Steve Reed, the newish Secretary of State for Housing, has certainly brought fresh energy to the role. This has even extended to waving MAGA-style caps with Trump-like calls to “build, baby, build!”. But while it is still early days, little has improved on the ground. The construction sector is worth watching closely for at least … Continue reading Why Labour’s “build, baby, build” mission is struggling to take off
Tag: education
Entry to the Civil Service should never depend on what your dad once did
Imagine the following exchange between a bright young student and a Civil Service recruiter. "Hello, I'm passionate about social care and would love to be an intern at the Department of Health" "Great, but what do your parents do?" "One is a doctor and the other runs a dementia charity" "Sorry, you're not working class … Continue reading Entry to the Civil Service should never depend on what your dad once did
The Government should hold the line on public sector pay
The independent pay review bodies are reportedly set to recommend pay increases of around 3pc for NHS staff and 4pc for teachers. However, the Government has only budgeted for a 2.8pc increase for public sector workers. This is broadly in line with expected price rises over the coming year, but still higher than the Bank … Continue reading The Government should hold the line on public sector pay
The real ‘black hole’ is in public sector productivity
The Nobel Prize-winning economist, Paul Krugman, once famously said that “productivity isn’t everything, but in the long run it is almost everything”. If so, the UK has a huge problem – and that problem is particularly acute in the public sector. Official estimates released last week suggest that public service productivity was an astonishing 8.5 … Continue reading The real ‘black hole’ is in public sector productivity
Plain-speaking Economics 