An extremely poor look for the government. As our devolution team argued about delays to mayoral elections, it looks like either “the government fundamentally misunderstood the scale of the task it had set itself, or that the decision may have been made for…partisan advantage”

Any thoughts or feedback on our Public Services Performance Tracker most gratefully received! Even if you’ve only skimmed the summary (or read our threads on here!) we’d love to know what you thought

In this week’s Week in Public Services, I look at resident doctor strikes, the new child poverty strategy, extra funding for domestic abuse support and what jury trial reforms would really do to court backlogs. Some key takeaways below medium.com/week-in-publ...

NEW: judge-alone trials would save just 2% of time in the Crown Court. In total, we estimate reforms to jury trials would save <10% of court time. Great write-up from @reporterrwright.ft.com here www.ft.com/content/8a9f...

Firmly agree. It applies to all sorts of services too — when I spoke to crime victims about communication from the police/CPS, they really emphasised how frustrating and distressing it was to not know where your case was in the process or who was responsible for it at any given time.

“It’s a responsibility of all Australians to wrap their arms around Australia’s Jewish community and help them get through this incredibly difficult period.” Exactly right from NSW premier Chris Minns

I’m not sure it’s entirely a good thing that I’m 12 for 12 so far… but have a go and see how you do!

For any home affairs/justice journos out there, I've done some modelling on the likely impact of the government's proposed changes to jury trials and how much time/money it will save overall. Numbers are *extremely* striking so drop me a DM if you might be interested in an exclusive!

It was great speaking to Sajid Javid as part of @instituteforgovernment.org.uk Ministers Reflect series A few quotes that stood out to me "The world of business is black and white - you need to make money" "Politics is anything but black and white. It's all grey. Even success and failure is grey"

Week in Public Services returns in style with a great first outing from @marialaura-lacorte.bsky.social - have a read!

If you’re looking for a tl;dr of how the government is doing on public services, this fab line from @amberdellar.bsky.social does the job nicely:

I know it's barely even December, but what are you doing on 13 January? That's right, joining the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk annual conference! Check out all the details here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/govern...

The govt appears committed to driving forward digital IDs - the responsibility for the scheme now sits in the Cabinet Office, led by Darren Jones, and was described by Liz Kendall in the science, innovation and technology committee today as one of the PM's "top priorities" (1/4)

As ever an excellent piece by @kirkkorner.bsky.social - though we now know the government isn't going to go as far as this, many of the same arguments still apply www.standard.co.uk/comment/jury...

My latest on the gov's proposal to all-but abolish jury trials: a radical move that would leave us out-of-step with most democracies and increase the risk of miscarriages of justice. 🧵 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/david-lammy-...

My latest on the gov's proposal to all-but abolish jury trials: a radical move that would leave us out-of-step with most democracies and increase the risk of miscarriages of justice. 🧵 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/david-lammy-...

New funding plans for mayors may not have made the headlines last week but they represent important steps on the government's journey to 'complete the map' of English devolution. More from me, @akashpaun.bsky.social and @matthewfright.bsky.social below.

Every year I hope someone will turn up to my Christmas party with a poinsettia and every year I’m disappointed. never knew I was so out of step with the Christmas zeitgeist

Every year I am completely baffled by panettone discourse. Panettone is *wonderful*. It’s one of the tragedies of life it’s only available/acceptable to eat in December. I buy it in the January sales whenever I can! Why are you not all treasuring this deliciousness???

Lots of good stuff in the Budget, but bad news for graduates. Luckily, it's not like Labour is relying on the votes of young university educated professionals... www.newstatesman.com/politics/eco...

There's lots of reaction and analysis to the budget incoming from my expert colleagues at @instituteforgovernment.org.uk over on our live blog www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/live-blog/au...

This is great news. Place-based budgeting could help to substantially reduce duplicative spending by different public bodies, allowing a greater focus on prevention and delivering much better outcomes These (and other) pilots are really positive. Govt must use SR27 to make this way of working BAU

This seems like an…odd choice. What’s the real difference between a headline reading ‘OBR says gov breaching its fiscal rules‘ vs one reading ‘OBR forecast shows gov will breach its fiscal rules’?

