Tuesday Topic

Two apparently unconnected news stories in the past few days illustrate how the world is changing around us. By now, the number of people who will have watched the Susan […]

One of the terms that’s used for up-to-the-minute information technology is Cloud computing. There have been worse examples of marketing hype; at least this conjures up an appropriate image of

One of the most persistent urban myths about consultation is that it’s a numbers game. Reducing complex issues to a yes/no vote is always a risky business, and it is

The Local Government Association (LGA) has published a list of 200 terms “that public bodies should not use if they want to communicate with local people.” High time, you might

There have always been debates about opting in or out of things. Forty years ago, it was about trades union membership; two decades later it was about stakeholder pensions; nowadays

These are remarkable times, with thoughtful people concluding that the tectonic plates of economic, social and political structures are shifting. A few short months ago, we looked at Banks as

A nurse offers to pray for a sick patient; two comedians overstep the mark on a radio show; another TV personality utters an unacceptable term in the “green” room. When,

With PricewaterhouseCoopers reporting 80% of high-street stores offering unseasonably early Sales, we have turned our eagle-eye on the effects of the credit crunch on public consultations. And, in keeping with

We’re in danger of getting into something of a tangle about the different kinds of democracy we want. The old tried-and-tested representative version is thought by many to be creaking;

Any day now a new Planning Bill will receive the Royal Assent. Commons rebellions have been quelled; Lords opposition has evaporated and economic and financial woes have wiped it off