To keep up to date with what's happening in public services and what a change of prime minister mean for upcoming reforms follow @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social @cassiarowland.bsky.social & @amberdellar.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/burn...

Burnham inherits a tricky fiscal situation. That may become tougher still, with a worsening forecast and expensive policy ambitions We argue that, while politically tricky, he should consider ditching Starmer and Reeves' tax lock pledge, which tied their hands More from us 👇

Keir Starmer ducked the scale of the government’s fiscal challenges on entering office. Andy Burnham now has the opportunity to avoid making the same mistake, say @tompope.bsky.social, @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social and @drbenpaxton.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/burn...

NEW REPORT: how to make a success of SEND reform Government needs to get off the sidelines and build a SEND system that makes it easier for schools, councils and health services to work together. Our new report sets out how 🧵

Keir Starmer has started his final week as PM. So what have been the big moments of his premiership, and what can his successor learn from the last two years? We @instituteforgovernment.org.uk have been having a look back... www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Agree with Jill that this would be a very short timetable But if he does go for it, we wrote about the approach he should take: 1. Pick a few priorities with a clear vision (devo?) 2. Build on Starmer's successes 3. Force depts to collaborate www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/burn...

New comment: Starmer can credibly say he steadied the ship on public services But his govt launched a haphazard set of reforms and performance has not improved radically What choices does Burnham face? What can he do in the next ~3 years? 🧵👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/burn...

Late to this but good from @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/one-...

What would a Burnham govt mean for public services? How can he bring a more coherent approach to reform? No better way to answer those Qs than with a guest blog from Thomas Johnson who works on reform strategy in GMCA, Burnham's old patch Short 🧵👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

1/8 Do join us at @instituteforgovernment.org.uk for our half day conference – “Regulation in a changing world: How to meet the needs of the future?” – on the afternoon of Wednesday 15th July.

NEW: @theasrstein.bsky.social writes that the NHS league tables are a management tool masquerading as public information, and are a poor guide to the quality of care that patients can expect. As a public-facing product, they should go. www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/ti...

Keir Starmer will shortly unveil the Defence Investment Plan. @drbenpaxton.bsky.social recently commented on defence spending, arguing that the cobbling together of capital cuts to fund defence would be a failure of fiscal policy making www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/slic...

Latest from me and @hannahkeenan.bsky.social for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk Burnham might be mulling breaking up the Treasury. He’s right to want to reform the centre, but no.10 and cabinet office should be his focus. HMT reorg would be a distraction and would not fix underlying problems

Within a few weeks we'll have our next prime minister - don't know if you've heard, but he's been mayor of Manchester for the last few years. @tompope.bsky.social, @akashpaun.bsky.social and I have had a look for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk at the differences between the two roles:

The NHS published the 10 year health plan for England a year ago That included an ambitious shift towards prevention So one year on, where has the NHS got to? Really looking forward to hosting this event next week, sign up below

As @jillongovt.bsky.social argues, this and the WASPI incident really makes it appear that Burnham does not understand (a) the reality of the fiscal situation he might inherit or (b) why Starmer and Reeves have struggled www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/wasp...

Keir Starmer has the power to determine one very important thing - the nature of the transition to his successor Don’t fumble it, @drhannahwhite.bsky.social and I say www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/keir...

Love this as a prevention case study: - Low cost, even revenue raising in the short term - Improves health outcomes and reduces costly hospital admissions Shows political leadership is key: - Politically costly for Khan to implement - Did it despite cost savings landing outside GLA

Kemi Badenoch’s speech at the IfG saw her pledge to abolish the Public Sector Equality Duty. But scrapping the duty will not lead to cultural change or improved public services, say @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social and @cassiarowland.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/scra...

It's good government is confronting the long-known-about fiscal implications of its defence commitments. But across-the-board capital cuts would risk undermining the stability of capital investment, which has been a strength of the government's fiscal and economic policy. New comment from me here

Have written about why this is so good. Yes, there's miles more that's needed, but before you dunk on this it's worth getting to grips with the bind civil servants are in at the moment, where your choices are: move dept, move job, or see your pay stagnate. This is a route out, and that is good.

Is the UK ungovernable? A question that the IfG has been asked a few times this week... So here's the official verdict from @drhannahwhite.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/is-u...

NHS staff increasingly believe Wes Streeting is doing a bad job as health secretary and that the Labour government is handling the NHS badly Streeting as health secretary Good job: 22% (-3 from 19-28 Feb 2025) Bad job: 53% (+13) Labour handling of NHS Well: 24% (-6) Badly: 66% (+13)

Miatta Fahnbulleh - the minister for devolution, faith and communities - has resigned from govt this morning, calling on the PM to set a timetable for an orderly transition of leadership. Our ministerial resignation tracker has the latest info... docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

This briefing by @adalovelaceinst.bsky.social provides a great toolkit to evaluate claims about AI. Alights on the same point in Whitehall Monitor: productivity gains are more complex than time savings alone. Govt is an org w/ existing problems - there needs to be a clear purpose for AI adoption

Our new @instituteforgovernment.org.uk report lists 10 things the government needs to do to fix the children's social care market. 👇I've done a little run down of some of the key charts

As we wait for the PM‘s speech, and to see how Catherine West (and the cabinet?) respond, here’s your handy Labour leadership contests revision guide from @meganbryer.bsky.social and @instituteforgovernment.org.uk www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/la...

