The brilliant @hannahkeenan.bsky.social asks about how Jones and PM will hold cab sec and perm secs to account Jones - a lot is on me. My job is to make clear across govt that will keep coming back to things. Criticism is of politicians who don’t prioritise

In west London for @darrenpjones.bsky.social speech on reforming government An audience of politicians, the media, think tankers and the like. As far as I can see no cabinet secretary or perm secs… not a great signal for what comes next

our event with Darren Jones, Chief Sec to the PM, is getting underway now - watch along on our website: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/modern...

In a couple of hours we'll be hearing from Darren Jones about his plans to 'move fast and fix things' in government - you can watch it here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/modern...

Darren Jones is giving a speech tomorrow on "rewiring the state". This language has been around all of 2025 and doesn't look like it's disappearing in 2026 - but it is miles too vague and changeable to actually reform the state (see our new report out last week). Will Jones do any better tomorrow?

Four UQs in the Commons can be a good sign of parliamentary scrutiny but don't tend to be a sign that things in the world are "good"

📸Snapshots | Rewiring the state: Is the government making any progress? We are thankful to @andyburnham.bsky.social, Micheal Gove, @hannahkeenan.bsky.social, Rowena Mason @theguardian.com, @alexgathomas.bsky.social for their insights on the government's attempts to reform the civil service.

Timely event with @ukandeu.bsky.social tomorrow evening....

I’m delighted to announce that @msvkelliott.bsky.social will be joining our team at @instituteforgovernment.org.uk in early March as the new Director of the IfG Academy - our learning and development arm. Welcome Vicky!

After Darren Jones joined IfG this week, @hannahkeenan.bsky.social and I had some thoughts about how he can make good on his plans for reforming the state: - show that his plan is different to those that have come before - ensure he's not spreading himself too thinly - set a clear vision

Niche but interesting alert! The Committee on Standards has made a recommendation about the register of interests of MPs' staff It highlights the difficult balance between transparency, accountability & security interests but also possibly narrows the use of the register in an unsatisfactory way

Interesting write-up of our conference this week in Chris Smyth’s FT newsletter www.ft.com/content/c665...

The discussions we hosted this week about the challenges the government faces in 2026 were fascinating - check out some highlights below:

Agree with needing to remove civil service poor performers more easily. Not sure this 'goes unsaid' as Stride says though - civil servants raise it regularly with us and @alexgathomas.bsky.social wrote about it earlier this year. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/civi...

Stride says need a smaller civil service that can attract the best talent and seeks it eternally. Give big rewards to high performers, don't spread rewards widely and thinly across everyone. Strengthen poor performance management and stop poor performers being moved between depts.

👀 (Digital ID consultation launching soon)

For the final discussion in the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk’s Government 2026 conference, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride, is giving a speech - watch on our website here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/govern...

Darren Jones tells the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk conference that he’s confident public support for digital id will increase over the coming year - will be interesting to see if that is the case

At the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk annual conference, Darren Jones sets out what his role is all about: recognising that delivery is different to policy, getting comms clear about government successes, and exercising the authority of the PM across the system

A great post from @samfr.bsky.social today showing that sometimes the small wins have a big impact. The digital transformation chapter in the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk Whitehall Monitor 2026 highlights the fact that digital successes rely on collaboration and leadership. (1/3)

Starting now, your key briefing on the upcoming Senedd, Holyrood and English local elections in May

I updated some analysis looking at the key drivers of civil servant engagement Using data from the Civil Service People Survey, I found that civil servants’ day-to-day work and the leadership they receive drive engagement much more than factors such as the L&D offer or pay

We’ve today published Whitehall Monitor 2026 As well as being your guide to whether Labour is making progress on rewiring the state (A: definitely still a work in progress) it also contains some fantastic data viz Some of my highlights 🧵

Great to see coverage of Gov26 @instituteforgovernment.org.uk annual conference and we’re not even halfway through the day… www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Andy Burnham: state does need to change - particularly the elected state (Westminster). Mixed bag. Impressed by MHCLG, what govt can do when it puts its mind to something. OTOH, Whitehall depts taking contradictory positions, even resisting growth mission

1/ Today, we publish Whitehall Monitor 2026, the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk's annual data-driven assessment of the size, shape and performance of the civil service. Key headlines about perm secs, size of CS and ALBs below 👇🧵 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

👇In which I explain that while civil service reform may not be the most glamorous thing a government could focus on, they absolutely need to do it. A year and a half on from entering gov the civil service hasn't meaningfully changed. Gov needs a plan to make that happen.

