• 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…

  • 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…

  • After the election: What next ?

    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…