Duncan O'Leary
Senior Researcher
Duncan works on projects looking at public services, skills and work.
- In praise of inefficiency - There is a school of thought that Surestart is actually becoming less effective as it becomes more superficially efficient and professionalised, but less rooted in communities. - How do you best work with community organisations? Contractual agreements or untied grants? The contractual agreements are more ?efficient? ? you know what you?re getting or your money ? but do they destroy the value that the voluntary sector brings with it? - Competition is great for efficiency. But sometimes... continue reading on 20th March 2006
- learning on the job - Perhaps the biggest lesson, which we hadn't picked up before we got here is the genuine sense that New Zealands is seeking a real renewal, rather than simply another round of restructuring. One of ou interviewees told us that it needs a new mission statement, not just a new set of managers. - And the second big lesson is the uniqueness of New Zealand, which again is hard to pick up from a desk from London. What does this mean? Firstly that New Zeland has a particular place in the world -... continue reading on 16th March 2006
- Deadly serious Amongst the wealth of useful things that we?ve been learning about New Zealand over the last few days, there have been a couple of reminders that you can?t just pick up ideas/terms/concepts from the UK and translate them over here. A few people have pointed out to us that decentralization/devolution/empowerment is a nice idea, but when the population is only 4 million, the government is pretty local in any case.And we?ve also learnt: - That the ?New Labour? over here was a hard left offshoot... continue reading on 14th March 2006
- New Zealand's Business as usual Firstly, it?s very noticeable that the New Zealand political scene is quite differentt to ours. Whilst we have Prospect, the New Statesman and the Spectator, amongst others, there isn?t the same political press here (or not that we?ve been able to find in any case). Much of the media attention is focussed on the business community, perhaps reflecting New Zealand?s position as the number one in the world for ?ease of business? last year. Similarly, whilst the UK is brimming with think-tanks... continue reading on 10th March 2006
- What kind of 'power to the people'? Of course it may mean all of the above - and more - but i do think that the terminology of 'power' is becoming a bit ubiquitous, and is in danger of losing its meaning. This doesn't mean that it's the wrong idea, but we do need to be clear what we mean by it, whether people actually want it, and what we hope to achieve by it. And of course it means listening/actually handing over power when people make their voices heard.Demos will be making its own contribution over the next month or so. John... continue reading on 6th March 2006
- Topstuff I see that Topshop is launching an ethical clothing range today (or an experiment with one at least). As Mckinsey pointed out recently, it turns out that surviving in a highly competitive market may be more complicated that we've often thought. The author of the article argues that Milton Friedman's philiosophy that "the business of business is business" is becoming increasingly outmoded, and that the legitimacy and longevity of businesses will depend on their contribution to wider social... continue reading on 1st March 2006
- You're fired The general response seems to be that there are some funny people around nowadays. But does the programme raise bigger questions, and why don't programmes like The Apprentice make us think harder about them?In complete contrast, the BBC show That'll Teach 'Em hit the headlines, triggering a further round of serious debate about whether 'standards' are slipping or not. But what The Apprentice, The Dragons Den (another good show) and even Faking It haven't done is ask the question: 'do we really... continue reading on 24th February 2006
- Invisible politics Perhaps James Tooley, who thinks that education was fine before the state got involved with it. Or should we go for those who argue against what they see as ?the commodification of education? through the involvement of the private sector. Maybe Chris Woodhead - who thinks that ?the traditional concept of education? has to be defended against ?pernicious? arguments for a skills based curriculum - could sit alongside Guy Claxton, who has argued for an approach to education which ?builds the... continue reading on 16th February 2006
- It's good to talk Talking to the public about science can be a controversial matter. Really controversial, sometimes. But it seems the Conserative Party has decided that it's not such a bad idea: launching the Tories' energy review Alan Duncan says:"The review will invite contributions from the public as well as scientific experts, consumer and environmental groups, business users and energy providers."Engaging the public in direct participation and public deliberation is something that Demos has long been... continue reading on 14th February 2006 Comments (1)
- Commenting on the Greenhouse You've never had it so bad. Sorry if you've been trying to comment on the greenhouse recently - we're having a few technical problems which hopefully should be resolved soon. In the meantime, if you'd like to post a comment but are having problems just drop me an email and i'll paste it in for you. continue reading on 9th February 2006