Institute for Government

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.

Better use of data is key to more effective government. Across government, teams are doing fascinating work with data. But those projects don’t get the attention they deserve. Data Bites aims to change that. This event was the 41st in our series, where the speakers presented their work in an exciting, quickfire format. Each speaker had eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the audience. This months speakers were: Sandrine Balley, Geographic Information Lead at the London Borough of Hackney, on how Hackney developed a webmap template to open up spatial data (and how you can use it too) Kathleen Caper, Head of Data Maturity and Governance at the Central Digital and Data Office, on Data Maturity Assessment for Government - more than a tool for the data function Dan Jeffery, Chief Information Security Officer and Deputy Chief Information Officer at NHS Blood and Transplant, on how NHSBT secure the supply of Blood, Organs, and Tissues services to the NHS from cyber threats Clara Clark Nevola, Group Manager (Technology) at the Information Commissioner’s Office, on Privacy Enhancing Technologies, how they relate to data protection requirements and how they can be used in practice The event was chaired by Gavin Freeguard, Associate at the Institute for Government.

The 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.

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 shape Sophie Metcalfe, Researcher at the Institute for Government Dr Dolly Theis, Visiting Researcher at the Cambridge University MRC Epidemiology Unit The event was chaired by Tom Sasse, Associate Director at the Institute for Government.

Do citizens understand – or even care about – how the UK constitution works and the role it plays in making government work for them? If they don’t, then what can be done to ensure that the constitution and constitutional change has public support and legitimacy? In this event, we explored the current state of public understanding of – and interest in – constitutional issues. We looked at good practice for citizen engagement. And we considered what can be done to cultivate an engaged and empowered citizenry for the future. This event was part of the IfG and Bennett Institute Review of the UK Constitution. To explore these questions, we assembled an expert panel including: Catherine McKinnell MP, Chair of the Petitions Committee Alan Renwick, Professor of Democratic Politics at University College London and Deputy Director of UCL's Constitution Unit Tatton Spiller, Founder of Simple Politics The event was chaired by Rebecca McKee, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government.

Better use of data is key to more effective government. Across government, teams are doing fascinating work with data. But those projects don’t get the attention they deserve. Data Bites aims to change that. Our latest event, the 40th in our series, was a justice special, where the speakers presented their work in an exciting, quickfire format. Each speaker had eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the audience. This month's speakers were: Dan Corry, Chief Executive of New Philanthropy Capital, on the work of the Justice Data Lab Toby Hayward-Butcher, Head of Strategy & Delivery, Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) Programme, on better supporting people with complex needs by linking and improving the government data held on them in a safe and secure way Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government Anna Powell-Smith, Director of the Centre for Public Data, on data and statistical gaps in criminal justice. The event was chaired by Gavin Freeguard, Associate at the Institute for Government.

Generative AI – artificial intelligence that creates new content using machine learning algorithms – is improving rapidly. This has major implications for procurement, which accounts for around a third of government expenditure. Writing bids for contracts takes time, investment and resources, but by enabling suppliers to create bid text more quickly, generative AI will likely lead to more firms bidding for more contracts. This could lower barriers to entry for suppliers that may otherwise lack the resources to apply for government contracts, leading to more competition and better outcomes for government. But it is also likely to mean government having to process a larger volume of bids, and creates the risk of suppliers submitting more speculative bids due to the lower effort required. So what impact will reducing the bureaucratic burden of bid writing have on suppliers? Will this help government secure value for money through procurement? What can government do to prepare for a higher number of bids? And what are the possible downsides of the increased use of generative AI in the procurement process? To discuss these questions, the Institute for Government, gathered an expert panel including: Richard Allan, Member of the House of Lords Einav Ben-Yehuda, Chief Commercial Officer at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Sally Guyer, Global CEO of World Commerce and Contracting Kate Steadman, Group Strategy & Communications Director at Serco Sean Williams, Chief Executive of AutogenAI The event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

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.

After a tumultuous autumn for economic policy, and against a backdrop of high inflation and a cost of living crisis, Jeremy Hunt will deliver his first budget on 15 March. On the following day an IfG event featuring Richard Hughes, Chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, assessed the chancellor’s statement. What does the budget reveal about this government’s approach to economic and fiscal policy? How will the economic and fiscal outlook shape the general election campaign? What do the government’s public spending plans look like – and are they plausible? And what are the strengths and weaknesses of the rules that help shape the government’s fiscal plans? To explore these questions and more, our expert panel included: Stephen Bush, Columnist and Associate Editor at the Financial Times Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government, lead author of the Institute’s Performance Tracker of public services performance Richard Hughes, Chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. The event was chaired by Dr Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government.

The UK’s homes and buildings are among the draughtiest in Europe, with successive governments struggling to design policies that boost energy efficiency. This failure has been brought into sharp focus as our reliance on fossil fuels has been exposed and energy bills hit record highs. So what does the government need to do to fix this problem? What gaps were there in last year’s Heat and Buildings Strategy and how should they be addressed? And what are the key barriers to accelerating the pace of housing upgrades and supporting a supply chain across the country to deliver these changes? To discuss these questions and more, our expert panel included: Gillian Charlesworth, Group CEO of BRE Rt Hon Philip Dunne MP, Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee Kerry McCarthy MP, Shadow Minister for Climate Change Andrew Sissons, Deputy Director of Sustainable Future Mission at Nesta The event was chaired by Tom Sasse, Associate Director at the Institute for Government.