Great new report from Amber, digging into spare primary school places, school finances, SEND and much more ⬇️

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/...

4 patterns we're seeing in adult social care, children's social care and homelessness services (with graphs) And what govt should do about it A thread from @instituteforgovernment.org.uk's NEW jumbo report (read 1 get 3 free) on the state of local government services and finance 👇

NEW REPORT: Local authorities have been struggling with pressures from austeirty for years, but there are signs that pressure is now particularly acute As a result, they are having to make tough decisions about finances and services 🧵👇 on findings www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

NEW: @instituteforgovernment.org.uk have published pt1 of Public Services Performance Tracker 2025 covering local government finances and overall performance, adult social care, children's social care and homelessness Incredible work by @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social & @amberdellar.bsky.social

On Tuesday @instituteforgovernment.org.uk will publish the first part of Performance Tracker 2025, our flagship annual stocktake of the state of public services We’re doing things slightly differently this year, so I thought I’d do a quick thread explaining some of the changes 🧵

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/...

1/ If you've been itching to know how the size of the civil service has changed... we at the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk have you covered. I've crunched the numbers from the latest ONS data release, which you can read about here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/ci...

PODCAST 🎙️ The Mandelson misjudgement @catneilan.bsky.social joins @drhannahwhite.bsky.social @jillongovt.bsky.social to discuss the dramatic end of Peter Mandelson’s time in Washington. PLUS: @philipnye.bsky.social on Keir Starmer's first reshuffle www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

I'm on the pod this week talking all things _government_ reshuffle (Also features others talking _ambassadorial_ reshuffle) www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

Following a couple of changes yesterday afternoon among the junior ranks here is the latest state of play for Starmer's government after the reshuffle from @instituteforgovernment.org.uk 👇

Here's the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk 'seven things we learned from Keir Starmer's reshuffle' from @jackpannell.bsky.social @timdurrant.bsky.social and I with data from @philipnye.bsky.social & our now updated Ministers Database www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/seve...

We've started the IfG's reshuffle live blog up again this morning @rebeccamckee.bsky.social, @jackpannell.bsky.social and I will be leading the analysis, with expert commentary of the weekend's action from the IfG's whole team www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/live-blog/st...

We've had a few surprising moves in this reshuffle so far - one of the big ones is Shabana Mahmood becoming home secretary. On our liveblog I've given a bit of an overview of what she'll face coming in: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/live-blog/st...

LIVEBLOG! We've fired up the IfG reshuffle liveblog. Essential for all the latest information as Keir Starmer reshapes his team. Packed with data, charts, details and analysis about all the ministerial moves. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/live-blog/st...

Great lineup for this event marking 25 years since the passing of the #FOI Act and 20 years since it came into force - being streamed online here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/foi-ac...

Civil service in a real bind atm. Incentives to move job rapidly + recruitment freezes blocking space to move = unhappy workforce. My radical Friday thought: if you don't want people (civil servants) to do stuff (move jobs at a v high rate), then don't give them incentives to do that?

Bike on trains review: London to Leeds with LNER Busy, start of holidays train and the bike area is in the middle of the train = fun and games as two of us try and load bikes while everyone else tries to get their luggage on. Train staff helpful but hangers are tight for two bikes 3/5 #bikesky

'The decision to split the role of the UK’s top statistician...comes after years of warnings by economists that the job is too unwieldy' www.ft.com/content/5bd0...

The body that oversees official stats has recommended that a full census be carried out in 2031 Given questions about how an admin data-based census would work and the well-documented challenges the ONS is experiencing, this seems the right call uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/news/uk-stat...

Looks like we'll be having another full census in 2031. uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/publication/...

There's extra funding for the UK Statistics Authority/ONS in the spending review – mostly to prepare for the next Census The line about missions seems significant though – after UKSA in Apr said "data required to inform further mission-based policy development" might only be possible with extra ££

🚨 Civil service expands… again New data show CS staff numbers increased by 0.4% in Q1 2025. The 2,020 additional staff more than wiped out the ~600 FTE reductions recorded in Q4 2024 (only the second quarter since the Brexit referendum when the CS shrank). (Quick 🧵)

Baroness Curran is the seventh departure from Starmer's government – she's left just two weeks after her predecessor, Lord Hunt, retired.

On Sunday, the Guardian ran an article looking at what has happened to ethnic disparities in the UK 5yrs on from George Floyd. It includes this chart on Stop and Search (which relates to Eng+Wal). What it misses is the impact of switching from the 2011 to 2021 Censuses [cont'd]

NEW REPORT: in 2009, the last Labour govt launched Total Place That aimed to better meet residents' needs in a local area by encouraging services to pool their budgets and cooperate 15 years on, there is a strong case to return to Total Place 🧵👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Roles currently needing filling: - National Statistician - DSIT perm sec - Govt Chief Data Officer - Govt Chief AI Officer - Govt Chief Digital Officer Reshuffle rumours around DSIT ministers too (though aren't there always etc) Any others?

