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The debate on poverty and inequality should include actions too
Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) looks ahead to the 3rd Annual I4P Lecture on 9 February: This year’s lecture is being given by Professor Kate Pickett (York University and co-author of The Spirit Level). The Spirit Level addresses in a powerful and straightforward way, the causes of poverty and also inequality, not…
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Why charity trustees matter: Getting governance and accountability right
Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) comments on the report on Kids Company by a Parliamentary investigation: The details of the collapse of the charity Kids Company are likely to be subject to much debate and criticism. The likely negative impact on the lives of those young people who relied on the support of…
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Why collaboration is necessary and learning to work across boundaries should be compulsory
Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) makes the case for working across boundaries: Edge Hill’s Festival of Ideas brings together a number of shared themes and ideas. One of them – working across the different professional or discipline boundaries that can inhibit good practice, is reflected in a number of talks and workshops.…
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The importance of school governance and accountability
Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) points to the glaring policy and practice contradictions in this recent announcement: The news that a national academy chain is to drop its school based governing bodies and opt for a combination of centralised decision making, whilst having local school ‘ambassadors’, raises a number of really important…
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Why all universities should consider a Festival of Ideas
Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) makes the case for expanding Festivals of Ideas in Universities: This week sees the start of the Edge Hill’s Festival of Ideas – Imagining Better. It is like many such initiatives – it draws on an eclectic range of events from public lectures, to films, to drama…
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The regeneration of housing estates illustrates the change in the Government’s narrative
Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) argues that the announcement of funding to undertake an initial identification of housing estates which need ‘regeneration’ should not be dismissed: I am not suggesting that there has been a change in priorities where the allocation of resources is concerned. The amounts outlined over the weekend do…
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The importance of executive education programmes for public sector managers, and why ‘silo’ thinking should be challenged
Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P), reflects on the need for executive education programmes: A key point I want to make from the outset is a declaration of interest – I am the co-editor of an international journal which is committed to publishing essays and research papers from academics and practitioners engaged in…
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Making Devolution work – cities and regions in England are next
One of the surprising developments (for some) regarding the changes facing those who want to devolve and democratise services has been the Government’s push to create city regions in England as a way of demonstrating their commitment to further decentralisation. These proposals have had a mixed reaction from some: there is serious doubt as to…
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What do we learn from the Comprehensive Spending Review?
There are three lessons from the Comprehensive Spending Review. First, don’t believe the spin before the statement; Two, don’t believe the spin after the statement; And three, look at the trends in spending and their impact. Whilst the headlines are saying it wasn’t all bad and the cuts weren’t in the order of 30 per…
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After the election: What next ?
The General Election result will, for those fascinated by the intricacies of such events, provide much fertile ground for endless speculations and interpretations. And there is a risk that these conversations crowd out some important questions as once again the daily media return their gaze to the succession competitions in the Labour and Liberal Democrat…
