Institute for Government

The chancellor’s new Growth Plan signals a change of course in the government’s economic and fiscal strategy, raising questions over where levelling up fits into the new administration’s strategy. Is the government still committed to narrowing the gap between richer and poorer regions, in terms of productivity, skills and jobs? What measures should it use to assess progress? How should it report on performance and keep all parts of government focused on this objective? Does Whitehall have the necessary local knowledge and data to guide effective decision making? Speakers: Jack Brereton MP, Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent South Councillor Louise McKinlay, Deputy Leader of Essex County Council Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government Ben Wilson, Vice-President, Public Policy, Europe at Mastercard This event was chaired by Akash Paun, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government. This event took place at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

What should the new prime minister prioritise on the NHS and social care? In light of the major challenges facing the NHS and social care, many of which predated the pandemic, we heard from health experts, including: Marco Longhi MP, Member of the Health and Social Care Select Committee Anita Charlesworth, Director of Research and REAL Centre at the Health Foundation Danny Mortimer, Deputy Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation This event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. This event took place at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

Inadequate transport infrastructure has been blamed as a key contributor to poor economic performance outside of London and the South East, and transport policy is a key lever that national and local government can pull to deliver levelling up. We discussed the role of transport to promote regional growth, whether the government’s current approach is the right one and how infrastructure spending can best be targeted to generate large returns in the regions. Speakers: Andrew Jones MP, Chair of the Transport for the North APPG and former Transport Minister Adam Hawksbee, Deputy Director and Head of Levelling Up at Onward Will McWilliams, Partner, Head of Public Services Advisory at Grant Thornton UK LLP Laura Shoaf, Chief Executive Officer at the West Midlands Combined Authority and Chair of the Urban Transport Group This event was chaired by Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. This event took place at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

Boris Johnson’s tenure as prime minister was marked by a series of ethical scandals which ultimately led to his resignation. His successor, Liz Truss, has put an emphasis on her judgment about what is right and wrong, downplaying the importance of the institutions, advisers and rules that her predecessors put in place to help guide their governments. But with public trust in politicians as low as it has ever been, what should she be doing to build public trust in her administration and the government it leads? Speakers: Rt Hon Jeremy Wright KC MP, Member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life Daniel Bruce, Chief Executive of Transparency International UK Tim Durrant, Associate Director at the Institute for Government Dr Susan Hawley, Executive Director of Spotlight on Corruption Dave Penman, General Secretary at the FDA This event was chaired by Dr Hannah White, Acting Director of the Institute for Government. This event took place at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

Government cannot do levelling up alone, and an ambitious agenda to change the UK’s economic geography will be reliant on the private and third sectors. So how can how can central and local government foster collaborations with business and the social economy to drive levelling up? Speakers: Paul Scully MP, Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for London Rt Hon Hazel Blears, Chair of the Board for Social Investment Business Ed Cox, Executive Director for Strategy, Integration and Net Zero at West Midlands Combined Authority Sara Williams, CEO of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce This event was chaired by Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. This event took place at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

How can the civil service get better? And – with potentially huge efficiencies needed in the public sector – how can it do that for less money? Speakers: Gillian Keegan MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Rt Hon Lord Maude of Horsham, former Minister for the Cabinet Office Rt Hon Baroness Stowell of Beeston, former Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Dr Hannah White, Acting Director of the Institute for Government. This event took place at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

We explored whether regulators should have specific responsibility to consider the regional implications of their work, and where the levelling up agenda fits alongside the other challenges – such as world events, technological developments and changing citizen and consumer expectations – that government and regulators are having to grapple with. Speakers: Paul Scully MP, Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for London Anna Bradley, Chair of the Solicitors Regulation Authority Dame Patricia Hodgson, former Chair of Ofcom Robert Khan, Assistant Director for Public Affairs and National Offices at the General Medical Council This event was chaired by Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. This event took place at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

The government’s vision for net zero is based on unleashing a range of technologies through the power of the market. But getting the right mix of policy, regulation and market support to achieve this won’t be easy. Is the government being too optimistic about the speed and cost of deploying technologies? What should it learn from the UK’s success on offshore wind? And what steps does it need to take to ensure technologies can support the transition? Speakers: Dean Russell MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Professor Mary Ryan, Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise) at Imperial College London Dhara Vyas, Deputy Director of Energy UK This event was chaired by Tom Sasse, Associate Director at the Institute for Government. This event took place at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

Expanding and improving the UK’s housing stock will be crucial for delivering on the government’s flagship commitments to achieving net zero carbon emissions and levelling up economic performance and wellbeing across the country. But the government’s plans so far provide little detail about how this housing revolution will be achieved, and more clarity is needed on the mix of policy, regulation and market support measures required to create the conditions for success. We discussed the biggest challenges in delivering more affordable homes and a low-carbon transition in UK housing. Our panel includes: Bob Blackman MP, Member of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee Steve Cole, Director of Make UK Modular; Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation; Councillor Linda Taylor, Member of the LGA Environment, Economy, Housing and Transport Group Rosie Toogood, Chief Executive Officer of Legal and General Modular Homes The event was chaired by Tom Sasse, Associate Director at the Institute for Government. The event took place at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

How can the better use of data benefit public services? Our panel, chaired by Gavin Freeguard, featured Matt Davies, Senior Policy Adviser at the Open Data Institute; Helen Milner OBE, Group Chief Executive at Good Things Group; and Antonio Weiss, Senior Partner at The PSC. This event was recorded at the 2022 Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.