Better use of technology, the transition from analogue to digital, and greater innovation are at the heart of the 10 Year Health Plan. This includes plans to make the NHS app a gateway to the entire NHS, integrate AI into clinical pathways, create a new Health Data Research Service, make genomic sequencing at birth universal, utilise wearable technology in treatments as standard, and to improve uptake and adoption of medicines. What are the potential benefits of greater use of technology and innovation in the NHS? Are there any risks associated with this? How deliverable is the 10 Year Health Plan’s vision for the use of technology and innovation in the NHS? What are the barriers to greater adoption of technology and innovation more broadly? And how can these be overcome? How can investment in technology and innovation be protected and prioritised? To discuss these questions and more, we were joined by an expert panel including: Matthew Chisambi, Director of Imperial College Health Partners Johan Kahlström, President and Managing Director, UK and Ireland at Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Sam Roberts, Chief Executive of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence This event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. We would like to thank Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK for kindly supporting this event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Keir Starmer has announced plans for a new digital ID scheme to combat illegal working and make it easier for people to use vital government services like applying for a driving licence and accessing tax records. The government has said that digital ID will be mandatory for right to work checks by the end of this parliament. But critics argue that government has not made a clear case for digital ID, and warn that building a secure, reliable and trusted form of digital identity will be a monumental challenge to implement. So what problem – and for whom – would digital ID solve? Are the government’s ambitions realistic? Is the right data and security infrastructure in place? And what could this mean for digitally excluded groups? To discuss these questions and more, we will be joined by an expert panel including: Rachel Coldicutt, Founder and Executive Director of Careful Industries Matthew Feeney, Advocacy Manager at Big Brother Watch David Normington, former Permanent Secretary at the Home Office Morgan Wild, Chief Policy Adviser at Labour Together and author of “Britcard: a progressive digital identity for Britain” The event will be chaired by Tim Durrant, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The fast stream, the civil service’s flagship talent development programme, has recently seen a record number of applications and reclaimed the top spot in the Times Higher Education graduate scheme ranking. But exclusive Institute for Government research reveals that the programme still faces significant challenges, including early exits from the scheme, variable quality of postings and fast streamers struggling to find roles upon scheme completion. What should the fast stream’s role be in the wider civil service recruitment ecosystem? What can the government do to ensure that the fast stream delivers more for the civil service? What can the civil service learn from other sectors? And what should future fast stream reform efforts focus on? To explore these questions, the IfG was delighted to be joined for a panel discussion on the future of the fast stream by: Robert Eagleton, National Officer for the Fast Stream at the FDA Union Rachel Hopcroft CBE, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at NatWest Group Sonia Pawson, Director of HR at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and former Head of Fast Stream The conversation started with a presentation of key IfG research findings by Teodor Grama, author of Changing course: How to reform the civil service fast stream. The event was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. 00:00 Introduction 02:16 Presentation on report key findings 10:29 Discussion 33:54 Q&A from the audience Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The IfG DevoLab is a new initiative from the Institute for Government dedicated to exploring the innovations enabled by devolution, learning from the results, and sharing the lessons so that places can take better decisions about how to use devolved powers and budgets. On 6th November, the IfG hosted its third IfG DevoLab event in Leeds, at which speakers from three regions set out how the powers and profile of mayors are being used to improve transport connectivity within and between their regions. The three case studies presented at IfG DevoLab #3 were: ‘Improving transport connectivity in West Yorkshire’, by Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford City Council and Chair of the West Yorkshire Transport Committee ‘Connecting Liverpool City Region through Merseyrail’, by Huw Jenkins, Lead Officer - Transport Policy at Liverpool City Region Combined Authority ‘Mayoral partnerships with Great British Railways’ by Richard Crabtree, Head of Mayoral Partnerships at Shadow Great British Railways The three speakers were joined by Tom Bridges, UK Government Business Leader at Arup, for a broader discussion of how devolution can improve transport connectivity, how the government can support innovation and learning, and whether there is a case for further devolution in this area. This event was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government. Insights from this discussion will inform a published policy briefing containing the three case studies and a synthesis of key lessons. We would like to thank Arup for kindly supporting this event. We are also grateful to our strategic partner L&G for its wider support of the IfG DevoLab series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
