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Senior pay for NHS staff in Bucks


In the context of recent concerns surrounding urgent care in Buckinghamshire and the Secretary of State’s comments about managerial accountability, I asked for data on senior pay for NHS staff across Buckinghamshire. The Minister replied that, between April 2011 and March 2012, the number of staff in Buckinghamshire Primary Care Trust and Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust paid over: (a) £50,000 was 488; (b) £65,738 was 318; and (c) £100,000 was 147. (Note that each figure includes the staff in the […]

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A vision for more accountable public services


The Government have released their Open Public Services 2012 document which focuses on decentralising power to ensure that public services are accountable to the people that use them rather than to centralised bureaucracies. Despite global economic woes, public demand for high-quality services has remained intense. This does not mean that more money should be spent in a hapless attempt to improve services; rather, the only feasible way of making gains in the quality of services is to introduce competition, choice […]

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Power to the People


NB: The author is Tim Hewish, who I am glad to welcome as a local contributor. — Steve Next week, the Conservatives will announce their new policy document on raising public participation in politics. It is true that we live in a representative democracy whereby MPs are elected with the responsibility of acting in peoples’ interests, however declaring our vote every 5 years and walking away from the political process often causes a disconnect between voter and representative. This perception […]

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David Cameron: We can’t go on like this


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Via David Cameron: We can’t go on like this: A decade of big government and blunt, bureaucratic control has undermined responsibility and made our social problems worse, not better. We are determined to forge a new direction. We will use the state to help remake society by encouraging people to take responsibility for themselves and for one another. We will provide new opportunities for community groups, neighbourhood organisations, charities, social enterprises to help rebuild our civil society. We will create […]

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Commons officials prevent MPs asking about BBC license fee


Douglas Carswell MP writes candidly about the ability of Parliament to do its job: The House of Commons is useless at holding those with executive power to account. If Mr Speaker presides over a Table Office that won’t allow questions about the license fee, what’s the point of Parliament or of elections to decide its composition? (The Table Office claim its because the license fee isn’t part of ministerial responsibility – but its the executive deciding what is and what […]

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