Lord O’Donnell delivered his inaugural lecture last night (24 April) in UCL Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, Wilkins Building, UCL. The text of the lecture can now be viewed on the link below.

After a lifetime in government ending up at its apex as Cabinet Secretary, Gus O’Donnell has come to the sobering conclusion that Britain suffers from deep rooted bad policies and bad ways of governing.  In his inaugural lecture as a Visiting Professor for University College London’s department of political science on Wednesday 24 April, Lord O’Donnell presents his radical critique. Among his reforms:

Department of Political Science/School of Public Policy

Professor Robert Hazell comments on Baroness Thatcher's funeral and constitutional protocol.

A government "tsar" is defined as an individual from outside government who is publicly appointed by a minister to advise on policy development on the basis of their expertise. Their numbers have soared since 1997. Recently published research by Dr Ruth Levitt and William Solesbury (see kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/politicaleconomy/research/tsars.aspx) is the first to systematically investigate and charter the growth in tsar appointments, examine the nature of tsars' expertise, the issues ministers have asked them to address and the difference they can make. Dr Levitt will discuss the study's findings and the important questions of accountability and the use of expertise in the policy system. Former tsar Stephen Boys Smith will provide a first-hand account of his experience in the role.

An internship at the Constitution Unit is an ideal way for recent graduates to gain experience of work in a think tank which is also an academic research centre, and to do research which is linked to policy. Past interns have included students in their holidays, postgraduates thinking about continuing their studies to Masters or PhD level, and civil and public servants who work for us part-time or on secondment.

Congratulations to Dr James Melton on his awarded grant from the Indigo Trust for the Constitutional Excerpts Project.

Frontline Online (Oct 2012)

The referendum is an instrument of popular sovereignty, an institutional expression of the doctrine that political sovereignty derives from the people. In Britain, it has been used on a small range of issues, primarily to secure legitimacy. Some matters, especially those which involve a transfer of sovereignty, are so fundamental that the public may not accept a decision made by parliament alone as legitimate. In the 1970s, it has been suggested, Edward Heath took the British establishment into Europe, but it was left to Harold Wilson to bring the British people into Europe. Today, the establishment continues to favour membership, the people do not. That is the basic case for an `in-out' referendum.

One difficulty with the referendum is that the question is decided by the politicians, not by the voters. The questionthat the voters wish to answer may not be on the ballot paper. In 2011, survey evidence indicated that the favoured option for most electoral reformers was proportional representation, not the alternative vote. Yet that option was not on the ballot paper. In Scotland, survey evidence indicates that further devolution is the favoured option rather than the status quo or independence. Yet that option is not to be on the ballot paper. On Europe. David Cameron proposes a referendum on renegotiated terms of membership, but survey evidence indicates that people favour an in/out referendum. Some means, therefore, should be found for taking the referendum out of the hands of the politicians.

Commenting on the legal advice published today by the UK government, the Director of UCL’s Constitution Unit Prof Robert Hazell said:

Sir Leigh Lewis spoke at the Constitution Unit seminar on 24th January 2013 on Prospects for a Bill of Rights.

On Friday, IPPR are publishing a major paper of Dr Alan Trench (Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Constitution Unit) setting out a model for enhanced financial devolution.  

This is an opportunity for you as an intern to spend time working in an influential research body, and for us to benefit from the skills you can bring. An internship at the Constitution Unit is an ideal way for recent graduates to gain experience of work in a think which is also an academic research centre, and to do research which is link to policy.

Hazell, R. and Yong, B. (expected publication date July 2012, Hart Publishing) The Politics of Coalition: How the Conservative-Lib Dem Government Works  

Special Advisers are now an established feature of British government: there are currently over 80 of them in Whitehall. But what do they actually do? What relations do they have with ministers and civil servants? Are they - as some have claimed - a threat to the impartiality of the civil service? Or are they essential to make democratic government work well?  

To mark Right to Know Day on 28 September, the Constitution Unit at UCL is publishing a new handbook for academic researchers on how to make FOI requests.

Meg Russell’s letter in The Times

In its Post-Legislative Scrutiny of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, to be published on Thursday 26 July, the Commons Justice Committee has drawn heavily on the Constitution Unit’s analysis of how well the FOI Act is working, and cited the Unit’s research and evidence over 40 times in the Committee’s report.