Great summary from Sam of just how dire a state the criminal justice system is in — and the massive political and human risks that creates. We go through all the facts and figures in our Public Services Performance Tracker:

Fantastic thread and report by Amber on school performance!

There’s a lot of focus on prisons at the moment… but one of the latest mistaken prisoner releases was actually due to a court error! So what’s going on in criminal courts? My blog for @russellwebster.com gives you the headlines

To be fair, I think it probably is true! It’s hard to overstate the degree to which (some) prisons can’t answer complicated questions like ‘how many prisoners do you have’ and ‘what does your day-to-day regime look like’.

Another week, another mistaken prisoner release! Almost like this is a systemic problem www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/pris...

Rachel Reeves has pledged to do what is necessary to protect public services "from a return to austerity". So how are public services performing? The first instalments of Performance Tracker 2025 explore local govt services and criminal justice www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

I think this is right — it’s basically the path Cameron & Osborne took. Plus if I remember correctly I think we had pre-election polling showing most people didn’t believe promises on tax anyway!

Great to be featured on Russell’s invaluable blog. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be doing posts summarising the findings from Performance Tracker — so for those of you who for some reason don’t want to read 99 pages of criminal justice stats, here’s the bite size version!

Worth noting that in Nov 24 the govt wrote to South Cambridgeshire to say that voters were best placed to decide on council effectiveness and that Labour would bring an “end to micromanaging” I’d like to see the full text of this latest letter to see what has changed

ICYMI, I caught up with @archiebland.bsky.social yesterday about what exactly is going on in prisons and how this kind of mistake can happen www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

New comment from me on the mistaken release of Hadush Kebatu: this error reflects much broader problems within prisons and across the criminal justice system www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/pris...

I spoke to BBC Verify this afternoon about the state of our prison system and how the mistaken release of Hadush Kebatu, the former asylum seeker convicted of sexual assault in Essex over the summer, might have happened

Interesting podcast episode featuring @cassiarowland.bsky.social and @dannyshaw.bsky.social discussing the many current challenges facing the government over policing and the rest of the justice system. 

We only really see the stress in the system when there is a high profile failure point but a well-designed justice system is as much (if not more) about rehabilitation as incarceration - and the process failures here are mostly invisible

The justice minister is right to be 'absolutely terrified' of prisons running out of space. As @cassiarowland.bsky.social's report showed last week, prison capacity will be on a knife edge for the next two years unless the govt takes further action to free up space

Great episode of For Wales, See Wales on the Caerphilly by-election - well worth a listen! Feat. the excellent @willhaycardiff.bsky.social www.buzzsprout.com/2410605/epis...

Well this is a particularly depressing illustration of what a collapsing justice system looks like. 262 people were released from prison by mistake in 2024/25 — more than twice the previous year and almost 4.5x 2014/15 www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

A really important analysis of the significant challenges facing the government in turning our ailing criminal justice system around. 🔴 Prisons report — www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/... 🔴 Overview report — www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

I'm back on the IfG podcast! Great to welcome @dannyshaw.bsky.social to discuss just a few of the big home affairs stories dominating the news this week - as well as our new report. Have a listen! www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/pris...

Great thread here from our fab research assistant @marialaura-lacorte.bsky.social, who has done fantastic work behind the scenes across our Performance Tracker reports

I’ve spent 6 months doing a deep dive into England and Wales’s criminal justice system – covering performance, productivity, workforce and demand. And the picture is pretty bleak. There’s a great write-up from The Times here www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...

NEW REPORT Criminal justice is coming apart at the seams. Police, criminal courts & prisons can’t cope with the level of demand and performance keeps spiralling downwards. Early positive steps from the government won't be enough to turn things around www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Labour inherited public services in crisis. How successfully have they addressed these problems since the election? Join @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social, @cassiarowland.bsky.social, @amberdellar.bsky.social & @stephenkb.bsky.social on 19/11 to find out www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/labour...

Not good all round. But where *on earth* did this come from? Just made up

This is absolute gold — and as ever brilliant work from Tristan

Really excellent article from Amy-Clare Martin on the appalling physical state of prisons and the staggering costs of maintenance and repairs - such a ludicrous waste of public money

Loads of interesting projects in the latest Evaluation Accelerator Fund round, which funds research & evaluation on key gov priorities. Police deployment strategies, Family Safeguarding in children's social care, childcare entitlements & labour supply - all great to see! www.gov.uk/government/n...

