Institute for Government

Earlier this month Lord Maude, who served as Minister for the Cabinet Office from 2010-2015, published his Independent Review of Governance and Accountability in the Civil Service. The comprehensive review saw Maude speak to former and present civil service leaders, minister and ex-ministers, former prime ministers, and many civil servants. Maude concludes that “the arrangements for governance and...

In 2019, the UK government passed trailblazing legislation committing itself to achieving ‘net zero’ greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The UK has already made significant progress in decarbonising its economy: carbon emissions have fallen by over 45% from the 1990s levels. This has been mainly achieved through centrally directed policy to decrease emissions from power generation, by substituting c...

After Rishi Sunak used the recent Conservative Party Conference to pitch himself as the ‘change’ candidate, the autumn statement on 22 November was Jeremy Hunt’s first opportunity to set out the government’s new tax and spending plans. But what the prime minister and chancellor offered was in part be shaped by the new economic and fiscal forecasts they were given by the Office for Budget Responsib...

High standards are crucial for maintaining public trust in the police – but in recent years the reputation of the Metropolitan Police has been damaged by a number of scandals. Sir Mark Rowley was appointed as Met Commissioner in September 2022 with a mandate to bring in higher standards of policing, reduce crime rates, and deliver more trust in the Met Police. At this Institute for Government even...

Rishi Sunak has until December 2024 to call an election. While the formal starting pistol has yet to be fired, and may not be for at least a year, the long campaign has already begun. Both Sunak and Starmer are presenting themselves as the change candidate and the person to fix a country that – they both argue – is struggling to find its way. Kicking off the Institute's General Election programme,...

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 47th in our series, where the speakers present their work in an exciting, quickfire format. Each speaker had eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the a...

The Ministers Reflect archive includes interviews with ministers who have served under every prime minister between Margaret Thatcher and Liz Truss. They all faced their own challenges and had to deal with the problems of the era in which they served in government, but there is much that unites their experience of holding ministerial office. So what does it mean to be a minister? What are the most...

The Institute’s Ministers Reflect project includes several interviews with former ministers in the devolved governments in the UK, and the model of long-form interviews with former ministers has been exported to a number of countries around the world. Of course, the political and cultural contexts differ, and the ease of access to former ministers varies between these countries. But there are many...

The Ministers Reflect archive is a unique source for those outside government too. The interviews provide a rich, publicly available seam of material for academics interested in UK government, politics and policy making. Several researchers are already interrogating the archive in a variety of ways – from using textual analysis to explore ministerial leadership styles, to qualitative comparisons e...

One of the most common themes in Ministers Reflect interviews is the relationship between ministers and civil servants. From the importance of a good private office team, to civil servants’ poor understanding of parliament, to ongoing gripes around spelling and grammar, there are many things that ministers wish the civil service did differently. To discuss how the civil service can use Ministers R...

Ministers Reflect interviews show us what governing looks like from the inside. They offer a range of perspectives on what being a minister actually involves on a day-to-day basis, the different aspects of the job, and how ministers develop their approach to the role over time. To explore ministerial life and what the archive reveals about it, we were joined by Leighton Andrews, Professor of Pract...

Public services were hit hard by the pandemic, which exacerbated existing performance problems and pressures on staff. High inflation and widespread strikes have since caused further disruption. Ahead of the autumn statement, this event brought together an expert panel to discuss: How does public service performance compare to pre-pandemic levels? How can the government recruit and retain sufficie...

To mark the publication of her new book, The Women Who Made Modern Economics, Rachel Reeves MP sat down with IfG's Chief Economist, Dr Gemma Tetlow.

Twenty-five years after the Scotland Act established the devolved Scottish government and parliament, the future of devolution and Scotland’s place in the union remain contentious issues. The SNP continues to advocate for Scottish independence. Meanwhile, the UK government has pursued a strategy of ‘muscular unionism’. Scottish Labour has called for a new approach, based on greater cooperation bet...

If Scotland became independent, the nation would face some fundamental questions about the operation of its political system. It would need a new constitution; which the Scottish government proposes should be a written one, enshrining key rights and principles. And it would need to decide whether to re-join the EU, in line with the SNP’s position, with implications for the operation of the governm...

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 46th 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...

Questions about standards in public life have dominated politics in recent years. As Chair of the independent Committee on Standards in Public Life since 2018, Lord Evans KCB DL has been at the heart of these debates, leading the committee’s work to define and uphold ethical standards across the public sector. As Lord Evans reaches the end of his five-year term, he joined the Institute for Governm...

This event was part of the IfG's Conservative Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Minister of State (Cabinet Office) Brendan Clarke-Smith MP, former Minister at the Cabinet Office Anthony Kirby, Chief Executive Officer of Serco UK & Europe Sarah Vibert, Chief Executive Officer of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations This event was chaired by Nick D...

This event was part of the IfG's Labour Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: Dame Nia Griffith MP, Shadow Minister (Cabinet Office) Debbie Abrahams MP, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth Aubrey Allegretti, Senior Political Correspondent for The Guardian Tim Durrant, Programme Director at the Institute for Government Duncan Hames, Director of Policy and Programmes at Transparency Inter...

This event was part of the IfG's Labour Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: Matt Rodda MP, Shadow Minister for AI and Intellectual Property Dr Andrew Rogoyski, Institute for People-Centred Artificial Intelligence at the University of Surrey Hetan Shah, Chief Executive of the British Academy Anna Thomas, Co-Founder and Founding Director of the Institute for the Future of Work This eve...

This event was part of the IfG's Labour Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect Ian Mulheirn, Economist and public policy expert Sonia Sodha, Chief Lead Writer at the Observer Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Dr Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government. This event was kindly...

This event was part of the IfG's Labour Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: Dame Nia Griffith MP, Shadow Minister (Cabinet Office) Anthony Kirby, Chief Executive Officer of Serco UK & Europe Sarah Vibert, Chief Executive Officer of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations This event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. This event was...

This event was part of the IfG's Labour Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: Anneliese Dodds MP, Party Chair and Chair of the National Policy Review Dr Fiona Aldridge, Head of Insight - Economic Delivery, Skills and Communities at the West Midlands Combined Authority Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government...

This event was part of the IfG's Labour Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: Daniel Zeichner MP, Shadow Minister for Farming, Food and Fisheries Sophie Metcalfe, Researcher at the Institute for Government Ben Reynolds, Deputy Chief Executive of Sustain Richard Sloggett, Founder and Programme Director at Future Health Nilani Sritharan, Group Head of Healthy and Sustainable Diets at Sai...

This event was part of the IfG's Labour Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: Andrew Gwynne MP, Shadow Minister for Social Care) Sam Freedman, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government Rachel Sylvester, Political Columnist at The Times Dr Paul Williams, UK Division President at Maximus This event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director of the Institute for Government. This e...