Government is looking for efficiencies within its tight spending plans: 16% back office cuts, 'technical' efficiencies as big as the MoJ budget (£13.8bn) and a reheated Sunak-era blanket 5% savings target Some thoughts on how these all add up from the IfG's Whitehall Monitor report out today...

Fantastic to see Whitehall Monitor 2026 published today! It's jam-packed full of analysis on all things civil service. A quick thread on what we found on civil service pay..

LC: "At whatever point we decided that the only way you could get £500 a year pay rise was a promotion. Well they were wrong. So fix it." Yep. Gov needs to allow pay progression in role. It might sound small, but this stuff matters. New report out today makes the case for this change among others.

Louise Casey says everyone in the civil service needs to be someone who "grips and fixes" things - while also thinking long-term and strategically

Says yes ministerial churn, inconsistency and behaviours have been part of the cause… but civil service can’t “stabilise things to the point you’re intransigent to change”

Baroness Louise Casey is now discussing her work across the public sector with @drhannahwhite.bsky.social Watch live: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/govern...

3 months ago I'd never heard of a permanent secretary - now I can name them all. All thanks to Whitehall Monitor! Huge props to @hannahkeenan.bsky.social for leading on this important project, and to the rest of the team for getting it over the line.

Wes Streeting kicking off our conference “Our fortunes are in our hands”. Says government needs to take control of turning around the pessimism about government.

Wes Streeting at the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk Government 2026 conference: 'the British state is like a shopping trolley with a wonky wheel' and needs direction

In not-very-veiled-criticism, he says of his own side: "They complain about the civil service. They blame stakeholder capture. This excuses culture does the centre-left no favours "And we should be in no doubt that they are excuses. We are not simply at the mercy of forces outside of our control."

Not sure parcel tracking companies are the best analogy of a functioning digital service - Wes Streeting has clearly not had something "delivered" by Evri...

This is getting going now, will live tweet some of the highlights of what Streeting says Thread below...

The workforce continues to become more senior. Part of this is automation meaning fewer jobs at the lower levels, but part is grade inflation - where people are promoted more quickly or roles offered at a higher level than they might otherwise have been to get around pay restraint

But if we've heard so much about re-wiring, why isn't it happening? Obviously that's complex, but (a) 'mission-led government' and 'rewiring' are too vague, and (b) no one has the authority and accountability to reform the CS (both too fragmented atm). Good news is govt can change both those things.

Kicking off now - @instituteforgovernment.org.uk's Government2026 conference: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/govern...

As Playbook says, Wes Streeting is speaking @instituteforgovernment.org.uk this morning Playbook rightly points out that we gave him a mixed review in last year's Public Services Performance Tracker. If you want to read that review, link is below www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

So if the programme for our Government 2026 conference tomorrow wasn’t already stellar enough, delighted to say we will be opening with a keynote from @rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social (with @darrenpjones.bsky.social Mel Stride @andyburnham.bsky.social Louise Casey, Ed Balls already announced!)

Delighted that Wes Streeting will be kicking off our Government 2026 conference - bright and early tomorrow ⬇️ Other speakers through the day include Mel Stride, Darren Jones, Louise Casey, Andy Burnham, Michael Gove, Ed Balls, Ayesha Hazarika and many more

We are really pleased to announce that our Government 2026 annual conference at the IfG will kick start with a keynote speech by Wes Streeting at 8:30am. He will be in conversation with @drhannahwhite.bsky.social Join us online: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/govern...

Hard work and time matter—but they’re not enough. In 2026, Keir Starmer must set out a clear, positive vision for the future, backed by real plans and delivered by capable leadership. @drhannahwhite.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/keir...

Reposting our IfG starter pack - ahead of our conference tomorrow, make sure you're following all my fantastic colleagues:

There's only a few days to go until Government 2026, our annual conference exploring the key questions for government over the next 12 months. With @darrenpjones.bsky.social, Mel Stride, Ed Balls, Baroness Casey and more See what we have lined up 👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/govern...

New minister appointed - to a role he's kind of already doing: Josh Simons, currently at CO, going to DSIT. The FT reported that he'd be taking on digital ID full time- that programme moved from DSIT to CO, so not clear if that is indeed what he is doing (or if govt is just as confused as me...)