Tony Hockley
@tonyhockley.bsky.social
Public Policy: Analysis, Design, Delivery & Communication
www.policy-centre.com
www.policy-centre.com
NHS management is resilient. From the the NHS Executive, the NHS England, to whatever management is called next. The work goes on regardless of the door badges. In the end the NHS suffers from underinvestment in good management. Politicians confuse quality & quantity
#NHSengland
#NHSengland
March 13, 2025 at 2:13 PM
NHS management is resilient. From the the NHS Executive, the NHS England, to whatever management is called next. The work goes on regardless of the door badges. In the end the NHS suffers from underinvestment in good management. Politicians confuse quality & quantity
#NHSengland
#NHSengland
Terrifying obesity forecasts in The Lancet. Huge implications for economies, wellbeing & public services. The finding that no country has shown policy success shows a need for serious policy creativity & bravery
#obesity #thelancet #wellbeing #behaviouralscience
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#obesity #thelancet #wellbeing #behaviouralscience
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Global, regional, and national prevalence of adult overweight and obesity, 1990–2021, with forecasts to 2050: a forecasting study for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
No country to date has successfully curbed the rising rates of adult overweight and
obesity. Without immediate and effective intervention, overweight and obesity will
continue to increase globally. Pa...
www.thelancet.com
March 4, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Terrifying obesity forecasts in The Lancet. Huge implications for economies, wellbeing & public services. The finding that no country has shown policy success shows a need for serious policy creativity & bravery
#obesity #thelancet #wellbeing #behaviouralscience
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#obesity #thelancet #wellbeing #behaviouralscience
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Similar to many agencies doing great work in tough situations, #USAID has been using science to maximise aid effectiveness
bppblog.com/2021/12/23/m...
bppblog.com/2021/12/23/m...
Making a Difference: Behavioral Insights and Public Policy
USAID administrator Samantha Power argues that behavioural science should play an important role in development
bppblog.com
February 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Similar to many agencies doing great work in tough situations, #USAID has been using science to maximise aid effectiveness
bppblog.com/2021/12/23/m...
bppblog.com/2021/12/23/m...
US disregard for international law may bode ill for US firms dependent on global respect for IP rights. Multilateral agreements sustain a fragile & important balance …
news.sky.com/story/trump-...
news.sky.com/story/trump-...
Trump announces 'retaliatory measures' after Colombia refuses to accept deported migrant flight
Donald Trump announced an emergency tariff of 25% on Colombian goods - rising to 50% after one week. Colombia's president then threatened 50% tariffs on US goods in retaliation.
news.sky.com
January 26, 2025 at 10:22 PM
US disregard for international law may bode ill for US firms dependent on global respect for IP rights. Multilateral agreements sustain a fragile & important balance …
news.sky.com/story/trump-...
news.sky.com/story/trump-...
Wish Starmer well with this. Perhaps these NHS policies will work this time, with new tech & tech uptake? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Government unveils plan to reduce NHS waiting-list backlog
The government promises to cut the list of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment in England by nearly half a million over the next year.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 6, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Wish Starmer well with this. Perhaps these NHS policies will work this time, with new tech & tech uptake? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Evidence-based advice on New Year resolutions
December 31, 2024 at 3:09 PM
Evidence-based advice on New Year resolutions
Really like this article on the real challenges facing #behaviouralscience in policy
#behsci #nudge #behaviourchange
#behsci #nudge #behaviourchange
Do read this really engaging new article on our Firstview page. @chiaravara.bsky.social & Cale Hubble reflect on the state-of-play in BPP and the areas of challenge ahead. This draws on a huge amount of practical policy experience around the world👇
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Four SINS in behavioural public policy | Behavioural Public Policy | Cambridge Core
Four SINS in behavioural public policy
www.cambridge.org
December 23, 2024 at 12:32 PM
Really like this article on the real challenges facing #behaviouralscience in policy
#behsci #nudge #behaviourchange
#behsci #nudge #behaviourchange
Is self-awareness that difficult? Stunned to hear Gregg Wallace’s natural line of defence. Whatever the outcome of investigations now it looks like he may be self-limiting his career to GB News
news.sky.com/story/gregg-...
news.sky.com/story/gregg-...
Gregg Wallace: Epic failure in crisis management - he just doesn't get it
Gregg Wallace's attack on "middle-class women of a certain age" is a master class in how to arm the trolls. Why do powerful men, of a certain age, fail to grasp the basics of behaviour?
news.sky.com
December 1, 2024 at 3:35 PM
Is self-awareness that difficult? Stunned to hear Gregg Wallace’s natural line of defence. Whatever the outcome of investigations now it looks like he may be self-limiting his career to GB News
news.sky.com/story/gregg-...
news.sky.com/story/gregg-...
