Institute for Government

The government’s Levelling Up the United Kingdom white paper contained ambitious proposals to deliver a devolution deal to every area of England that wants one by 2030, but the proliferation of regional authorities and directly elected mayors across England alongside different arrangements in the devolved nations can make co-operation and co-ordination difficult. This event considered what structures and ways of working could help support cross-government action on levelling up. How well have mayoral combined authorities (MCAs) worked with central government? Do mayoral combined authorities need a single point of contact in Whitehall or is it better to work directly with different departments? Have MCAs successfully encouraged cross-council working on levelling up? How can the UK government work more effectively with the devolved nations? To explore these questions, the IfG brought together an expert panel including: Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council Professor Francesca Gains, Professor of Public Policy at The University of Manchester Dr Jack Newman, Research Associate at The Productivity Institute and the Department of Politics at The University of Manchester Joe Rossiter, Policy and External Affairs Manager at the Institute of Welsh Affairs The event was chaired by Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.

In recent years, government has had to contend with multiple crises, from the Covid pandemic to major increases in energy costs. Ministers and civil servants have often had to work in crisis mode – making major policy decisions at speed, rapidly deploying staff, and developing new systems. But the potential for further crises looms large, especially given continued international instability. And government is still dealing with the lingering effects of previous shocks, particularly Covid, on key public services. This means that government must be ready for future shocks, while managing the impact of previous ones – and it must do all of this while continuing to deliver on day-to-day priorities. So how can government do this? What lessons should it learn from the experience of recent crises? Is it effectively identifying and managing risk, so that it stands ready to address future shocks? And what does government need to ensure that it can still make progress on its day-to-day priorities? To discuss these questions, the Institute for Government brought together: Alex Chisholm, Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary for the Cabinet Office Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, whose seventh Chair's Annual Report examining these themes will be published the morning of 6 June This event was chaired by Dr Hannah White, Director of 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 43rd 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 month's speakers were: Kris De Meyer, Science Communication Fellow at University College London, on turning climate change data into useful metrics Matt Lowe, Manager of FCA Innovation Lab, and Simran Singh, TechSprint Lead at FCA Innovation Lab, Financial Conduct Authority, on The Experimentation Wing of the Financial Conduct Authority: How the FCA’s Digital Sandbox and TechSprint initiatives enable the regulator to collaboratively explore and test out new technologies Teresa Soter, Senior Policy Adviser at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, on conducting a public dialogue on trust in digital identity services Liz Way, Senior Product Manager at NHS England, on the Secure Data Environment The event was chaired by Gavin Freeguard, Associate at the Institute for Government.

Recent events in government, including the circumstances following Dominic Raab’s resignation as justice secretary, have at least on the surface deepened a divide between ministers and officials – and civil service morale has dropped as the strained relationship between ministers and officials deteriorates. With Raab complaining of “increasingly activist civil servants” and warning that it had become “almost impossible for ministers to deliver for the British people”, there have been increasing calls to give more powers to ministers to bring their political allies into Whitehall. So has civil service impartiality had its day? Is it time to allow more political appointments into civil service roles? What would this mean for the civil service’s ability to give good advice and effectively implement government policy? What other changes would help the civil service recruit people with the skills and specialisms that ministers want and the public need? And what else can be done to restore the fractured relationship between ministers and officials? To explore these questions, the IfG bought together an expert panel including: George Eustice, Conservative MP and former Environment Secretary Ayesha Hazarika, Times Radio presenter and a former civil servant and special adviser Lord O’Donnell, former Cabinet Secretary Rachel Wolf, Founding Partner at Public First, a former adviser at 10 Downing Street and co-author of the Conservative Party's 2019 election manifesto This event was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director 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, a justice special, was the 42nd 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 month's speakers were: Karen Broadhurst, Professor of Social Work at Lancaster University Natalie Byrom, Director of Research at The Legal Education Foundation and Director of Justice Lab Amy Caldwell-Nichols, Deputy Director, Head of Insights & Analysis at HM Courts and Tribunal Service Lizzie Cook, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology at the Violence and Society Centre at City, University of London The event was chaired by Gavin Freeguard, Associate at the Institute for Government. We would like to thank The Nuffield Foundation for kindly supporting this event.

The NHS spends over £30bn a year through procurement, on critical clinical services, medicines, equipment, IT, building maintenance, catering and cleaning. But does it spend this money well? During the pandemic questions were raised about value for money and transparency. With NHS England recently creating a new central commercial function to coordinate the work of the more than 4,000 staff working on NHS procurement and supply chain, how can the NHS make the most of its collective buying power and ensure money isn’t wasted? What lessons can be learned from NHS procurement during the pandemic? How can the NHS create more resilient supply chains? What role can procurement play in tackling health inequalities and the NHS’s commitment to reach net zero by 2045? And how can the NHS take advantage of the changes proposed in the Procurement Bill? To answer these questions, the Institute for Government convened an expert panel including: Jacqui Rock, Chief Commercial Officer at NHS England David Hare, Chief Executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network Patrick Parkin, Partner at Burges Salmon Luella Trickett, Director, Value and Access at the Association of British HealthTech Industries The event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

A commitment to level up the country was at the forefront of the Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto, but how much progress can the government make on its flagship agenda with no more than 18 months remaining until the next general election? Is substantial progress on regional inequalities possible over the next few years given the broader economic circumstances? And should this and future administrations prioritise specific aspects of the agenda, such as skills? This event, which took place shortly after the 2023 local elections were held, assessed what comes next for levelling up. To explore these questions and more, our expert panel included: Debbie Abrahams MP, Member of Parliament for Oldham East and Saddleworth Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Westwood, Professor of Government Practice and Vice Dean of Humanities at The University of Manchester Jennifer Williams, Northern England Correspondent at the Financial Times The event was chaired by Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the 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.