@richardpope.org
I wrote a book on public services: https://londonpublishingpartnership.co.uk/books/platformland-an-anatomy-of-next-generation-public-services/ It’s time to share the benefits of digital with the public properly.
I hope the protection against private companies is effective public institutions/services. If governments and unethical companies choose to do the worst, they will find a way (see US). Otherwise it just feels like choosing not to fill in potholes as a road safety measure, rather than police/rules
More of this ministers showing prototypes please
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62d1ql5w0vo
Ha - I've tried a couple of times, but unfortunately I don't have the senior leadership CV that is a given for stuff like that
Excellent review
Almbun cover for David Bowie and Peter and the Wolf
In the search for calm things to play while kids are having breakfast, I stumbled across David Bowie doing Peter and the Wolf: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bowie_Narrates_Prokofiev%27s_Peter_and_the_Wolf It’s mostly very Jackanory,... https://richardpope.org/2026/03/10/in-the-search-for-calm/
Make sure you used the correct email address for One Login and Companies House, that was my initial mistake
6.27% of appointments verified by 31 December 2025. Companies House identity verification statistics. Data from https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/companies-house-management-information-identity-verification-statistics
6.27% of appointments (PSCs and LLP members) verified between 2025-11-18 and 2025-12-31. Assuming linear growth, they’ll hit ~53% by 2026-11-18, which is when they want 100% of appointments verified.
David Attenborough voice: and so begins the majestic migration of the NEDs
🤦♂️
My main source of confusion was that I thought I had done the first step in September, but had not because of an email mismatch, so now mistrusting of all updates
That me that is.
Aside: I applied for NED role at Companies House last year, but did not get an interview. If I had, I imagine all I would have been asking about would have been this, given the global failure rate of ID matching projects
This is something you would hope a digitally savvy minister and board would be all over before it becomes a news story.
There's a 14 day window for an additional step, which falls bang over Easter School holidays which can't do much for the completion rate. Predicting a blanket extension.
I thought it was super smooth when I first did it, but turns out it didn't work
I have literally no idea if I have verified my identity with Companies House or how to check. I thought I had done it early on, but it matched on GOV.UK One Login email address, which was different. Then I thought I did last month. Still getting emails saying it's not been done.
I blame Sid
The House of Commons Library on the concept on impeachment*
"Impeachment is considered obsolete, as it has been superseded by other forms of accountability, and the rules underpinning the procedure have not been adapted to modern s... https://richardpope.org/2026/03/04/the-house-of-commons-library/
Noting that NHS England currently has job ads out for a CDIO and CDAO (this is in addition to the Department of Health and Social Care CDO):
findajob.dwp.gov.uk/details/1794...
findajob.dwp.gov.uk/details/1794...
There's a month to apply.
Help National Conversations fill the bookshelves of newly elected members of the Senedd and Scottish Parliament with books on digital government (including Platformland!):
www.linkedin.com/posts/tra…
Getting a grip - designing social objects for AI and humans, and the end of the end-to-end journey
https://www.rpp.works/ways-of-doing/getting-a-grip/
I contributed this this last year which might have some useful pointers: www.think7.org/publications....
Really welcome from Manish Srivastava on how to do decisions/appeals in an unbundled state in the age of AI
https://digitalstatecraft.substack.com/p/the-minimum-digital-kernel-of-an
"smallest set of shared digital capabilities needed for an unbundled state to behave like a rule-of-law machine"
This is really welcome from Manish Srivastava on how to do verifiable decisions/appeals in an unbundled state in the age of AI:
https://digitalstatecraft.substack.com/p/the-minimum-digital-kernel-of-an
"It is the smallest set of sh... https://richardpope.org/2026/03/02/this-is-really-welcome-from/
When I hear music, I sort of half visualise an $n-dimensional space with the music moving through it. When I hear French Disko the space keeps collapsing in on itself (is the best explanation I can come up with). Anyway, how 90s is that?
Stereolab on The Word:
youtu.be/Ttq4RLTsz…
This track still does odd things to my brain, too many contradictions.
Credit to @bm.wel.by for that particular meme
Suggest Congress closes the door in the President's face so as to remind him not to seek to arrest politically opposed members of Congress.
It's what we do, over here, at our equivalent annual address to the legislature.
Good day for you if you want to read brilliant things about how transformation and the NHS as I think you'll agree @jamestplunkett.bsky.social has done a superb job in pulling together this reflection to complement Richard earlier today.
