Features

Macron’s wealth tax reform: a red light for France’s property industry?

New French president Emmanuel Macron has just introduced a major reform of the country’s wealth tax, focusing it directly on property investments in a bid to push more cash into […]

Beyond the contract: getting value from incumbent suppliers, part 1

Nowadays, many public commercial teams know that contract management is just as important as procurement. But there’s a third strand to good commercial operations: negotiating and managing additional work placed […]

UK’s culture department takes data policy from embattled GDS

On Easter Sunday, the UK prime minister gave the culture department control of data policy. The move further weakens the once-pioneering Government Digital Service, whose ‘spend control’ financial levers are […]

On the frontline: women and terrorism

With most terrorist atrocities carried out by men, women have been largely excluded from the struggle to contain terrorism. But a recent UN event heard that they have a crucial […]

UK civil service chief exec calls for officials to focus on the ‘how’, not the ‘what’

With civil servants under fire in the policy maelstrom of Brexit, John Manzoni wants officials to step away and concentrate on building delivery skills. Liz Heron hears his take on […]

Don’t let your procurement hit the buffers

In the wake of the collapse of the UK’s huge contractor Carillion, new concerns are being raised about the weaknesses in public procurement and contracting. Former senior supplier manager James […]

Building better public-private partnerships

Since entering the mainstream as the UK’s Private Finance Initiative, public-private partnerships have had a mixed track record – and this week’s collapse of PFI construction firm Carillion has further […]

A renaissance for development banks

Since the credit crunch, many private banks have retreated from lending to key economic sectors. So governments are stepping in – creating development banks to support start-ups and the industries […]

Civil services are making progress on gender diversity – but those gains are under threat

The Women Leaders Index shows that most G20 countries are improving gender equality amongst civil service leaders. But speakers at the Index’s formal launch warned of the ever-louder voices of […]

How to dig yourself out of a hole: realising the benefits of extractive industries

The ‘resource curse’ too often converts countries’ mineral wealth into human poverty. But some developing world nations have worked out how to harness their natural resources for public good. Gavin […]