HM Treasury – the UK’s economics and finance ministry – played a crucial role in the government’s response to the Covid pandemic. While the crisis was fundamentally one of public health, shutting down the country saw the government pay the wages of around a third of the workforce and spend billions supporting businesses. So how successful were the Treasury’s policies and how well did it work with the rest of government? What lessons should the Treasury learn from its pandemic response? How can the department be better prepared to handle future crises? And what can be done to improve how the Treasury operates in normal times?This event presented and discussed the findings of a new report from the Institute for Government which examines how the Treasury implemented labour market and business finance support schemes, delivered an unprecedented amount of support to the country at incredible speed and under huge uncertainty, and worked with other government departments during the crisis. To explore these questions, the IfG brought together an expert panel including: Rushanara Ali MP, Member of the Treasury Select Committee Olly Bartrum, Senior Economist at the Institute for Government Prof Sir Charles Bean, former member of the Budget Responsibility Committee at the Office for Budget Responsibility (2017–21) Tracey Brown, Director of Sense about Science Sir Charles Roxburgh, former Second Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury (2016–22) The event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.Follow us @IfGevents and get involved in the conversation using #IfGTreasury. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Institute for Government · Keynote speech: Stephen Flynn MP, SNP Westminster LeaderThe SNP has a new leader and Scotland has a new first minister. So what does the election of Humza Yousaf mean for the Scottish government – and for the role that the SNP plays in Westminster? What does the future of the relationship between the Westminster and Holyrood governments look like and what opportunities are there for the two governments to work together? How will the SNP make the case for independence under new leadership?To explore these questions, the Institute for Government was delighted to welcome Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s leader in Westminster, to give a keynote speech.The event was chaired by Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.Follow us @ifgevents and join the conversation using #IfGFlynn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We were delighted to welcome the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, to speak at the Institute for Government.Appointed as the Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) in 2018, Sir Patrick has been responsible for providing advice on topics as varied as artificial intelligence, emerging pandemic diseases and climate change – and was a regular presence at No.10’s televised press conferences throughout the Covid crisis.With his five-year fixed-term ending in the spring, Patrick looked back at his time as Government Chief Scientific Adviser and ahead to some of the science-related challenges facing government. How can the government make best use of scientific evidence? What more can be done to place science at the heart of government decision making?The event was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government, with an opening address from Patrick followed by a Q&A.Follow us @ifgevents and get involved in the conversation using #IfGscience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This event explored why successive governments have failed to address rising obesity and what would be needed to tackle it.Our panel explored why successive governments have failed to address rising obesity and what would be needed to tackle it. We discussed which policies work, how to build support for them and the role of government in leading change.To explore these questions and more, our expert panel included:Henry Dimbleby, founder of Leon, former government adviser and author of Ravenous: how to get ourselves and our planet into shapeSophie Metcalfe, Researcher at the Institute for GovernmentDr Dolly Theis, Visiting Researcher at the Cambridge University MRC Epidemiology UnitThe event was chaired by Tom Sasse, Associate Director at the Institute for Government.Get more from the IfG:►Register to our upcoming events: https://www.instituteforgovernment.or...►Subscribe to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Wz9tQx►Catch up on previous events at: https://www.instituteforgovernment.or...►Listen to our podcast at: https://www.instituteforgovernment.or... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The House of Lords is back in the spotlight. Boris Johnson’s resignation honours have reignited debates about the appointment process and the ability of politicians to hand life peerages to their friends, supporters and donors. Key figures across Westminster have called for stronger independent oversight of the appointment process. Labour Leader Keir Starmer has gone further, committing to replacing the House of Lords with an elected chamber if he wins the next general election, informed by the work of former prime minister Gordon Brown’s constitutional commission.However, as past governments have discovered, how to reform the second chamber is the cause of intense disagreement. Who should replace the current membership? What should be the role of a second chamber? What are the risks involved in embarking on major constitutional change – and are the knock-on impacts clearly understood?This event – part of the IfG Bennett Institute Review of the UK Constitution – will explore current proposals for reforming the House of Lords, including the newly-published Brown review, and consider how reform could be achieved.Matthew Hanney, former Special Adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Nick CleggDarren Hughes, Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform SocietyLord Norton of Louth, Conservative Peer and Professor of Government at the University of HullSarah Sackman, Commissioner, Brown Commission, Labour candidate for Finchley and Golders GreenThe was chaired by Jess Sargeant,Senior Researcher, Institute for Government.