Fascinating background to today’s vote. Also interested to note that in this ‘conscience’ vote religious MPs felt the need to deny this influence. Feels like a real shift from the past
My analysis: Kim Leadbeater was the front woman for this bill.
But her side won because there was quiet and powerful experiment in participatory democracy being undertaken by MPs.
Across the land, hundreds of citizens gathered and told stories and convinced their MPs to vote for change.
But her side won because there was quiet and powerful experiment in participatory democracy being undertaken by MPs.
Across the land, hundreds of citizens gathered and told stories and convinced their MPs to vote for change.
The power behind the vote for assisted dying? Ordinary people
Many powerful voices spoke for and against the bill, but those of constituents had the greatest sway over MPs
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2024 at 6:54 PM
Fascinating background to today’s vote. Also interested to note that in this ‘conscience’ vote religious MPs felt the need to deny this influence. Feels like a real shift from the past
Fascinating that so many MPs unable to decide when faced with a real policy decision, wanting even more analysis. But nod through major changes under party whips. Reflection of modern candidate selection systems?
#assisted-dying #Parliament #free-vote #parliament
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
#assisted-dying #Parliament #free-vote #parliament
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Assisted dying bill: MPs wrestle with decision ahead of vote - BBC News
As Friday's assisted dying bill vote approaches, MPs explain how they are approaching their decision.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 28, 2024 at 8:33 AM
Fascinating that so many MPs unable to decide when faced with a real policy decision, wanting even more analysis. But nod through major changes under party whips. Reflection of modern candidate selection systems?
#assisted-dying #Parliament #free-vote #parliament
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
#assisted-dying #Parliament #free-vote #parliament
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Shouldn’t need saying, but a tax break on inheritance is a poor way to subsidise domestic #farming. Good new analysis by the IFS
ifs.org.uk/articles/inh...
ifs.org.uk/articles/inh...
Inheritance tax and farms | Institute for Fiscal Studies
The Autumn 2024 Budget brought some agricultural property into inheritance tax. What are the changes? Who will be affected? Were they a good idea?
ifs.org.uk
November 25, 2024 at 3:19 PM
Shouldn’t need saying, but a tax break on inheritance is a poor way to subsidise domestic #farming. Good new analysis by the IFS
ifs.org.uk/articles/inh...
ifs.org.uk/articles/inh...
The argument about farming tax support has been years in the making, predictable, & not the end of the shift to renewed scrutiny
From 2020 …
blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2020/...
From 2020 …
blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2020/...
Outside the EU, farming faces a choice between diversity or decay
UK farmers have been promised that £3bn of EU direct payments, which come to end because of Brexit, will be matched until the 2024 General Election. The economic and social repercussions of the cor…
blogs.lse.ac.uk
November 19, 2024 at 8:26 AM
The argument about farming tax support has been years in the making, predictable, & not the end of the shift to renewed scrutiny
From 2020 …
blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2020/...
From 2020 …
blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2020/...
No indication yet of how this differs from the NHS policy path that led to deaths at Mid-Staffordshire & elsewhere
www.gov.uk/government/n...
www.gov.uk/government/n...
Zero tolerance for failure under package of tough NHS reforms
Health and Social Care Secretary will outline how government and NHS leaders have a duty to patients and taxpayers to get the system working well
www.gov.uk
November 13, 2024 at 8:15 AM
No indication yet of how this differs from the NHS policy path that led to deaths at Mid-Staffordshire & elsewhere
www.gov.uk/government/n...
www.gov.uk/government/n...
Robust questioning of Minette Batters by @evanhd.bsky.social on BBC R4 PM. Farm inheritance tax break has been a barrier to innovation & new entry, & a much-used perk for the wealthy
October 31, 2024 at 5:26 PM
Robust questioning of Minette Batters by @evanhd.bsky.social on BBC R4 PM. Farm inheritance tax break has been a barrier to innovation & new entry, & a much-used perk for the wealthy
Conservative benches looking like the naughty gang called to the Headmaster’s study
October 30, 2024 at 12:52 PM
Conservative benches looking like the naughty gang called to the Headmaster’s study
Worth a read, to better understand how the context of the SEN crisis. Another example of unintended consequences in public policy
New post just out:
"Kemi Badenoch's Misdiagnosis"
Why her take on autism is wrong and why it really matters in fixing one of the biggest policy problems around: the crisis in special educational needs.
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/k...
"Kemi Badenoch's Misdiagnosis"
Why her take on autism is wrong and why it really matters in fixing one of the biggest policy problems around: the crisis in special educational needs.
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/k...
Kemi Badenoch's Misdiagnosis
Autism and the Special Needs Crisis
open.substack.com
October 24, 2024 at 6:08 AM
Worth a read, to better understand how the context of the SEN crisis. Another example of unintended consequences in public policy
Two very positive points to hear from Wes Streeting on #BBCLauraK today (1) Working cross-party on social care reform (2) Full recognition that any Budget £ spent on NHS is a £ denied to other public services that impact the nation’s health
October 20, 2024 at 8:37 AM
Two very positive points to hear from Wes Streeting on #BBCLauraK today (1) Working cross-party on social care reform (2) Full recognition that any Budget £ spent on NHS is a £ denied to other public services that impact the nation’s health
A relief to have a government that talks seriously with health unions. With RCN nurses rejecting the latest pay offer, still much to discuss. My 2022 blog on NHS pay www.politeia.co.uk/the-nhs-cann...
The NHS cannot Buck the Market. That’s the message of the nurses' strike - Politeia
Since Covid the NHS has come under ever more scrutiny. There are demands for a change of course and calls for reform. But, says Tony Hockley, one truth must be grasped. If front line staff are to be r...
www.politeia.co.uk
September 23, 2024 at 7:46 PM
A relief to have a government that talks seriously with health unions. With RCN nurses rejecting the latest pay offer, still much to discuss. My 2022 blog on NHS pay www.politeia.co.uk/the-nhs-cann...
They were warned; but politics favours a (false) silver bullet. Presumed consent for organ donation can do more harm than good www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
More families refusing to donate relatives' organs
Hundreds of patients died waiting for a transplant last year, amid concerns about consent rates.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 19, 2024 at 5:01 AM
They were warned; but politics favours a (false) silver bullet. Presumed consent for organ donation can do more harm than good www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Perhaps (just perhaps) stating the danger of placing a health system beyond question is no longer an act of heresy news.sky.com/story/clappi...
Clapping for NHS in pandemic may have been 'dangerous', health ombudsman says
The new government has launched a review of the health service after taking power, with Health Secretary Wes Streeting declaring the NHS "broken".
news.sky.com
August 18, 2024 at 6:55 PM
Perhaps (just perhaps) stating the danger of placing a health system beyond question is no longer an act of heresy news.sky.com/story/clappi...
Another election and still searching hard in the Conservative manifesto for that social care fix that was “oven ready” in 2019
June 11, 2024 at 11:52 AM
Another election and still searching hard in the Conservative manifesto for that social care fix that was “oven ready” in 2019
The latest OECD analysis is pretty grim for the UK, and highlights the absence of clarity on public spending plans for a stagnant economy
May 2, 2024 at 9:09 AM
The latest OECD analysis is pretty grim for the UK, and highlights the absence of clarity on public spending plans for a stagnant economy
Eliminating mixed sex wards was in the 1995 Patients Charter. How’s that going for the NHS? app.independent.co.uk/2024/04/28/n...
The Independent UK
app.independent.co.uk
April 29, 2024 at 6:43 AM
Eliminating mixed sex wards was in the 1995 Patients Charter. How’s that going for the NHS? app.independent.co.uk/2024/04/28/n...
Instead of getting to grips with systemic failure on public health: Rishi Sunak to strip GPs of right to sign people off sick
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/1be1...
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/1be1...
April 19, 2024 at 6:19 AM
Instead of getting to grips with systemic failure on public health: Rishi Sunak to strip GPs of right to sign people off sick
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/1be1...
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/1be1...
The worst sort of pre-election Budget - playing a game of locking the next government into disastrous spending plans. Implications for the NHS & social care are dire. My blog for LSE British Politics & Policy, from Wednesday blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
The 2024 Budget is a trap for Labour
Tax cuts during a pre-election Budget make party-political sense. They ensure some electoral support and create constraints that a new government will find hard to overturn. Tony Blair and Gordon B…
blogs.lse.ac.uk
March 8, 2024 at 10:12 AM
The worst sort of pre-election Budget - playing a game of locking the next government into disastrous spending plans. Implications for the NHS & social care are dire. My blog for LSE British Politics & Policy, from Wednesday blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...