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.

For more than 50 years, the civil service has committed to being better at external recruitment. But it continues to fall short at attracting, retaining and properly using the knowledge and skills present in wider society. Little progress has been made on the recent pledge, contained within June 2021’s Declaration on Government Reform, to “establish new, appropriately and consistently managed, entry routes for professionals from outside government”. The civil service is suffering as a result. So what more could be done to bring external talent into the civil service – and why has the government’s approach failed to make a difference? Building on the Institute’s recent report on the topic, this important event will discuss why external recruitment is so important to an effective civil service and how to make it happen in practice. To discuss the above and more, our expert panel included: Katharine Braddick, Group Head of Strategic Policy and Adviser to the Group CEO at Barclays and former senior civil servant Jonathan Simons, Partner at Public First and former senior civil servant Rt Hon Baroness Gisela Stuart of Edgbaston, First Civil Service Commissioner Jordan Urban, Researcher at the Institute for Government. The event was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

Six years ago, the Institute for Government, Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Chartered Institute of Taxation published a joint report on Better Budgets: making tax policy better. Based on extensive interviews with tax policy stakeholders, the report concluded that the tax policy-making process was seriously flawed and that – to reduce taxpayer confusion, cut down costly errors and avoid embarrassing U-turns – the government should overhaul how it makes tax and budget decisions. Six years on from the report, and as chancellor Jeremy Hunt prepares to present his first budget following a tumultuous autumn for tax policy, this event will look back on the conclusions we reached and the recommendations we made. Did our report identify the right problems and solutions? Have there been any improvements in tax policymaking since then? And have any new problems or unexpected solutions appeared? To discuss these questions and more, our expert panel will include: Bill Dodwell, Outgoing Tax Director at the Office of Tax Simplification and former CIOT President Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government Sir Edward Troup, Tax and Tax Policy Commentator and former HMRC Permanent Secretary The event is chaired by Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.

Ombuds schemes enable citizens to complain about the service they receive – and in the case of public services they play a crucial role in the balance of power between citizen and state. They hold government, the NHS, councils and other public bodies to account when their failings harm people – both resolving individual cases and informing public service improvement and reform.  However, the public service Ombuds system in England is hamstrung by outdated powers and organisational structures, and has fallen behind systems in the devolved nations and other modern democracies.   So how could Ombuds schemes be reformed? What are the options for reform? And why has it been so hard to achieve progress? One proposal is to establish a new Public Service Ombudsman (PSO) to bring together the jurisdictions of existing public service Ombuds schemes, but a bill drafted in 2016 was never passed.  To discuss potential next steps for Ombuds reform, the Institute for Government was delighted to host an expert panel including: Rosemary Agnew, Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Rob Behrens CBE, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, former Chair, Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Sandra Verkuyten OBE, Former CEO of the Hearing Aid Council Patrick Vernon OBE, Social Commentator and Campaigner The event was chaired by Dr Matthew Gill, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.