As well as the election of a new government, the last year has seen the appointment of a new cabinet secretary and eight new permanent secretaries to lead departments. How will this new leadership cohort change the civil service? What should they prioritise as they get to grips with their new departments? And how can they build the most talented teams to deliver the government’s priorities? To explore these questions, with a particular focus on the Civil Service Commission’s role in recruiting senior leaders and developing the talent pipeline, the IfG was delighted to be joined for a panel discussion on civil service leadership and change by: Atul Devani, Civil Service Commissioner and entrepreneur John-Paul Marks CB, First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive of HM Revenue and Customs Baroness Gisela Stuart, First Civil Service Commissioner Baroness Stuart spoke briefly to consider the opportunities and challenges for the civil service. She spoke to the Commission’s strategic priorities for 2025–27. The event was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 has 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 eighth in the series and focused on innovation across public services. 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 – which kindly supported this event series – brought together the common themes from the pitches and discussed the lessons for improving productivity. The speakers for this edition of Productivity Pitches were: Aoife O'Higgins, Director of Evidence at Foundations, the What Works Centre for children and families explained how their work showing the efficacy of Family Group Conferencing (FGC) has led to the government legislating in the Children, Wellbeing and Schools Bill to mandate that councils offer parents a Family Group Decision Making meeting before referring a child to social services. This substantially expanded the use of FGCs. Rhian Gladman and Gary Hughes on LGA’s peer challenge programme and transformation support. For its peer challenge programme, the LGA recruits senior local government officers and political leaders to act as peer reviewers. Following a meeting with the council that will be reviewed, a small team of peer reviewers is sent in to speak to people, assess processes and documents, and use their knowledge to provide peer-led feedback. For transformation support, the LGA matches peers with transformation experience with councils that need that specific advice. The event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. Joel Hoskins, Research Assistant at The Productivity Institute joined to the discuss common themes. Productivity Pitches was kindly supported by The Productivity Institute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The IfG team headed to Birmingham to explore how mayors can secure and deliver private investment into their regions in pursuit of growth and regeneration. The IfG DevoLab is a new initiative from the Institute for Government dedicated to exploring the innovations enabled by devolution, learning from the results, and sharing the lessons so that places can take better decisions about how to use devolved powers and budgets. IfG DevoLab #2 saw speakers from three regions – West Midlands, Greater Manchester, and the North East – set out how the powers and profile of mayors and the convening role of strategic authorities have been used to secure and deliver private investment for key regional strategic projects. ‘Investing in the West Midlands: The Birmingham Sports Quarter’, Jonathan Gibson, Interim Director of Strategy at the West Midlands Combined Authority ‘Investing in Greater Manchester: The Sister Innovation District, Robert Edwards, Deputy Director of Investment at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority ‘Investing in the North East’, Dr Henry Kippin, Chief Executive of the North East Combined Authority The three presenters were joined on the panel by Julia Goldsworthy, Head of Social Impact Investment at L&G, and former Director of Strategy at West Midlands Combined Authority, for a broader discussion on the benefits of devolution and mayoral leadership, the lessons less mature devolved regions can learn from those further along in the journey, and whether further devolution can accelerate growth. This event was chaired by Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government, with an introduction by Hannah White, CEO of the Institute for Government. Insights from this discussion informed a published policy briefing containing the three case studies and a synthesis of key lessons. The Institute for Government would like to thank L&G for its support of this event and its wider support of the IfG DevoLab series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The government’s major restructuring of local government will be a formidable challenge for local officials and political leaders in 164 district councils across 21 English county areas and 19 small neighbouring unitary authorities. For local government reorganisation to truly act as a catalyst for local public service reform, as envisaged by central government, services currently delivered by outgoing district councils – like waste collection and housing – will need to be merged and delivered from day one of the new unitary authorities’ existence. This means harmonising service provision, staff terms and conditions, establishing new management structures and resolving issues such as incompatible ICT systems, culture clashes between teams and overcome incompatible business processes. What are the challenges and options facing local district council leaders? How long does it take to merge these services? What are the risks and opportunities? What have been the greatest barriers to successful transformation in earlier rounds of local government reorganisation? And what structures and service delivery options are available to the new unitary authorities? To answer these questions and more, this IfG event brought together an expert panel, including: Professor John Denham, Research Fellow and Director of the Centre for English Identity and Politics at the University of Southampton Liz Elliott, Deputy Chief Executive – Transformation at Harborough District Council Justin Galliford, Chief Executive at Norse Group Rachel Joyce, Assistant Chief Executive – Local Engagement at North Yorkshire Council The event was chaired by Dr Matthew Fright, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government. We