do you remember when the conservatives were banging on about no more top-down initiatives, no more targets driven from the centre. localism and let those who do make the choices.
this move away from central diktat framed in the talk of the market, of the free-spirit. unchain the slumbering beast of initiative and see how it can do the job so much better than central government. a lovely thought - one that ignores the fact that most very large companies are centrally run - sure the local branches may have a say in some small minor detail or two but they are no calling the shots, they are operating by central command. back in my past life i couldn't get changes made unless i managed to persuade a vice-president an ocean away.
for all that we hate bureaucracy and red tape we also know that it is necessary. frankly i don't want the police to be free to pull over someone they suspect without having to fill out the paperwork. nor do i want to see hospitals run on the memory and whim of a few of the people working in the admin section. i want to know that they all know what they are supposed to be doing and who is supposed to be doing it.
at the same time i quite like the idea that everyone is, in theory, able to get access to the same service in schools, hospitals, social service etc. that policy is set by those we elect to run the country - after all it is why we voted them in.
so it will come as no surprise that i support michael (evil ventriloquist doll) gove's move to proscribe an ambitious target of gcse passes in secondary schools.
admittedly i am sure that there is an agenda attached to the move (the cynic in me reckons he is hoping local education services schools fail to meet this target and they all get taken over by chris woodhead and other private providers of education), but national recognisable targets are, in and of themselves, not something to be feared.
though if you remember all the blather and jibber jabber of david cameron et al such things are to be feared.
perhaps the tories are discovering that you do need targets and performance indicators when you are running a country and that when you run a country you have to set national standards from the centre.
i would like to think that they are all breaking out in hives having to do it, but we all know they are loving being in charge.
this move away from central diktat framed in the talk of the market, of the free-spirit. unchain the slumbering beast of initiative and see how it can do the job so much better than central government. a lovely thought - one that ignores the fact that most very large companies are centrally run - sure the local branches may have a say in some small minor detail or two but they are no calling the shots, they are operating by central command. back in my past life i couldn't get changes made unless i managed to persuade a vice-president an ocean away.
for all that we hate bureaucracy and red tape we also know that it is necessary. frankly i don't want the police to be free to pull over someone they suspect without having to fill out the paperwork. nor do i want to see hospitals run on the memory and whim of a few of the people working in the admin section. i want to know that they all know what they are supposed to be doing and who is supposed to be doing it.
at the same time i quite like the idea that everyone is, in theory, able to get access to the same service in schools, hospitals, social service etc. that policy is set by those we elect to run the country - after all it is why we voted them in.
so it will come as no surprise that i support michael (evil ventriloquist doll) gove's move to proscribe an ambitious target of gcse passes in secondary schools.
admittedly i am sure that there is an agenda attached to the move (the cynic in me reckons he is hoping local education services schools fail to meet this target and they all get taken over by chris woodhead and other private providers of education), but national recognisable targets are, in and of themselves, not something to be feared.
though if you remember all the blather and jibber jabber of david cameron et al such things are to be feared.
perhaps the tories are discovering that you do need targets and performance indicators when you are running a country and that when you run a country you have to set national standards from the centre.
i would like to think that they are all breaking out in hives having to do it, but we all know they are loving being in charge.
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