Michael Little's blog
What I mean to say: fit for purpose
Just before Christmas, UK Children’s Minister Tim Loughton commissioned a review of the adoption process. His advisor, Martin Narey, had become “exercised …. about (the) parental assessment process which is”, he said, “not fit for purpose”.MORE
Finlandia: What’s essential and what’s optional in the quest to improve children’s lives?
To the British liberal eye, Scandinavia is an idyll as perfect as that painted in Sibelius’s short symphony Finlandia. MORE
We Can Work it Out
Bill Gates stares out of a Rotary International poster and tells us ‘We are this close to ending Polio.’ His thumb and forefinger are placed either side of the words ‘this close.’MORE
Connecting research, policy and practice with Evidence-Based Associates
In a recent interview for the Evidence Based Advocate, I talk about the payment-by-results contracts in place in the U.K.MORE
Response to the response
Michael describes the reactions of UK ministers to the Reviews around improving child development since the Coalition Government was formed 12 months ago.MORE
Michael Little, an Evidence-Based Advocate . . .
Earlier this year, I was interviewed by Clay Yeager for the EB-Advocate, a quarterly newsletter published by Evidence-Based Associates (EBA), and was asked to comment on the differences between the implementation of the evidence-based programmes in the US and the UK today.MORE
Allen Review and Family Group Conferencing..
Graham Allen’s Review into Early Intervention published last week advocated for a clear standard of evidence to delineate between what does and what does not work in improving child outcomes. I have been a member of Graham Allen’s team and have argued strongly for this independent standard.MORE
Graham Allen is a heavy man
Many leaders of children’s services in the UK will glance at the Allen Review on Early Intervention published today and dismiss it as important but soft. They will be making a big mistake.
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7. What Can Government Do?
Central government, by default, is the purveyor of cuts. What can it do to help to encourage a sensible, rationale approach to clawing back the budget deficit?MORE
6. The Relationship Between the Centre and the Local
Cutting sensibly should involve some agreement between central and local forces about what should go and why. The Big Society promises a different relationship between the centre and the local. The centre here might mean Whitehall or it might mean County, City or Town Hall. Local means those places that relate to the centre - local authorities, schools, neighbourhoods and so on.MORE
