I have discovered why modern government is so awful. It's back to front and inside out.

The people in charge are always trying to do someone else's job, rather than their own.

The annual reports of bodies like the Fire Brigade, the NHS and the police all talk about holistic approaches' and the need to work in partnership' with everyone else. Few seem interested in their own specific responsibilities.

Take the Fire Brigade. They have concluded that lots of their money goes on fighting fires caused by arson and reckon it could better spend on something else. Their plan: To appoint arson officers to fight the thought of crime, rather than real fires. Now I always assumed every police constable in the land was an arson officer'. If we feel arson is at a higher level than it maybe, the police should be asked why.

It would be a bit cheeky for the Chief Fire Officer to tell the Chief Constable his officers are rubbish. If it needs to be done, Rhodri Morgan or someone at government level should do so.

In reality, we find the senior politicians are the firefighters, dashing round to deal with every emergency. I'm all for joined-up government. But in the few places we've got it, the process is held together by sticky-tape and string. Time for the people at the top to start taking responsibility, perhaps.