Productivity in the crown court has fallen *at least* 20% since 2016, in terms of complexity-adjusted cases dealt with per day (not even counting that more cases are dropped and fewer end up in jury trials). Leveson estimates his reforms would save 9,000 days out of 110,000 total.

Looks like Lammy is going significantly further than the Leveson criminal courts review proposed on jury trials: abolished for anyone likely to face a sentence <5 years (Leveson suggested 3). You can make arguments for and against juries — but the claim it‘s *necessary* doesn’t stand up:

LIVE BLOG | Autumn budget 2025 🚨 As Rachel Reeves prepares to announce tax measures, what formal announcements have we had so far and what can we expect in the next 24 hours? Follow our live blog for our analysis of the chancellor's plans www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/live-blog/au...

One of my favourite charts from this year's Performance Tracker Each dot shows a trust's bed occupancy in a given month What's notable is how little variation there is across the country and across time Go into any hospital in any month and you will find almost every bed is occupied

92 from 63. What a performance!!

At least when England are throwing wickets away like it’s going out of style they have some runs to show for it! Travis we’re relying on you 🙏

My final guest blog for @russellwebster.com! So far, I've covered policing, criminal courts and prisons. But what about the broader picture? How are other public services performing, what does that mean for criminal justice, and how well have Labour done in their first year and a half?

On public services, I think it was! We’ve been critical of some of Labour’s decisions + overall progress (as here!) but there have been real improvements. Sunak gov failed to act on imminent disaster in prisons or big problems in children’s social care, local gov & NHS finance, adult social care etc

Starting in a few minutes! If you can't make it in person, you can listen online to hear me, @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social, @amberdellar.bsky.social and @stephenkb.bsky.social dissect how public services are doing and the progress Labour have made since the election

The PM must “urgently get a grip” if Labour is to deliver real improvements to public services before the next election, according to @instituteforgovernment.org.uk On adult social care, IfG claims decisions made under Labour have “exacerbated challenges” www.politicshome.com/news/article...

NEW: Labour inherited public services in crisis. Performance had fallen, investment had been cut + spending plans were undeliverable. It's made some progress, providing stability and positive long-term plans. But it has been undermined by poor prep in opposition and lack of co-ordination in govt 🧵

My latest comment on abolishing PCCs: there’s little to be gained by acting now, before most areas have got a mayor/strategic authority and with new geographic boundaries still to be decided.

“It broke my heart, that was my savings towards a new car,” one woman who paid Milne tens of thousands of pounds told us. “He has just wiped me out.” Who is Andrew Milne - the solicitor sending "very aggressive" letters to Sheffield homeowners? www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/a-london-law...

Excellent piece on an often under-recognised form of domestic abuse

Disappointing to see the government go down this route. Our current court system has coped with high demand in the past and could do so again. Reversing productivity declines in courts would be a quicker way of getting the system back on its feet www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/leve...

This is the point. Policy *should not* be adjusted or fine-tuned in response to minor forecasting judgements. Decisions about whether or not to break a prominent manifesto promise *should not* depend on minor forecasting judgements. This stuff matters. We've got to do better than this.

Gov to abolish police & crime commissioners. I'm not sold on this yet: yes, where there are mayors, it makes sense for them to hold these powers and turnout in PCC elections is low. But policing boards aren't necessarily a better option and the convening power of PCCs can be v valuable

My latest piece for @russellwebster.com, this time on prison performance! You may have noticed it popping up on the news recently that prisons aren’t in a great state — but why? Have a look for the headlines on funding, staffing, conditions and more.

Super interesting thread here!

This is a tragic, beautiful piece that highlights the brutal reality of life for many repeat offenders.

Can’t quite believe I’m saying this but: more funding *for these services* isn’t how I’d fix criminal justice! Probation & courts 100% need more money, but big increases are already planned. I’d focus on drivers: housing, substance misuse, lack of opportunities, behavioural/speech & language issues

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...