Archive for ministry of justice
Returning Officer pay was increased without any idea what it would cost
A significant increase in the pay of some Returning Officers was quietly introduced by the then Labour government ahead of this year's general election but no estimate was made as to what the costs would be of rule changes that made the pay more generous.
Ministry of Justice set to review driving policy
A quick follow-up to my post Paperwork gone mad at the Ministry of Justice, which highlighted the hugely bureaucratic approach taken by the MoJ to safe driving at work (in contrast to the approach of other government departments) and which was widely picked up in the media (see here, here and here). The Ministry of [...]
News travels a little further
And lo, the Eastern Daily Press has also picked up on my story about the Ministry of Justice’s love for over-the-top paperwork. UPDATE: Stories also in the Yorkshire Post (22 October) and Daily Telegraph (22 October), though neither of these are online.
News may travel quickly but it sometimes takes quite a while to start
Following on from yesterday’s coverage in the Mail and the Times, my story about the MoJ’s widely over-the-top bureaucracy for staff who drive on work business has now also reached the Scotsman and the Eastern Daily Press. It’s an example of one of the curious habits of the media even in these internet-enabled, 24 hour [...]
Ministry of Justice’s paperwork overdose hits the media
My story Paperwork gone mad at the Ministry of Justice has hit the media today in a nice piece from Matthew Parris in The Times and in a long piece in the Daily Mail. If the latter’s piece sounds rather familiar when you read it, that’d be because the wording bears a remarkable resemblance to [...]
The Ministry of Justice runs into a little furniture bother
Imagine the conversation later this year, somewhere in Whitehall: Civil servant Good news Minister. Our new arrangements for buying furniture are coming up to the end of their first year and everything is looking really good. Minister Excellent news. Do you mind letting me have some figures on how the arrangements have performed compared to [...]
Paperwork gone mad at the Ministry of Justice
Despite the government’s rhetoric of cutting bureaucracy, the Ministry of Justice – one of the largest Whitehall departments and responsible for many important administrative systems – is spectacularly failing to set a good example with its own hugely bureaucratic approach to health and safety when people are driving as part of their work. The MoJ [...]
Should candidates have to publish their tax status?
Cross-posted from Liberal Conspiracy: Last year, the Committee on Standards in Public Life made one of those simple suggestions which make you think, “Why haven’t people been suggesting this for years?” Their proposal was that in a general election candidates should have to make the same sort of declaration of financial interests as MPs have [...]
Election law: keeping up with the news
Although there are many British bloggers writing about politics, election law and the workings of the Electoral Commission get relatively little coverage except when there’s a specific big issue in the public eye. In fact, for many announcements by the Electoral Commission or the Ministry of Justice the only blogging coverage you’ll find about them [...]
Parliamentary candidates asked to publish their financial interests and tax status
Sometimes good intentions don’t quite result in the good outcomes you’d wish. In this case, the issue is a recommendation from the Committee on Standards in Public Life that general election candidates should have to publish their financial interests just as MPs do.
The logic is a good one: if you’re a voter wanting to chose between [...]
