Michael Burton
Michael Burton is editorial director of The MJ
Manzie made a Dame
The former interim chief executive of Birmingham City Council, Stella Manzie, has been made a Dame in the Queen’s birthday honours for services to local government.
Scrap all districts says Heseltine
District councils should be scrapped and 60 unitary counties created instead across England led by directly-elected mayors according to former Cabinet minister Lord Heseltine
Ministers should work with councils on public health
In any analysis of health trends over the past 20 years two stark statistics stand out; smoking-related diseases like lung cancer and heart attacks are down but diabetes is up and the latter is primarily due to obesity.
Why politicians won’t open the social care Pandora’s Box
Ministers can hardly claim to be ill-informed about the choices ahead for social care. Barely a week goes by without a doom-laden report from another think-tank warning that ‘we can’t go on like this’ and offering funding alternatives, invariably involving more tax. The latest is from the Health Foundation and The King’s Fund (see The MJ last week).
Social care at 'clear fork in the road'
Social care in England is at a ‘clear fork in the road’ between retaining the current system or making it free like the NHS, according to a study from two major health think-tanks.
How to plug the EU workforce gap
A new report from CIPFA’s Brexit commission urges a planned strategy for maintaining EU workforce skills, including at regional level through the combined authorities. Michael Burton reports.
Politics has blocked tax reform to fund care
Politicians tinker with old people’s taxes at their peril; just ask Theresa May. The trouble is old people vote, more so than the young as the latter discovered to their cost during the EU referendum.
Call for a radical rethink on the generational divide
Radical changes to housing, council and inheritance tax and pensions are needed to end the unfair ‘generational’ divide, according to a major think-tank.
Integrate health and care, says Obama aide
A former adviser to President Obama says the NHS could be ‘the best health system in the world’ if it could fully integrate with social care.
Brokenshire replaces Javid as communities secretary
Former Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire has been named as communities secretary following Sajid Javid’s appointment as Home Secretary following the resignation of Amber Rudd last night.
Healthcare spending rises by 3.6%
Healthcare spending in the UK by government and non-government bodies trailed just below NHS inflation by rising 3.6% in 2016, according to latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Government achieves first current budget surplus for 16 years
The Government has achieved its first current budget surplus since 2002, according to latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Should workforce change put HR heads in the driving seat?
As HR heads meet this week for their annual conference Michael Burton questions why the profession is still not better represented at the top.
Housing and Brexit: a toxic mix for the Tories on 3 May
Michael Burton asks whether local issues could help the Conservatives salvage some comfort from what could be a car crash election for them next month.
Business rates pilot payout proves costly to the sector
Local authorities are missing out on millions of pounds because of an £870m cash boost to business rate pilot councils, according to a study today from the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think-tank.
Should public services be run like Amazon?
A new study says public services, especially local government, should be radically overhauled saving £46bn in back office costs by exploiting technology now widely used by the global online multinationals. Michael Burton reports.
Can the digital disrupters change the public sector?
Michael Burton is sceptical about a recent report proposing the 'biggest shake-up since the Beveridge report'.
Metro mayors fly the flag for the regions
The UK’s thriving regional economies and their new metro mayors dominated talk at this year’s MIPIM event. Michael Burton reports.
Call for new 'Lego' public sector model
A ‘Lego government’ model of an internet-based public sector based around standardised blocks of online services could release an extra £46bn for the frontline, claims a report launched at the Institute for Government.
Soames backs Government's Carillion handling
The Government’s handling of the collapse of Carillion has been backed by one of the failed outsourcing company’s largest competitors.