cadence comments about ippr

5 Nov 2009

Innovation Charter ?

A joint ippr/RSA event 'After the downturn' took place in Newcastle this week at the The Pukka Pie Arena or whatever St James' Park is called this week. Speakers John Tomaney, Deborah Jenkins, Sir George Russell all had interesting things to say, but it was Matthew Taylor of the RSA who shook things up. He descirbed the final report of the Commission on public sector reform 'a decent bit of work', but that it had a 'if only feel to it' ... more

2 Nov 2009

Public service paradox

ippr north has published the final report of the Commission on public sector reform in the North East. It is called Public service paradox ... more

25 Mar 2009

Smarter State launch - PwC and ippr

The launch of PwC and ippr’s new Smarter State programme this week pitched Michael Gove (Conservative, Shadow DCSF) against Liam Byrne (Cabinet Office) against each other in the Institute of Materials, in London. There was plenty of light hearted banter about these two being the big brains, but rather a disappointing lack of materials material, considering the location. One clear point of agreement was that a smarter state would be smaller. Another shared view was that more power to innovate should go to the front line ... more

11 Mar 2009

Public service reform ... saying and doing

The Government published their latest public service reform document this week. There is some interesting stuff in there, but Cadence contacts who attended the launch were not convinced Gordon Brown's heart was really in it ... more

10 Dec 2008

Child pedestrian casualties and inequality again

'The leading cause of childhood injury and death is road crashes, which kill 260,000 a year globally and injure about 10 million'. 'Children from poorer families are far more likely to die or be harmed than their better-off counterparts', according to the WHO. 'The poorer children have not shared equally in the progress of the last 20 years'. This is not news, but is reported as news regularly by newspapers who sometimes behave in ways that suggest their readers are like goldfish ... more

29 Sep 2008

Child pedestrian casualties and inequality

As football commentators like to put it, it was déjà vu all over again with the Guardian’s recent article ‘Pedestrian road deaths linked to deprivation’. A not dissimilar headline to the 2002 article that said ‘Road death risk higher for deprived children’. Has anything changed? ... more

12 May 2008

ASBOs, respect and youth clubs

Recent reports say that the number of ASBOs issued has reduced significantly since Brown took over from Blair. What has not changed so much is the percentage of ASBOs that are breached. What does this mean? Well, it might suggest that there are still not enough places to go and things to do for young people ... more

7 Mar 2008

Make me a criminal

Make Me a Criminal: Preventing youth crime is the latest in a series of ippr reports on young people that have caught the eye. Cadence Network member, Jeremy Cushing, says it is 'fascinating' and 'much more open about the reasons for youth offending than government reports'. Here he gives his personal take on it as someone who has been an 'appropriate adult' for a number of years ... more

30 Jan 2008

DIY innovation

Ben Rogers of ippr says we need to know more about examples of innovation. He mentions Kent County Council and the Design Council, which will feature in work Cadence Works are just starting for the National School of Government ... more

10 Dec 2007

Play rangers - not ASBOs - are what's needed

ippr says that greater investment in playgrounds and clubs such as scouts and cadets could reduce offending by giving youngsters something constructive to do, while ASBOs can be seen as something of a badge of honour ... more