The framework within which policy-makers and decision makers have been operating over the past decades in Britain and most Western countries has been dominated by ‘managerialism’. This is a focus on the best way of managing and implementing policies in the socio-economic and political spheres which transcend, indeed almost dismiss, ideological considerations of left and […]
Prince William and Kate Middleton appear to be a personable, attractive young couple, and as with the news of anyone’s wedding, no reasonable person can wish them anything but health and happiness for the future. The problem is, that unless you’re closeted on Mars or sequestered in some isolated Buddhist monastery in the Himalayas, every […]
The Coalition Government’s public spending cutbacks have provoked much outrage. A lot of that has been directed at the economic case for the cutbacks with observers arguing that reductions on this scale are unjustified and run counter to the imperative to stimulate an economy through deficit finance at a time of recession; on the contrary, […]
Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city is a health promotion and social care professional’s nightmare. In spite of hundreds of millions of pounds spent on programmes and a plethora of initiatives targeted at poor health and lifestyle, the city stubbornly remains at the bottom of the table when it comes to bad health, atrocious diet, dreadful levels […]
Imagine a man aged over 50 who is grossly overweight and eating a salt and vinegar saturated fried take-away fish supper, washed down with a sugary, high calorie soft drink. Having vociferously consumed the fish supper our man proceeds to open a can of strong lager and accompanies this by lighting up one of 60 […]
According to a report in the Observer, almost one person in five in the UK has consulted a counsellor or psychotherapist (Observer 1st August 2010). This is a remarkable transformation in a country which until very recently was renowned for it’s stoical bearing characterised by the stiff upper lip and disavowal of emotions. How did […]
There is a growing impetus to reform and liberalise the UK and international drug laws; these being widely regarded as ineffectual in terms of combating drug use. Those arguing for reform make several points. The first is that the existing drug laws are grossly hypocritical in that tobacco which kills a minimum of a quarter-of-a-million […]
Over the next few months as public spending cuts really start to take effect expect to hear much about services currently being run by the public sector being ‘handed’ over to the voluntary or ‘third’ sector. This idea is also in line with the government’s current rhetoric about the “Big Society” in which people and […]
Spending cutbacks are upon us. There is a debate as to the extent to what the level of the reduction in public spending should be, but reduced it will be. The question then is how do we best safeguard front-line services in heath, social care and other vital areas and still achieve a meaningful decrease […]
Over the past few decades a succession of governments in the UK have repeatedly spoken of the need to decentralise services and put them in the hands of voluntary groups and local communities in order to “empower people”; the latest manifestation of this being David Cameron’s “Big Society” pledge. Yet, apart from considerations over where […]