#IfGLordsReform Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following a turbulent two months in politics, policy and financial markets, on 17 November Jeremy Hunt presented the government’s autumn statement, alongside a new set of fiscal and economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The following day the IfG hosted an event to react to the chancellor’s statement.We were delighted that to be joined by Ben Chu, Economics Editor at BBC Newsnight, and Richard Hughes, Chair of the OBR, to discuss: What the new forecasts reveal about the outlook for the government, households and public services. What choices has Rishi Sunak made to help restore fiscal sustainability and credibility? Has it worked and will the government be able to deliver it all? What have the events of the past two months taught us about the importance and strength of the institutions at the heart of fiscal policy making – including the relationship between the OBR, the Treasury and ministers? Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government, and Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government, will also join Richard to discuss the prime minister's fiscal plans drawing on the 2022 edition of the IfG and CIPFA Performance Tracker. Dr Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government, chaired the panel. #IfGautumnstatement Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The public appointments system struggles to appoint candidates in a timely and efficient way. It has been dogged by controversy in recent years, from media speculation over the appointment of new chairs of Ofcom and the BBC to delays at the Charity Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority. Politicians, officials, candidates and the public have expressed frustration with the process. The Institute for Government’s report, Reforming Public Appointments, proposes a package of reforms including clearer data on the causes of delays, fewer ministerial decision points, and an expansion of regulation to include more roles.Our panel explored what the purpose of the public appointments system is, how well it is working now and what reforms might be needed: Lord Jonathan Evans, Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and former Director General of the UK Security Service Baroness Simone Finn, Former Deputy Chief of Staff at Number 10 Sue Gray, Second Permanent Secretary at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, Chair of the Liaison Committee and former Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee William Shawcross CVO, Commissioner for Public Appointments This event was chaired by Dr Matthew Gill, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. #IfGpublicappointments Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Halpern, the ‘What Works’ National Adviser since 2013 and Chief Executive of the Behavioural Insights Team, has spent nearly a decade advising ministers and other leaders in government on using evidence to make better policy. As his term as national adviser comes to an end, he spoke at the Institute for Government to look back at the successes, failures and future prospects for doing ‘what works’ and how it should continue to inform government practice and policy.Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and head of the civil service policy profession, joined David to reflect on good policy making, with Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government chairing the event.#IfGWhatWorks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From u-turning on budgets to sacking chancellors, spooking the markets and seeing borrowing rates climb, it has been a dramatic, chaotic and, for many people, painful start to Liz Truss’s time as prime minister.What mistakes were made in the transition between Boris Johnson’s No.10 and Truss’s administration? Why were Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng so quick to disregard the value of institutions and experience in government? How should a prime minister change course when things go wrong? And what can Jeremy Hunt do as the new chancellor to restore faith in this government’s handling of the economy?As Truss attempts to calm the markets, the public and her party, the IfG’s new director Dr Hannah White brought together an expert IfG panel to examine where the prime minister went wrong and explore the lessons that should be learned from her first 40 days in No.10 for future incoming administrations.With Dr Catherine Haddon, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government #IfGTruss Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Institute for Government was delighted to welcome Michael Cockerell, the BBC broadcaster and political journalist whose award-winning political documentaries have taken viewers behind the scenes of British politics for nearly half a century. He has interviewed a dozen prime ministers from Macmillan to Johnson, and made films about leading politicians including Roy Jenkins, Enoch Powell Denis Healey, Barbara Castle, Ken Clarke and Alan Clark.  His documentary series have included the How to Be trilogy (How to Be Chancellor, How to Be Foreign Secretary and How to Be Home Secretary), The Great Offices of State and The Secret World of Whitehall.In conversation with IfG Senior Fellow Dr Catherine Haddon, Michael Cockerell discussed his memoir, Unmasking our Leaders, and share the stories and secrets – including clips from a number of his documentaries – of the politicians that he has met and interviewed. And with a new prime minister moving into 10 Downing Street, this event will also explore the qualities that make – and sometimes break – our political leaders.#IfGCockerell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices