Professor Colin Talbot

BBGS 1962-1969

Colin Talbot is a Professor of Government, a former Specialist Advisor to the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee and the Public Administration Select Committee, and has appeared as expert witness many times in Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and NI Assembly. He's also advised Governments from the USA to Japan.

Professor Talbot was founding Director of the Policy@Manchester network, and a former advisor to both the Treasury and Public Administration Select Committees. His advice on public sector performance, public spending systems and civil service reform has been sought by governments around the world – most recently by the OMB in the USA and Prime Ministers and Cabinet Department in Australia. His research on Government, Academics and Policymaking has included experimental virtual Policy Labs.

Professor Talbot retired from the University of Manchester in summer 2017 and subsequently became a Research Associate at the Centre for Business Research, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.

Colin's main area of expertise in is public services and public management reform. He has completed major international comparative studies on the creation of arms-length agencies (for the UK government and ESRC); of the use of performance reporting systems (for the National Audit Office); and of budget participation and scrutiny systems (for the Scottish Parliament). Colin has advised Parliamentary Committees on performance and public spending issues for the Treasury, Public Administration and Welsh Affairs Committees.

He is currently looking at the interface between academia and policymaking through a series of studies and experimental virtual "Policy Labs".

Colin has advised a wide range of international public sector organisations and/or carried out research in countries as diverse as Canada, Jamaica, Mexico, Tanzania, India, Bangladesh, Japan, Hong Kong, Malta and Sweden and spoken at conferences and seminars in over two dozen countries.

Colin had an unconventional career - he left school at 16 and worked in various jobs before going to Manchester University as an undergraduate at 21.

After Manchester he worked in a variety of mainly public sector posts before completing an MSc in Public Sector Management at Southbank University (with Distinction) and then becoming a senior lecturer in 1990 at Southbank.

He completed a PhD at the London School of Economics before becoming Chair of Public Policy and Management at Glamorgan University in 1995, and Chair of Public Policy at Nottingham in 2003.

He was also Chair of Public Policy and Management at Manchester Business School and most recently professor of Government in Politics & Social Sciences.

Colin's thoughts on playing rugby for the School.