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15 April 2026

Let’s have an education and skills commission to advise government

The skills system is crying out for a comprehensive long-term strategy led by experts, writes Sir John Armitt In the past 30 years, there have been over 70 ministers responsible for skills policy – all believing their personal success is measured by what they can alter. Most of them have been well intentioned, but these […]

‘Civil servants spend too much time in a room with other civil servants’

After four years in the job, Jonathan Slater was unceremoniously sacked as permanent secretary of the Department for Education. Now he’s calling for better accountability within the civil service Jonathan Slater, former permanent secretary at the Department for Education, is on the phone to one of his daughters. He and his family have just moved […]