This is a really undervalued point! Yvette Cooper announced there would be ‘major reforms’ to policing and a forthcoming white paper…last November, and not a single thing has been heard about it since.

As always great thread from Sunder & imo this gets to the heart of it. Clearly big safety concerns & it’s not just Maccabi fans being banned for their own protection. But there are alternatives to a ban & authorities should have been ready with a justification for why these weren’t enough.

It’s started! The moment you’ve all been waiting for, the IfG’s Public Services Performance Tracker is here — part one on local gov dropped today from the fab @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social and @amberdellar.bsky.social with more to come over the next few weeks. Check it out!

It’s started! The moment you’ve all been waiting for, the IfG’s Public Services Performance Tracker is here — part one on local gov dropped today from the fab @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social and @amberdellar.bsky.social with more to come over the next few weeks. Check it out!

Not the main point, but: this is also why About Time is deeply creepy, not romantic. Engage with people you’re dating as real people, not trying to ‘optimise’ every interaction! You’re not sticking coins in a slot machine!

Interesting to see crime and justice listed as one of the top 3 issues — I suspect it’s more crime than justice but would love to know if that’s true!

This is hilarious and a little brutal and totally pointless, you should read it defector.com/name-a-28-ye...

I'm increasingly convinced this is a huge driver of dissatisfaction with govt Council tax is one of the most visible taxes that people pay, it goes directly out of their bank account and they get a letter about it going up every year Yet bin collection frequency falls and libraries close

In case (like me!) you missed this in the frenzy of Labour conference, great thread here from Stuart on the gov’s ‘pride in place’ plans

On Yom Kippur many Jewish people in Britain have their phones off to mark the holy day. As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time. At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.

Terrible news that two people were killed in Manchester attending their place of worship at the synagogue in Manchester, with others seriously injured. Community Security Trust @cstuk.bsky.social who do so much to keep Jewish people safe at faith and community spaces have issued this advice.

I've had a look at the prison education statistics for last year and there's some good news in there, albeit very modest and from a low starting point. Hard to see how that will be sustained, though, with upcoming budget cuts about to hit provision that was already chronically underfunded.

Great thread from Rachel. I'm surprised how many people are gamely declaring this won't be that complicated to deliver bc tech/infrastructure already exists & it's 'just linking databases'. a) *some* of the infrastructure already exists & b) linking databases can, actually, be extremely complicated!

Really looking forward to this event at Labour party conference next week. Come along!

On the day gov stats show delays increasing in the mags' courts our team are going through findings of our volunteers who observed mags' courts in London this year. Their reflections show why justice is slow & why the process is often not very just.

Delighted to be the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk nominee for Researcher of the Year at the @smartthinking.bsky.social think tank awards! Looking forward to entertaining all my fellow nominees with tales of public service performance at the award ceremony in November.

Government spends >£400bn each year (!!!) buying stuff from the private and voluntary sectors. With a tricky budget coming up and Starmer's focus on delivery, our new report sets out the role procurement can play in delivering mission-led government www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

New @instituteforgovernment.org.uk report by me, @gemmatetlow.bsky.social and @jillongovt.bsky.social on how Reeves should approach tax this Autumn With tax rises inevitable, Reeves should reject path of least resistance and embrace tax reform 1/3 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

We will be in Bournemouth for the Lib Dem Conference from Sunday 21 September until Monday 22 September. Our first event will be an in conversation with Sir Nick Clegg on his new book on big tech, AI and political conflict - join us at 19:45 at Tregonwell Hall

I‘m heading to Labour Party conference! Thrilled to be speaking on this panel alongside prisons minister Lord Timpson and @fionarutherford.bsky.social from JUSTICE. Please come along, and drop me a DM if you want to grab a coffee and chat public services/criminal justice/digital reform.

The government is taking the right approach to sentencing reform It must resist pressure to water down its proposals, says @cassiarowland.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/gove...

This is v.good by @cassiarowland.bsky.social on the Sentencing Bill, including the potential benefits of earned progression if it can be implemented properly if/when current pressures on the prison system subside.

Let's face it, it's not often I get to say nice things about what's happening in criminal justice. But the Sentencing Bill, up before the Commons today, is an exception! It's not perfect, but there's lots to like and the gov should hold firm against pressure to water down proposals. 🧵