Institute for Government

The IfG team presented new analysis on the likely impact of the budget on public services performance. They also discussed the key questions facing the government ahead of the spending review, including widespread poor performance and record backlogs, tight funding settlements, industrial disputes, crumbling buildings, recruitment and retention problems, and resilience for future crises. Stuart Hoddinott, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government Philip Nye, Senior Data Scientist at the Institute for Government Cassia Rowland, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government This session was chaired by Emma Norris, Deputy Director of the Institute for Government. This event was part of the IfG's public services conference, kindly supported by UCL.

Dissatisfaction with public services was a key reason for the Conservative defeat in the general election. How can the new party leader and frontbench regain public trust for running public services? What are the key elements of a distinctive Conservative vision for public services? How should the Conservative Party balance demands for higher public service spending and lower taxation? Steve Brine, former Chair of Health and Social Care Committee Rt Hon David Gauke, former Secretary of State for Justice Rt Hon Baroness Nicky Morgan, former Secretary of State for Education This session was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. This event was part of the IfG's public services conference, kindly supported by UCL.

The new government has put prevention at the heart of public service reform plans. So what difference could this approach make? By intervening sooner, problems may not escalate, become embedded, or arise in the first place – meaning preventative services could be a major contributor to public sector productivity. With spending likely to be tight over the coming years, the theory behind an "invest to save" scheme is clear – but in practice it has been hard to implement, and cashable savings have often proved elusive. This event brought together a panel of experts to discuss: - Is it realistic to expect preventative programmes to deliver cashable savings? - How quickly could a shift towards a more preventative approach improve public service productivity? - What are the respective roles of the centre of government, departments, and frontline services in delivering this shift and realising productivity improvements? - How can additional investments be made in prevention when acute demand is high and spending tight? To discuss these questions and more, our panel included: - Dr Thomas Waite, Deputy Chief Medical Officer - Cllr Gillian Ford, Deputy Leader of Havering Council, Cabinet Member for Adults and Health - Daniel Sperrin, Partner at Newton - Moira Wallace, former Permanent Secretary The event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. We would like to thank Newton for kindly supporting this event.

Rachel Reeves’ first budget promises to be one of the most consequential in years. Shortly after the chancellor addresses parliament, IfG experts examined her announcements and make sense of Reeves’ plans for the economy. What decisions has she taken on new fiscal rules, tax measures and public services? What does this budget mean for the government’s growth mission? Does Reeves have a credible plan for fixing the public spending “black hole”? And what does this budget reveal about this government’s priorities? The panel included: Stuart Hoddinott, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government Giles Wilkes, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government The event was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.

From its creation in 1997 to its merger with the Foreign Office in 2020, the Department for International Development (DfID) managed nearly £200 billion in total and played a global leadership role in reducing poverty. While DfID also had to deal with high-profile failures and public criticism, sustained political support from Labour, coalition and Conservative governments helped the department to achieve a record of delivery during its 23-year existence. A new book, The Rise and Fall of the Department for International Development, will be published in October. Sir Mark Lowcock, the book's co-author with Ranil Dissanayake, joined an expert panel at the Institute for Government to discuss what we can learn from DfID's history, with a particular focus on building the institution, how to maintain civil service capability, targeting resources and developing ways to measure value for money – with essential lessons for the new Labour government and what other departments can learn from DfID's focus on delivery. Joining Sir Mark Lowcock on the panel were: - Sarah Champion MP, Chair of the International Development Select Committee - Andrew Mitchell MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary and former Secretary of State for International Development The panel was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

The government has promised to restore the target to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030. The zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate also requires that 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in Great Britain will have to be zero emission by 2030. However, car makers have expressed concerns about their ability to hit these targets without further support, and the sale of electric vehicles (EVs) is lagging behind the government target. So what are the barriers to EV uptake? Charging infrastructure is one reason consumers hesitate to make the switch, with a lack of on-street charging, bottlenecks with motorway charging, as well as concerns about price differential and different rates of VAT for on- and off-street parking. More also needs to be done to ensure the electricity network can cope with demand, and that charge points can be easily and cheaply connected to the grid. So what could be done to accelerate the rollout of EV charging infrastructure? How does the new government plan to address these challenges? And where in the country are these problems most acute? To discuss these questions and more, our panel included: Lilian Greenwood MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Future of Roads) Rosa Hodgkin, Researcher at the Institute for Government Ian Howells, Executive Vice President of Honda Motor Europe Bharat Pathania, Head of New Technologies at Midlands Connect This event was chaired by Nehal Davison, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

