority’ worthy of our ‘humble thanks’ - time for a reality check
“Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, today used his platform of a column in the Daily Telegraph newspaper to argue that the super-rich are a ‘put upon minority’ like homeless people or the travelling community.” Scriptonite looks at why Boris Johnson’s recent comments on the super-rich are wrong.
Coalition loses billions in public money: Is the UK Govt stupid, corrupt, or both?
“This is corruption. It is not the brown envelopes kind of stuff we are taught to think of as corruption. No, it is something far more insidious. It is a corrupted politics…” Scriptonite Daily examines how the Government has treated the banks and the energy providers.
How to save Probation…
“A few people have tweeted me and asked what they can be doing to help save Probation, so I thought I would just write a brief post with some simple steps that we can all do.” The Probation Officer outlines seven ways to save probation.
The human cost
“The future may look bleak for probation and probation staff, but not half as bleak as it does for many of our clients, and we’d do well to remember that.” Jim Brown is concerned about the impact on clients from outsourcing of probation services and welfare reform.
Got to be another way
“If the present political structure is simply not able, or unwilling, to adequately reflect the views of the electorate, then surely there’s got to be another way.” Jim Brown braces himself for 18 months of pre-election shenanigans from the main political parties and wonders whether we can’t do better than this - with a little help from an 80s sci-fi cult classic.
Shadow politics: The NHS is more than a logo
Perhaps the most blatant example of the shadow politics is what the political class has doing to the NHS over the past 30 years. To most people, the NHS is more than a logo - but for how much longer?
Omnishambles update 13
August has arrived and the Transforming Rehabilitation omnishambles rolls on with full cooperation from Probation Trust boards and management citing ‘contractual’ obligations that effectively prevent any other course of action. How they must be laughing down in London at the ease with which they’ve all fallen in to line and are following orders. As one […]
Attention all PO’s and PSO’s
I’ve been reading some exchanges over on the Napo forum website, and thank goodness there’s been some sign of life just recently. What particularly struck me was a response to a long and detailed post by ‘SaveProbation’ basically trying to rally the troops and get colleagues to wise up to the very real threat to our profession […]
Frontline Friday 2nd August 2013: Our favourite frontline blogs this week
Here’s our list of ten frontline blogs we’ve particularly liked from the week of 29th July 2013, from welfare reform to privatisation of the NHS, probation and the Court Service - and should practitioners write about real cases?
Historical, constitutional and philosophical observations on the Tories’ plans to privatise the courts
I have to say that I’m still somewhat stunned by the Conservatives’ suggestion that the court service should be privatised. This seems to be absolutely barking mad, and attacking the most fundamental, basic duty of the state, at least as it has existed in the West since the ancient world. In the Middle Ages the […]
Building up to a rant
“How can all this be happening, I naively ask myself, when we know the public hates the idea of privatising public services, and especially so if it results in shit companies running them?” Jim Brown finds himself embroiled in a battle to save the job he loves.