Feeling giddy at the Health Select Committee: and it’s not just the wallpaper

The Health Select Committee, whose activities we have been following with interest on this blog,  is sitting this week to look in more detail at the arrangements for commissioning set out in the new  Health Bill.  This morning’s session, which you can listen to online, focused on public accountability... 
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All right Guv’nor?

Having recently become a school governor again after a four year break, I have just stumbled across a report on school governance to which I contributed so long ago I can’t even remember what I said or whether it was sensible.  The Twentieth Century School: Implications and challenges for governing... 
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E-App Ahoy! New Navigational Aid for Commissioners

Off last night to the official launch of the Neurological Commissioning Support’s exciting new online tool for commissioners “NeuroNavigator”.  Keen readers of the MAC blog will know that the partnership worked with the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) a couple of years ago... 
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The Gove School of Parental Involvement: late, lite or non-existent

The golden rule of public consultation is that you don’t waste your time and that of your consultees by consulting on an issue on which you have already made up your mind. It’s not just we at MAC that say this: it was enshrined in the previous government’s code of practice on consultation... 
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Big Society: big break or big bore?

Time to stop pouring cold tea down the plughole? Few of us who work in the public engagement world could fail to have been intrigued by the new government’s apparent enthusiasm to involve The People in its decision-making.  Intrigued, and in most cases I suspect, more than a little sceptical.... 
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All change please – is consultation the enemy of decision-making?

Something I have noticed in my twelve years as the parent of school aged children is that there is nothing schools like more than to rush through change in the dying weeks of the summer term. Focus on the beach and the barbie Everyone is a bit tired, the beach is becoming increasingly attractive and... 
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“Free” schools: free choice for parents?

I used to teach in Kilquhanity,  a real “Free School” set up in 1941 by the visionary Scottish educationalist John Aitkenhead.   His view of Freedom was simple:  ”You are free to jump into the water, but you are not free to stay dry”.  We all need to need to take his advice... 
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No progress without parents

Booked your holiday yet? If you have children in school you may want to cancel your plans and set aside some quality time to be involved in a quick consultation this August.  This week the Conservative Party announced that if they get into power after the next election they will pass legislation which... 
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No buts? This has got to be utterly better.

A while ago in a fit of enthusiasm brought on by my experience with Eurostar I promised to tell you about my experience with the butter.  This is a simple tale of how to complete the feedback loop and turn a complainant into a fan. A change for the worse For several years I have been buying a particular... 
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