Productivity in public services has never been more important. Most services are struggling to return to pre-pandemic performance levels, and the new Labour government have indicated that spending will remain tight. Improvements in performance will likely come from frontline workers finding new, innovative ways of delivering services. So what can be done to improve productivity? By highlighting outstanding examples of innovation across public services, Productivity Pitches, a series of events hosted by the IfG, aims to share and support ways to improve performance levels. This event was the fourth in the series and focused on local government. Each speaker had 10 minutes to present their innovation, followed by 10 minutes of audience questions. The chair and a guest from the Productivity Institute – who are kindly supporting this event series – then brought together the common themes from the pitches and discussed the lessons for improving productivity. The speakers for this edition of Productivity Pitches were: Gill Wilson and Tim Pearse, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, on joining up previously disparate datasets across the local authority to better understand the needs of their residents and forecast demand for their services. This allows them to support residents at an earlier stage and making the best use of scarce council resources. Vicky Schofield and Cheryl Whitehouse, Wakefield Council children's services, on the council providing residential care and improving outcomes for care leavers. With the cost of commissioning children’s residential care with private providers increasing rapidly, Wakefield decided to operate and run its own children’s homes, with more stable staffing and fewer restrictions than traditional children’s homes. As a result, the cost of providing care has dropped dramatically and children have far better outcomes. Cllr Bridget Smith, South Cambridgeshire Council, on the outcomes of shifting to a four-day working week. The Covid-19 pandemic led to the council changing the way that it worked, making better use of technology, flexible and home working. As a result, council employees now complete 100% of their work in 80% of the time. An independent evaluation of the reforms found that the council was performing better on 22 of 24 metrics, including a large drop in turnover and reduced use of expensive agency staff. The event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. Andy Westwood, Professor of Public Policy, Government and Business at The University of Manchester joined the discussion of common themes. Follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter) @IfGEvents or on Bluesky @instituteforgov.bsky.social, and join the conversation using #ProductivityPitches Productivity Pitches is kindly supported by The Productivity Institute.

Labour’s first 100 days in power have been marked by reports of conflict, dysfunction and delay at the centre of government. Sue Gray’s short tenure as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff has come to an end, with the prime minister choosing to reset his No.10 team just months after Labour won the general election. What reforms are needed to radically improve the centre of UK government? What does Morgan McSweeney – Starmer’s new chief of staff – need to do to make No.10 work for the prime minister and deliver for the country? What lessons should Starmer take from the way former PMs ran their centres of government – and from those who tried to reset their No.10? To answer these questions and more were: Tom Baldwin, author of Keir Starmer: The Biography and Labour’s Director of Communications (2010–15) Theo Bertram, Director of the Social Market Foundation and a former Special Adviser in No.10 Henry Newman, former Special Adviser at the Cabinet Office and in No.10 Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government and Chair of the Commission on the Centre of Government The panel was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.

Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, was in conversation with Dr Hannah White, Director and CEO of the Institute for Government.

Reports of dysfunction and unhappiness at the centre of government have led to Sue Gray’s departure as the prime minister’s chief of staff. In an effort to reset his top team, Keir Starmer has replaced Gray with Morgan McSweeney, and has also made a number of other key appointments to his No.10 operation. So what does this restructuring tell us about how Starmer wants to run his centre of government? What lessons should be taken from the difficulties – and disagreements – at the centre that have hindered Labour’s first 100 days in power? And what else needs to change to ensure No.10, the Cabinet Office and the Treasury deliver for the prime minister? The IfG’s final report of the Commission on the Centre of Government examined why the centre has failed successive prime ministers – and the early experiences of Keir Starmer’s administration have underlined, yet again, the urgent need to implement the Centre Commission’s seven recommendations for radical reform to create strengthened, united political leadership at the heart of government. This webinar explored Gray’s exit, assess Starmer’s reset, and discuss the IfG’s recommendations for reform. Our expert panel included: Sam Freedman, Author of Failed State and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government Dr Catherine Haddon, Programme Director at the Institute for Government Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Tim Durrant, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.