Friday, March 30, 2007
UK Home Office changes
Many other (indeed most) countries have separate Ministries of the Interior and Justice. These changes can, for example, bring prisons and convicts permanently to the fore, rather than just when there's a big scandal.
Either a joint or split model can be made to work. The issue is that Governments in the UK, both Labor and Tory, have been poor at implementation. Reid's idea may well be worth trying.
It is easy to announce new laws and initiatives. What is difficult is dealing with the organisational issues that are causing the problems. Some posible specifics might be, generally speaking : Poor systems, confused goals, demotivated staff, incompetent management. A combination of all four? But these are issues that need addressing. And it is only in dealing with these problems will improvement occur.
Politicians frequently love to self-publicise and go round giving speeches. Turning around any organisation means rolling your sleeves up and getting on with the job. And there is little evidence, in domestic policy anyway, that this government has ever been willing to do that.
IMO: Reid has now been given a little more space for hard work. Anyone who has seen even videos of the Home Office really has to agree with Reid that there is a lot of space for improvement. But will Reid have time or desire to do the work, and not just magically disappear to another post in the usual "musical chairs" ballet. Only time will tell and we must hope for the best, and hope for more than simply spin or highfalutin Blairite pseudoscientific schemes which can never really work.
Either a joint or split model can be made to work. The issue is that Governments in the UK, both Labor and Tory, have been poor at implementation. Reid's idea may well be worth trying.
It is easy to announce new laws and initiatives. What is difficult is dealing with the organisational issues that are causing the problems. Some posible specifics might be, generally speaking : Poor systems, confused goals, demotivated staff, incompetent management. A combination of all four? But these are issues that need addressing. And it is only in dealing with these problems will improvement occur.
Politicians frequently love to self-publicise and go round giving speeches. Turning around any organisation means rolling your sleeves up and getting on with the job. And there is little evidence, in domestic policy anyway, that this government has ever been willing to do that.
IMO: Reid has now been given a little more space for hard work. Anyone who has seen even videos of the Home Office really has to agree with Reid that there is a lot of space for improvement. But will Reid have time or desire to do the work, and not just magically disappear to another post in the usual "musical chairs" ballet. Only time will tell and we must hope for the best, and hope for more than simply spin or highfalutin Blairite pseudoscientific schemes which can never really work.
# posted by uv : 6:38 AM
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