Conservatives take control in Westminster and are also now the biggest party in Wandsworth But might be a poisoned chalice: both councils have to raise their council tax by something like 75% over the next three years

A PAC report on the NHS's New Hospitals Programme says: - the final schemes will be finished in 2045-46, more than 25 years after being announced - 7 RAAC hospitals will not be replaced until 3 years after they're considered safe Staggeringly bad delivery so far

ICYMI: Great run through of what the government's high level stated goals across public services were when it came in to power, and how it's got on...

New from me and @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social for @labourlist.bsky.social drawing on our recent @instituteforgovernment.org.uk reports we set out the challenge for current ministers in reforming public services and some of the lessons they can learn from past successes labourlist.org/2026/04/what...

This quote (left picture) in the HSJ claiming the NHS is not "locked in" with Palantir is a bit baffling. If lock in isn't high barriers to switching, then what is it? The image on the right is a quote from the government digital service defining lock in in almost exactly those terms

Government should devolve greater responsibility for employment support. Our report, published today, sets out how government could better support people out of work due to ill health: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/... Why write this now?

In a first for the IfG, @meganbryer.bsky.social and I have translated two pieces about the upcoming Welsh and Scottish elections into Cymraeg! 1/🧵

Streeting loves fighting straw men in this debate The NHSE/DHSC split is really odd! It is duplicative! He's right! But given huge ambitions to improve NHS performance in a single parliament, is this *really* how you want to spend time and attention? It's a Q of prioritisation, not of merit

This is an awful story It's also a case study of why services are costing more and still failing people This is the worst possible outcome for the children, for the NHS, for the councils, and for national govt It's worth looking at how they ended up there 👇 www.hsj.co.uk/emergency-ca...

Also really enjoyed reading this - not sure I agree with it all, but a lot of good points in there. As ever, I come back to the fact that ministers are ultimately the decision-makers, and should be held accountable for the decisions they make...

This article is great because it ignores tech marketing babble and argues that AI is really about political power "The wholesale adoption of AI by our government, public services and wider economy is handing power to models built in the US and China" www.newstatesman.com/technology/2...

The constant Westminster-based attacks on S. Cambs by Conservatives and Labour are both depressing and incredibly boring It’s good for councils to try new things! Evidence suggests the 4 day week scheme has been successful! If residents don’t like it, they can vote out the Lib Dems next month!

I'm surprised it's taken so long for non-doctor NHS staff to get fed up Since 2023, resident doctors' pay has risen faster than other staff (10.9% in real terms) They are also the group that has been most persistent with industrial action, this will be the 15th time they've walked out since 2023

There's a pattern emerging with Streeting: when he's in a dispute he makes rash, reactive decisions that actively harm his agenda in the long run Most recent example is cancelling 1,000 additional training places for doctors, but same is true of NHS England abolition and ICB cuts

A new report from the IfG published today sets out 4 key lessons for ministers on how they can be effective leaders of public service reform. A thread of our main findings below… www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Have written about why I think the sludge stuff (announcements from gov last week on consultations etc) is of a different quality to the 'rewire the state' sloganeering that we have had before and why that is good!

NEW REPORT: the government claims that it wants public services to be more devolved, better integrated, and more focused on prevention With a raft of reform programmes now underway in services, are they on track to achieve those aims? www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

NEW BLOG: a year ago, the government announced the abolition of NHS England and the reorganisation of integrated care boards (ICBs) What has happened since then? And how is that decision affecting the NHS and other services? www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/one-...

Prompted by @jillongovt.bsky.social I looked at what happened to NHS energy usage and spending during the energy shock in 2022 Spending increased dramatically between 2021/22 and 2022/23, from £779m to £1.2bn, an increase of 53.4% in cash terms. It's remained high since Energy usage barely changed

One thing that stood out from the govt's announcement on its NHS population funding model is how much analytical and managerial work trusts and ICBs will be required to do But who's going to do that work? The NHS is rapidly cutting managers due to ICB reorganisation and tight finances

DHSC officials have reportedly raised concerns about the cost of this deal, as it requires cuts to other parts of NHS spending It's very unclear to me what the UK gets from pharma companies in return for higher drug prices Instead, it all sounds like thinly-veiled threats about reducing investment

This would obviously be very bad for state capacity. The binding constraint on civil servants getting stuff done is, very clearly, not their belief in the political project. Have tried to capture some of this - while obvious it still bears saying. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/refo...

NHS leaders and Wes Streeting should be alarmed by this. These figures point to a genuine collapse in NHS staff morale pretty much across the country - though with interesting variation too. E.g. what explains the v different figures in Norfolk and Suffolk?