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The Raven's Blog

Across Public Sector Executive’s The Raven Blog, PSE’s guest bloggers, editorial board members, in-house reporters, and regular contributors pick over public policy and management at both local and central government level.

Interested in becoming a guest blogger? Email the editorial team.

Self-build builds potential for more and better homes

15.04.19: The director of The Right to Build Task Force – which advises stakeholders on bringing on more custom and self-build homes – Mario Wolf, who is currently on secondment from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, d...

Accounting will be key to tackling intergenerational equity

01.04.19: Alan Birmingham, CIPFA policy manager devolved governments, addresses a somewhat overlooked problem: intergenerational equity. As public sector employees’ pension liabilities continues to take off, intergenerational equit...

Councils Can: LGA launches Spending Review campaign

18.03.19: Lord Porter, chairman of the Local Government Association, outlines his organisation’s campaign to make sure local government tops to government’s list for this year’s Spending Review. Our #CouncilsCan campaign to influenc...

Bromley's incredible journey in children's services

04.03.19: Interim chief executive, Ade Adetosoye OBE, reveals the story behind Bromley’s incredible improvement journey in Children’s Services. Improving the quality of services for children, young people and families at pace is a dauntin...

From empty home to home sweet home

25.02.19: Paul Dennett, city mayor of Salford, reports on how his council has been cracking down on empty homes. Salford City Council brought almost one empty home a day back into use between 2011 and 2016 – and the battle continues. The s...

Blog: LiveTiles at EvoNorth 27-28 Feb 2019

21.02.19: LiveTiles is proud to be sponsors of EvoNorth, taking place on 27-28 Feb 2019 at the Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground. Designed specifically for the North, by the North, EvoNorth is uniting over 300 leaders, influencers, and decision m...

Blog: DELL EMC support EvoNorth- Redefining Digital Transformation

21.02.19: Join DELL EMC for their presentation that will explore the continued advancement of technology driven by the four mega-trends of big data, always- connected mobile devices, social networks and cloud computing is resulting in an exponential growth...

Newcastle's 'twin cities'

18.02.19: Climate change is forcing cities to approach emergency situations differently – and Newcastle University, in partnership with Northumbrian Water, are looking at innovative methods to predict how a city will react in the future. Leading min...

Blog: Virgin Media Business support EvoNorth

13.02.19: "We are delighted to be a Strategic Partner to EvoNorth 2019. We’re looking forward to joining leaders from across the north to hear their vision for shaping the region and how we can help to make this a reality" EvoNorth welcome strategi...

Blog: Dr Hakim Yadi OBE, CEO of the Northern Health Science Alliance

11.02.19: With EvoNorth just around the corner, we caught up with Dr Hakim Yadi, CEO of the Northern Health Science Alliance, to find out why he is attending EvoNorth 27-28 Feb. What does your role as CEO of the Northern Health Science Alliance&...

Blog: Jacksons Fencing at EvoNorth 27-28 Feb 2019

11.02.19: Jacksons Fencing are proudly sponsoring and exhibiting at Evo North, a conference bringing together leaders from across the North of England responsible for shaping, building and delivering a Northern Powerhouse, later this month on the 27th and...

Blog: How EvoNorth can help you win new business

23.01.19: It's a chance to become a key Northern Powerhouse supplier Showcase and elevate your brand through one of our partnership options: ranging from taking to the stage and speaking from the main plenary, to hosting your own thought leadership m...

Blog: 5 minutes with Dr Tracy Vell MBE, Associate Lead for Primary and Community Care, Greater Manchester, Health and Social Care Partnership.

17.01.19: Ahead of next month’s EvoNorth event we caught up with Dr Tracy Vell MBE, Associate Lead for Primary and Community Care, Greater Manchester, Health and Social Care Partnership. Dr Tracy Vell MBE shares her thoughts on the Northern Power...

Blog: Top 5 reasons why you should claim your free EvoNorth delegate pass today

17.01.19: If you're looking to find out what's happening in the Northern Powerhouse, make new connections, and share innovative ways of working, confirm your attendance for EvoNorth on 27 - 28 Feb 2019. 1 - You'll gain an invaluable insight into what's...

