David Blunkett was one of the most reforming ministers of the New Labour government. The former home secretary, education secretary and work and pensions secretary has led major government departments, attempted to drive through public service reform, and seen what prime ministers need to do to drive through change. So what does he make of Keir Starmer’s plans for reform? How does he rate this Labour government’s efforts so far? And what are his lessons – and warnings – for the prime ministers and his team? Lord Blunkett explored all these questions and more in a fascinating ‘in conversation’ event with Emma Norris, Deputy Director of the Institute for Government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Dissatisfaction with public services was a key reason for the Conservative defeat in the general election. How can the new party leader and frontbench regain public trust for running public services? What are the key elements of a distinctive Conservative vision for public services? How should the Conservative Party balance demands for higher public service spending and lower taxation?  Steve Brine, former Chair of Health and Social Care Committee Rt Hon David Gauke, former Secretary of State for Justice Rt Hon Baroness Nicky Morgan, former Secretary of State for Education This session was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The new government faces an extremely challenging inheritance in the criminal justice system. How can trust in the police and charging rates be improved? How can criminal court backlogs be tackled? How can government improve conditions and capacity in prisons? How can individual criminal justice services work together more effectively? And does the new government have a plan to address these challenges?  Dr Karen Schucan Bird, Associate Professor at the UCL Social Research Institute Penelope Gibbs, Director of Transform Justice  Lord Timpson OBE, Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending  This session was chaired by Cassia Rowland, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How can NHS backlogs be tackled and waiting times improved? What are the prospects for adult social care reform in this parliament? How can government ensure health and care services have sufficient workforces? Do health and care services have sufficient funding and is existing funding used effectively? To what extent can and should health services focus more on prevention? And to what extent do the government’s proposals address these challenges?  Dr Becks Fisher, Director of Research and Policy at Nuffield Trust Professor Naomi Fulop, Professor of Health Care Organisation and Management at the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care  Preet Gill MP, former Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Public Health Dame Una O'Brien, former Permanent Secretary in the Department of Health   This session was chaired by Stuart Hoddinott, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From its creation in 1997 to its merger with the Foreign Office in 2020, the Department for International Development (DfID) managed nearly £200 billion in total and played a global leadership role in reducing poverty. While DfID also had to deal with high-profile failures and public criticism, sustained political support from Labour, coalition and Conservative governments helped the department to achieve a record of delivery during its 23-year existence. A new book, The Rise and Fall of the Department for International Development, will be published in October. Sir Mark Lowcock, the book's co-author with Ranil Dissanayake, joined an expert panel at the Institute for Government to discuss what we can learn from DfID's history, with a particular focus on building the institution, how to maintain civil service capability, targeting resources and developing ways to measure value for money – with essential lessons for the new Labour government and what other departments can learn from DfID's focus on delivery. Joining Sir Mark Lowcock on the panel were: Sarah Champion MP, Chair of the International Development Select CommitteeAndrew Mitchell MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary and former Secretary of State for International Development The panel was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The government has promised to restore the target to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030. The zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate also requires that 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in Great Britain will have to be zero emission by 2030. However, car makers have expressed concerns about their ability to hit these targets without further support, and the sale of electric vehicles (EVs) is lagging behind the government target. So what are the barriers to EV uptake? Charging infrastructure is one reason consumers hesitate to make the switch, with a lack of on-street charging, bottlenecks with motorway charging, as well as concerns about price differential and different rates of VAT for on- and off-street parking. More also needs to be done to ensure the electricity network can cope with demand, and that charge points can be easily and cheaply connected to the grid. So what could be done to accelerate the rollout of EV charging infrastructure? How does the new government plan to address these challenges? And where in the country are these problems most acute? To discuss these questions and more, our panel included: Lilian Greenwood MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Future of Roads)Rosa Hodgkin, Researcher at the Institute for GovernmentIan Howells, Executive Vice President of Honda Motor EuropeBharat Pathania, Head of New Technologies at Midlands Connect This event was chaired by Nehal Davison, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. We would like to thank Honda for kindly supporting this event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, joined IfG director Hannah White for fascinating and wide-ranging discussion on his role and priorities, the challenges facing the health service, and how the government plans to turn around performance levels in the NHS. This joint IfG/New Statesman event was recorded at the Labour party conference in Liverpool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Labour’s first 100 days in power have been marked by reports of conflict, dysfunction and delay at the centre of government. Sue Gray’s short tenure as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff has come to an end, with the prime minister choosing to reset his No.10 team just months after Labour won the general election. What reforms are needed to radically improve the centre of UK government? What does Morgan McSweeney – Starmer’s new chief of staff – need to do to make No.10 work for the prime minister and deliver for the country? What lessons should Starmer take from the way former PMs ran their centres of government – and from those who tried to reset their No.10? To answer these questions and more were: Tom Baldwin, author of Keir Starmer: The Biography and Labour’s Director of Communications (2010–15) Theo Bertram, Director of the Social Market Foundation and a former Special Adviser in No.10 Henry Newman, former Special Adviser at the Cabinet Office and in No.10  Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government and Chair of the Commission on the Centre of Government  The panel was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Theresa May’s government set the UK’s net zero target and thhe UK has made significant progress in decarbonising its power supply under successive Conservative governments. However, the last parliament saw concerns raised by Conservative MPs about the potential costs of net zero. and the issue becoming increasingly politicised. In the context of Labour’s ambitious plans for clean power by 2030, how could the new Conservative opposition approach energy policy and net zero and constructively challenge the new Labour government on its plans? Rt Hon Claire Coutinho MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net ZeroSam Hall, Director of the Conservative Environment NetworkRosa Hodgkin, Researcher at the Institute for GovernmentProfessor Karl Whittle, Professor of Zero Carbon and Nuclear Energy at the University of LiverpoolThis event was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.This event was in partnership with The Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place, University of Liverpool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices