Civil Service Reform in the Republic of Ireland

This article sets out the background to the current management reforms in the Irish civil service, and identifies some of the key features of the programme 'Delivering Better Government'. It explores how the programme relates to international developments in public service provision, and describes some of the challenges to be faced if the programme is to become reality.     

The pathfinder process in Northern Ireland

Government has many customers — not just the individual citizen, but also corporate customers from the private sector. Getting close to those customers will require changes in the nature of public sector culture. Below are two examples — the first from Northern Ireland and the second from Whitehall — of government departments which have tried to change the way in which they do things.     

New training proposals for Northern Ireland

Industrial training, particularly the relatively poor British performance, has received publicity in recent years. The Northern Ireland Department of Economic Development has published a consultative paper with proposals for reforming the Province's training structure. There may be lessons in it for improving the industrial training system elsewhere in the United Kingdom.     

The Civil Service: A Neglected Dimension of Devolution

Devolution comes in the wake of a decade of substantial reform in the civil service. The establishment of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly is likely to have significant implications for the civil service in Scotland, Wales, and perhaps also at the centre. However, on the evidence of the official publications and debates generated by the policy process to date, this issue has been given consideration only belatedly and in rather limited form.     

Co-design,evaluation and the Northern Ireland Innovation Lab

Around the world there are more than 100 policy labs—multi-disciplinary government teams developing public services and policies using innovation methods to engage citizens and stakeholders. These policy labs use a range of innovation methods and approaches, including co-production, co-creation, co-design, behavioural insights, systems thinking, ethnography, data science, nudge theory and lean processes. Although the methods may vary, one element is consistent: policy labs actively, creatively and collaboratively engage the public and a wide range of stakeholders in jointly developing solutions. The Northern Ireland Public Sector Innovation Lab (iLab) is part of a growing UK and international community of policy labs using co-design to engage with users for value co-creation, aiming to improve public governance by creating a safe space to generate ideas, test prototypes and refine concepts with beneficiaries. Drawing on iLab’s experience, this paper explores three questions: What are the main determinants of effective co-design? What are the unintended consequences of co-design? And what lessons can be learned from iLab and shared with other policy labs?     

A Regional Future for the UK Civil Service? The Government Offices for the English Regions and the Civil Service in Scotland

The civil service role in the Westminster model is to inform and implement central government policy. The authors argue that extensive public sector reforms and changes in UK governance mean that the Westminster model no longer provides an adequate explanation of how government works. Thus the United Kingdom is now a 'Disunited Kingdom'.     

Prudence and financial self-regulation in credit unions in Northern Ireland

Credit unions in Northern Ireland are subject to a unique combination of statutory oversight and self-regulation. This paper investigates the association between prudence and the monitoring of financial ratios by credit union trade associations. We find that compliance with the mandated level of capital reserves is uniformly high, regardless of the existence or extent of self-regulation. However, after controlling for cross-sectional differences in profitability, age, size, growth and common bond type a positive association exists between self-regulation and financial ratios measuring prudence and loan book quality. These findings have policy implications for the regulation of credit unions in Northern Ireland and elsewhere regarding potential regulatory cost savings from reliance on self-regulation provided by trade associations.     

Sustainable procurement in health and social care in Northern Ireland

This article reports on a sustainable public procurement project in Northern Ireland. The authors found that limited official guidance was available, especially on equality; nevertheless staff had positive attitudes and sustainability criteria were being embedded in procurement processes. While there is a need to overcome limited knowledge on social aspects and whole life costing, sustainable procurement was found to be compatible with efficiency. Sustainable procurement, if used effectively by confident and well-qualified staff, can achieve not only sustainability goals but also those relating to efficiency and economic recovery.     

英国投资与经贸风险分析报告

投资状况外国直接投资状况英国是世界上最大的外资接受国之一,投资者来自世界各地,外国投资的产业部门广泛,投资地域遍布全国。共有22000家外国公司在英国运营,其中最重要的外资来源地是美国、     

英国投资与经贸风险分析报告

英国是世界上最大的外资接受国之一。外国投资者来自世界各地,外国投资的产业部门广泛,投资地域遍布全国。共有22000家外国公司在英国运营,其中最重要的外资来源地是美国（接近6000家公司）、德国（超过2000家公司）和法国（接近2000家公司）,超过一半的美国公司的欧洲总部位于英国。英国首都伦敦在国际金融市场上占有重要地位,是世界上最大的外资银行集中地。伦敦同时也吸引了大量服务业外来投资。     

英国投资与经贸风险分析报告

投资状况及风险分析 外国直接投资状况 2000年,英国吸引外国直接投资达到创纪录的1222亿美元.此后,随着全球并购活动陷入低潮,加上受欧元诞生的影响,英国外国直接投资流入陷入低谷,2001～2003年连续3年大幅下降.不过,虽然德、法等欧元区国家吸引外资的比重明显上升,根据联合国贸发会议<2004年世界投资报告>,截至2003年英国6720亿美元的引资额仍领先于欧盟其他国家,占欧盟引资总额的20.1%.     

法国公务员的“稳”与“闲”

法国人的性格追求浪漫,崇尚自由。他们认为从事公务员工作缺乏想象力,个性受到限制,个人发展机遇少。在法国年轻人的眼里,公务员并不是一个炙手可热的职业。就经济收     

欧美国家公务员职业年金制度比较研究

本文根据公务员养老金计划与国家养老金计划的统一融合程度将国外公务员养老金制度分为5种类型,其中有3种制度模式与我国机关事业单位养老保险制度改革后的情况相似,具有较高的参考价值。因此,本文从这3种制度模式中各选择1个代表国家,即美国、英国和荷兰,分别对这3个国家公务员职业年金制度的改革发展过程、制度架构和具体设计进行了比较分析,并与其私人部门雇员适用的企业年金计划进行了对比。在此基础上,本文提出了对我国推进机关事业单位职业年金制度改革的启示和借鉴。