Bus franchising is the biggest power new mayors have - they should use it

15.01.19: It will face opposition at first, but transitioning to a system of bus franchising is the best and only option to truly modernise transport systems across our city regions, argues Luke Raikes, senior research fellow at IPPR North. England&r...

public sector executive tv

latest public sector news

26/04/2019Thurrock Council approves £1bn town centre regeneration scheme to build nearly 3,000 homes

Thurrock Council has approved plans for a £1bn town centre regeneration which will see nearly 3,000 new homes created and generate around 2... more >

26/04/2019Potentially fatal road repair sees highways firm fined by Surrey County Council

Surrey County Council has fined its highways maintenance contractor £30,000 for poor and potentially fatal road repairs following a prosecu... more >

26/04/2019Interserve awarded place on £450m NHS framework until 2022

Troubled contractor Interserve has been awarded a place on the NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) framework for infrastructure and car park m... more >

more latest public sector news >

editor's comment

Devolution, restructuring and widespread service reform: from a journalist’s perspective, it’s never been a more exciting time to report on the public sector. That’s why I could not be more thrilled to be taking over the reins at PSE at this key juncture. There could not be a feature that more perfectly encapsulates this... read more >

last word

The importance of openness after Grenfell

Following the recent Grenfell Tower tragedy, Lord Porter, chairman of the LGA, argues that if the public are going to have faith in the safety testing process then everything must be out in the o... more > more last word articles >

most commented

Councillors should ignore ‘Stalinist’ ban on media contact – Pickles

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Long-term unemployed to work six months for free

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HIV treatment decision will ‘heap more pressure’ on public health – LGA

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the raven's daily blog

15/04/2019Self-build builds potential for more and better homes

The director of The Right to Build Task Force – which advises stakeholders on bringing on more custom and self-build homes – Mario Wolf, who is currently on secondment from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, discusses challenges the public sector needs to engage with to deliver housing supply growth. In... more >

comment

15/04/2019Connecting the North East

Cabinet member for economic regeneration at Northumberland County Council Richard Wearmouth outlines the plans to reintroduce passenger services ... more >

15/04/2019How public sector IT can exploit the last 'big things'

Martin Ferguson, director of policy and research at Socitm, outlines the technology-related trends to look out for in the public sector throughou... more >

15/04/2019What about social care?

Glen Garrod, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), outlines the challenges facing the social care workforce... more >

15/04/2019Brexit's systemic fallout

The third in a trilogy of Brexit articles for PSE, Chris Painter, Professor Emeritus at Birmingham City University, considers the wider constitut... more >

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interviews

17/12/2018Artificial intelligence: the devil is in the data

It’s no secret that the public sector and its service providers need to invest in technology to help make better use of their resources. Bu... more >

17/12/2018Digital innovation in the public sector: The future is now

One of the public sector’s key technology partners has recently welcomed a new member to its team. Matt Spencer, O2’s head of public ... more >

05/11/2018New Dorset Councils CEO on the creation of a new unitary: ‘This is going to be the right decision for Dorset’

The new chief executive of one of the new unitary authorities in Dorset has outlined his approach to culture and work with employees, arguing tha... more >

15/10/2018Keeping the momentum of the Northern Powerhouse

On 6 September, the biggest decision-makers of the north joined forces to celebrate and debate how to drive innovation and improvement through th... more >

more interviews >

public sector focus

26/02/2019Flexible working being led by the public sector, Softworks survey finds

The public sector is leading the way in regards to flexible working, with 94% of public sector organisations offering this to employees, a new survey...

read more
17/12/2018Artificial intelligence: the devil is in the data

It’s no secret that the public sector and its service providers need to invest in technology to help make better use of their resources. But is...

read more
17/12/2018Digital innovation in the public sector: The future is now

One of the public sector’s key technology partners has recently welcomed a new member to its team. Matt Spencer, O2’s head of public...

read more
04/12/2018New framework addresses the importance of digital transformation for the public sector

The administrative and financial burden of manual processes and physical records is taking its toll on across the public sector. The...

read more