would like to thank Norse Group for kindly supporting this event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The government’s ambitious vision for the health system can only be delivered by changing the behaviour of thousands of different organisations and hundreds of thousands of people working across health and care. To do this, the 10 Year Health Plan proposes some major changes to how funding flows through the system and how providers and individuals are held to account. This includes multi-year budgets, patient feedback linked payments, best practice tariffs, performance related pay for leaders, league tables for providers but fewer overall targets, and earned autonomy for high performers. How will changes to financial flows help deliver the government’s health priorities? What impact will the 10 Year Health Plan have on allocation of resources between different parts of the NHS? And will the new accountability regime incentivise the right behaviours and ways of working? To discuss these questions and more, we were joined by an expert panel including: Thomas Cawston, Corporate Affairs Lead at Novartis UK Anita Charlesworth, Senior Economic Adviser at the Health Foundation and acting chair of North-West London NHS Integrated Care Board Sally Gainsbury, Senior Policy Analyst at Nuffield Trust Hardev Virdee, Group Chief Finance Officer at Barts Health NHS Trust This event was chaired by Stuart Hoddinott, Associate Director at the Institute for Government. We would like to thank Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK for kindly supporting this event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Speakers: Richard Fuller MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government Ryan Shorthouse, Executive Chair at Bright Blue Trinh Tu, Managing Director, Public Affairs at Ipsos UK This event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Speakers: David Simmonds MP, Shadow Minister for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Dr Tom Arnold, Research Associate at the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place Cllr Abi Brown OBE, Deputy Leader of the Local Government Association Conservative Group Helen Gbormittah, Regional Director, North West at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) This event was chaired by Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place at the University of Liverpool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Speakers: Rt Hon Jesse Norman MP, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Caroline Elsom, Head of Reshaping The State at Onward Eve Norridge, Head of Research at Onward Dr Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with Onward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Speakers: Mayor Paul Bristow, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester Cllr Louise McKinlay, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Communities, Economic Growth and Prosperity at Essex County Council This event was chaired by Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with Policy@Manchester - The University of Manchester. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Speaker: Baroness Barran MBE, Shadow Minister for Education Dr Kieran Mullan MP, Shadow Minister for Justice Cllr Abi Brown OBE, Deputy Leader of the Local Government Association Conservative Group This event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Speakers: Rt Hon Lord Willetts, Chair of the Regulatory Innovation Office and former Minister for Universities and Science Helen Bower-Easton CBE, Director of Communications at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Professor Nigel Brandon OBE, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Professor of Sustainable Development in Energy at Imperial College London Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government Giles Wilkes, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with Imperial College London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Speakers: Tim Leunig, Chief Econonist at Nesta Dave Penman, General Secretary at the FDA Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers This event was chaired by Ben Paxton, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with the FDA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Speakers: Maya Ellis MP, Member of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee Mayor Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Professor Lisa Collins, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Research and Innovation at the University of Surrey Dr Rebecca McKee, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with the University of Surrey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Speakers: Rt Hon John Denham, former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Council & Corporate Portfolio Holder at City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council Katie Johnston, Devolved and Local Government Lead at PwC UK Jessica Studdert, Chief Executive of New Local This event was chaired by Stuart Hoddinott, Associate Director at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with PwC UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Speakers: Lisa Bungeroth, Director of Public Affairs at Imperial College London Thomas Cawston, Corporate Affairs Lead at Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Louise Hellem, Chief Economist at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Pranesh Narayanan, Senior Research Fellow at IPPR Giles Wilkes, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with Imperial College London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Speakers: Alex McIntyre MP, Member of the Health and Social Care Select Committee Kevin McKenna MP, Officer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Health Professor Nicola Ranger, General Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing Thea Stein, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust This event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with the Royal College of Nursing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Vicky Fobel
Absolutely brilliant!