ARCHIVE FEATURES

Inspection – bureaucratic burden or force for improvement?
It is casual and lazy to think 'inspection' and 'bureaucracy' are just different words for the same thing, said Ofsted's deputy chief inspector John Goldup at the inspectorate's first annual social care lecture

Transferable excellence- a scope for success?
Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Josef Dobeš outlines the Czech Republic's pre-seed activities and the system for maximising the potential of scientific research projects

Education- a student system?
Minister of State for Universities and Science David Willetts is committed to creating a university sector that responds to students' needs, as Public Service Review investigates

NHS patient privacy: time to take action for the sake of Britain's health
The NHS must protect patient data if it is to succeed in the vital task of harnessing the immense power of electronic systems in order to deliver better care, writes Kurt Long

Back to the future for NHS
With health unions implacable in their opposition to Andrew Lansley's NHS reforms, Calum Paton, professor of public policy at Keele University, suggests the government has yet to find any way forward – other than by rehashing old ideas

Swedish scienctific research
The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research is addressing what it can do to stabilise science in the country in spite of a changing outlook, as Public Service Review describes

Research and funding- poles apart?
Professor Micha Kleiber, President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, explains to Public Service Review why deeper integration is essential for Poland's research and development

Live long and prosper
Graham V R Armitage, Programme Director at Newcastle University's Institute for Ageing and Health, calls for radically new solutions to meet the challenges of ageing

Ocean noise pollution
Will a UN Law of the Sea Convention agreement address the impacts of Ocean Noise Pollution? Sigrid Lu¨ber, President of OceanCare, lives in hope

Managing gay men – is it different?
The recently published top 100 gay friendly organisations contained a number from the public sector. But more openness about sexuality presents mangers with new challenges. Blair McPherson asks if rules about behaviour are different for gay workers

Good news for older people – but what about local authorities?
The government has announced another £700m will be made available for local councils to help them improve support and care for elderly people coming out of hospital. Blair McPherson questions whether this really is good news

Cyber warfare - the new arms race?
There are a surprising number of parallels between cyber warfare and nuclear warfare, reports Justin Stares from the Security and Defence Agenda conference in Brussels

Police forces are ''rising to the spending challenge''
Police forces are improving services and still making significant savings, the policing minister Nick Herbert said, claiming that a transformation in police ways of working was well underway. Here's the full speech

A force to be reckoned with in our schools
Problem pupils can blossom with a bit of support and attention from specialist instructors, many of whom have military experience, says Peter Cross of SkillForce

Command and control: it just won't work anymore
The world of work is evolving more quickly than ever and things are never going to return to how they were, says Ben Moss, who warns that managers need to convince their teams and peers that change an deliver more effective and efficient service delivery

We have to give people a stake
No one can guarantee that last summer's city riots will never happen again – but we can learn lessons and act to reduce the risk, says Darra Singh. He tells Alison Thomas that the whole of society must work together

'The UK needs a rendition inquiry with real clout'
Reprieve's Donald Campbell explains why probes into the UK's involvement in extraordinary rendition may not even scratch the surface, let alone help Britain move on from the 'unprecedented wrongdoing' of the past

Thinking beyond environmentalism
The scale of environmental problems that we currently confront defies a piecemeal response, says Dr Tom Crompton, a change strategist at WWF-UK

We need a change of direction
Investment in renewable energy technology to cut greenhouse gas emissions has failed to create jobs or growth, says Matthew Sinclair, director of the TaxPayers' Alliance

Forget state v market analysis – people power will deliver
By embracing the ideas of shared ownership public services can give the perfect demonstration of the 'moral economy' – that cooperation and responsibility do lead to innovation and efficiency, writes Tristram Hunt