our areas of expertise

PAI Directors, staff and associates have extensive experience of programmes in public administration internationally, including in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, the Former Soviet Union, Latin America and the Pacific. Several of the Directors have over twenty-five years’ experience of managing such consultancy and training projects, gained from PAI and, prior to that, from the International Division of the Royal Institute of Public Administration. We have excellent relations across the civil service, local government and related organisations in the UK public and private sectors, with potential both for resourcing consultancy projects with experienced public servants and consultants and for arranging tailor-made study programmes. We have strong links with institutions and experts in a range of countries and are experienced at working in partnership with regional consultants and local counterparts.

We are part of the United Kingdom Public Administration Consortium (UKPAC), a group of public and private organisations that forms the UK’s National Section of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS). Other consortium members include the National Audit Office, the National School of Government, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, the Joint University Council Public Administration Committee and Electronic Data Systems Ltd.

Our main areas of competence are:

  • Good governance : democracy, accountability, transparency
  • Public sector reform
  • Policy-making and analysis
  • Institutional development
  • The machinery of government and central/regional/local government relations
  • Social and economic development and poverty reduction strategies
  • European integration
  • Public law, access to justice and the role of the Ombudsman
  • Human rights
  • Ethics and anti-corruption measures
  • Human resource management and development
  • Strategic management and the management of change
  • Organisation development and performance management
  • Management skills development - leadership, decision-making, teamworking, negotiating, presentation skills, etc.
  • Efficiency reviews, organisation analysis and re-structuring
  • Improving the delivery of public services ("Citizens as Customers – Charters and the Contractualisation of Quality in Public Services" - conference paper by Professor Gavin Drewry)
  • Customer service and complaint handling
  • Government : image and information
  • Media and communications policy and practice
  • Freedom of information
  • Legislative drafting
  • Judicial administration
  • Parliamentary administration ("What future for parliaments?" - occasional paper by Dr Geoffrey Wood )
  • Public and private sector pensions
  • Intellectual and industrial property protection
  • Regulating utilities
  • Public-private partnerships