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 Ho...

How can NHS backlogs be tackled and waiting times improved? What are the prospects for adult social care reform in this parliament? How can government ensure health and care services have sufficient workforces? Do health and care services have sufficient funding and is existing funding used effectively? To what extent can and should health services focus more on prevention? And to what extent do t...

The new government faces an extremely challenging inheritance in the criminal justice system. How can trust in the police and charging rates be improved? How can criminal court backlogs be tackled? How can government improve conditions and capacity in prisons? How can individual criminal justice services work together more effectively? And does the new government have a plan to address these chall...

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...

On 30 October, the new government announced spending plans for 2025/26, with a spending review covering 2025/26 to 2027/28 due to be published in the spring. What are the implications of these spending plans for public service performance in 2025/26? What options should the spending review consider for raising revenue and boosting productivity? How can the government improve public services when f...

An in conversation with Lord Blunkett, former Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Education and Employment, and Emma Norris, Deputy Director of 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...

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 pl...

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...

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 ele...

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 ou...

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...

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 governme...

This event was held at the 2024 Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. Speakers: Kate Bell, Assistant General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress Alwin Magimay, Global Head of AI at PA Consulting Gaia Marcus, Director of the Ada Lovelace Institute Gordon McKee MP, Member of Parliament for Glasgow South This event was chaired by Dr Matthew Gill, Programme Director at the Institute for Government....

This event was held at the 2024 Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. Speakers: Katy Balls, Deputy Political Editor at The Spectator Daniel Bruce, Chief Executive of Transparency International UK Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government Joe Powell MP, Chair of APPG on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax and Member of Parliament for Kensington and Bayswater This event was cha...

This event was held at the Conservative Party Conference 2024 in Birmingham. Speakers: Andrew Griffith MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Professor Nigel Brandon OBE, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Professor of Sustainable Development in Energy at Imperial College London Rain Newton-Smith, Chief Executive of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Gile...

This event was held at the Conservative Party Conference 2024 in Birmingham. Speakers: Councillor Anne Handley, Leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council Professor Richard Jones, Vice-President for Regional Innovation and Civic Engagement at The University of Manchester Councillor Tim Oliver OBE, Leader of Surrey County Council and Chairman of the County Councils Network Laura Shoaf, Chief Execut...

This event was held at the Conservative Party Conference 2024 in Birmingham. Speakers: Steve Brine, former Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee Polly Curtis, Chief Executive of Demos Stuart Hoddinott, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government Sam Rowlands MS, Welsh Shadow Minister for Health This event was chaired by Emma Norris, Deputy Director of the Institute for Governm...

This event was held at the Conservative Party Conference 2024 in Birmingham. Speakers: Baroness Neville-Rolfe, former Cabinet Office and Treasury minister Dan Butler, Head of Government Affairs at Google Cloud UK Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government Professor Mark Thompson, Professor of Digital Economy at the University of Exeter This event was chaired by Emma Norris, De...

This event was held at the Conservative Party Conference 2024 in Birmingham. Speakers: Rt Hon Damian Green, former First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government Joe Twyman, Co-Founder and Director of Deltapoll Henry Newman, former Special Adviser at No10 and the Cabinet Office This event was chaired by Dr Hannah White, Direc...

This event was held at the Conservative Party Conference 2024 in Birmingham. Speakers: Rt Hon John Glen MP, Shadow Paymaster General The Lord Norton of Louth, Conservative Peer and Professor of Government at the University of Hull Kartina Tahir Thomson, President of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Dr H...

This event was held at the 2024 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham. Speakers: Rt Hon Claire Coutinho MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Sam Hall, Director of the Conservative Environment Network Rosa Hodgkin, Researcher at the Institute for Government Professor Karl Whittle, Professor of Zero Carbon and Nuclear Energy at the University of Liverpool This event w...

This event was held at the 2024 Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. Speakers: Mete Coban MBE, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy at Greater London Authority Clem Cowton, Director of External Affairs at Octopus Energy Ed Cox, Executive Director for Strategy, Economy & Net Zero at West Midlands Combined Authority Rosa Hodgkin, Researcher at the Institute for Government Professor Karl Whittle,...

This event was held at the 2024 Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. Speakers: Josh Simons MP, Member of Parliament for Makerfield and former Director of Labour Together Clare Moriarty, former Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Kartina Tahir Thomson, President of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government This eve...