As @gavinfreeguard.bsky.social says, this is big news The ONS has started to take action to get a grip on data problems But there are long-standing concerns about the pipeline of stats leaders, so who will fill the vacancy? From a few weeks ago: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/offi...

Great to be at the inaugural Land Talks Lightning talks on land in art, Scotland's 'log cabin conundrum', building on MoD land and more with @flourish.org

With polls open for local and mayoral elections in areas across England, check out our @instituteforgovernment.org.uk briefings to see where they are taking place and what roles are up for election.

[NEW] Reducing school absence: Innovation lessons from the last Labour government Read our new report by Moira Wallace on how learning from the last Labour government can help Keir Starmer reduce school absence. Full report and briefing 📄 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

NEW REPORT: How does patient satisfaction with general practice vary in England? And what do patients value in their practice? We find that patients prefer: - More GP partners - More GP appts - More F2F appts - Smaller list sizes Other findings👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

One of the most popular explainers we have here at @instituteforgov.bsky.social is our civil service grades one - which has just received a beautiful makeover from @jackworlidge.bsky.social 💅 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/ci...

Cabinet Office has indeed grown a *lot* in recent years Some of this reflects the build up of the civil service's corporate functions (eg HR, commercial) - whose employees often sit in line departments while formally being in CO. But even so - this is a very big increase

‘While resources for economic statistics increased by 65 per cent between 2015-16 and 2019-20 in real terms, the review found the “primary focus was on innovation” rather than additional money to deliver existing data.’ The Office for Statistics Regulation’s new report on.ft.com/4i3JCJW

Office for National Statistics says it will pause or downgrade a whole slew of its data output and services so it can focus on its core economic and population data. Details below:

Interested in making government more effective? Applications for our 2025–26 research internship programme, starting in September 2025, are now open. Closing date: Tuesday 29 April, 11:00 ⏰ Find out more: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/about-us/car...

A review has been commissioned into the "leadership, culture and structure" of the Office for National Statistics This comes after quality concerns about a growing number of the outputs it publishes A few initial thoughts... (1/3) www.ft.com/content/d1ba...

Poor quality data is bad for policy making (good to finally see a focus on this), but it's also a political risk. Stats can drive headlines, and messy/detached from reality data can mean less control for government over its political narrative about achievements

FT is reporting that the Cabinet Office permanent secretary has been asked to come up with options to fix the ONS's number problems This is what I wrote earlier this month: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/offi...

Here is our @instituteforgov.bsky.social take on the Spring Statement, covering key questions we were looking out for on how the economic forecast would move and how Reeves would respond Some key takeaways 1/5 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/rach...

New from me on why pothole politics risks undermining MHCLG’s efforts to simplify funding for local government👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/poth... Drawing on lessons from mine and @tompope.bsky.social report on local growth funding👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

NEW report from me and @nehaldavison.bsky.social on school readiness: - Who is most at risk of not being school ready? - What does this mean for the govt's opportunities mission? Is the target for 75% of children to be 'school ready' helpful? 🧵⬇️ www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

With ONS data issues back in the news today and Darren Jones making the case for better data inside government yesterday, would recommend re-reading @philipnye.bsky.social's great, short piece on what's happening at the ONS and how to start fixing it www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/offi...

Cracking comment piece by @philipnye.bsky.social on what has been going wrong at the ONS and what needs to change. It's essential for good policy making that the ONS gets its house in order www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/offi...

Tech & AI were major themes in PM's speech on govt reform earlier today. McFadden recently spoke of 1 in 10 civil servants being in digital roles by 2030. But data on CS professions reveals that the govt is not currently on track to meet this target - and bolder action is needed.

New: I’ve written about the challenges facing the Office for National Statistics and what needs to be done about it Includes some new lines on morale at the ONS based on recent Civil Service People Survey data

Pat McFadden’s plans for the civil service have prompted me to write something I’ve thought for a long time: the civil service should introduce regular, predictable, well-managed and *compulsory* redundancy rounds www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/civi...

NEW REPORT: almost all prisons have seen skyrocketing rates of violence, protest and self-harm in recent years, but more work & education and more open prisons could turn this around and improve outcomes. 🧵 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Anneliese Dodds has quit over Starmer's aid cuts meaning another uptick for the @instituteforgov.bsky.social resignations chart She is the fifth minister to leave the government (and the fourth to resign) since the GE