Starmer is giving strong Emery vibes. Takes over from a tired administration that had started boldly but become a punch line. History of success in previous job but loses the dressing room and becomes historically unpopular due to bizarre decisions. UK needs an Arteta with clear vision + priorities

Massive move in gilts on open. Looks like giving up almost half the gains from the last month. Terrible

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

Worth noting here as well that- unlike in the Commons, where the Speaker selects which amendments are debated- in the Lords, any peer can insist on having their amendment debated and voted on (although there aren't *usually* lots of amendments pushed to a vote)

'Cornwall council offered suppliers £6m to staff illegal children’s homes' This might be a new low in terms of normalising children living in unlawful settings, but unfortunately, it really shouldn't come as a surprise

Completely agree that Labour’s public service reform plans are patchy. Starmer isn’t a reformer but even a PM who was would have struggled to deliver serious improvements to public services in this parliament without raising taxes. The spending plans inherited from Sunak/Hunt didn’t add up

For too long, growth-enhancing tax reforms have been prevented by the intense political heat that surrounds any such changes. This new report should help create space for this and future governments to make much-needed improvements www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/cros...

Great write up in the FT by @laurahughesft.bsky.social of @amberdellar.bsky.social's new schools report. It's striking how quickly pupil numbers are falling (particularly in London) but how slowly school capacity is adapting. That's left 600k places unfilled and put huge pressure on school finances

Amazing work by Amber! This is part of @instituteforgovernment.org.uk's Public Services Performance Tracker 2025. We've published chapters on local govt, criminal justice + schools. NHS + cross-service analysis chapters will be out in next 2 weeks www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

NEW REPORT Labour is struggling to meet its education priorities. It has big ambitions to improve schools, but a budget that falls short of matching them. And with no clear plans to reform the SEND system or tackle workforce shortages, children are being left without the support they need.

WEBINAR | Autumn budget 2025: What is Rachel Reeves’ plan for the economy? Our IfG team will share their instant and analysis of the chancellor’s plans @jillongovt.bsky.social @gilesyb.bsky.social @njdavies.bsky.social @danhaile.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/online...

Some thoughts on the Kruger press conference on reforming government, and Reform in government www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/dann...

I absolute love the idea of a 'Medium Term Planning Framework' being the most ambitous anything. Really hope they try to better this with 'Short Term Guidance Note puts Beveridge in the shade'

How well are the police performing? Cassia Rowland from the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk sums up their new Public Services Performance Tracker on policing in the first in a new guest blog series www.russellwebster.com/how-well-are...

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

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...

New @instituteforgovernment.org.uk comment from me The chaos surrounding the grooming gangs inquiry last week highlights much deeper problems with the way the government sets up public inquiries www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/groo...

Really looking forward to this discussion in a few weeks - as the PM tries to build his case for digital ID, we'll be discussing what it is for, who it helps and what some of the challenges might be. A great panel to discuss this with - do come along!

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

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...

I’m extremely taken with Jack’s suggestion of a Hamiltonian rap battle about the Public Services Performance Tracker. There’s a worryingly high chance that I attempt to rap in the Monday morning team meeting…

Niche post: the government has announced that the Cabinet Office, rather than the Govt Digital Service (part of the Dept for Science and Tech, DSIT), will run the Digital ID programme When Labour came in they moved much of govt's central digital capability to DSIT... www.gov.uk/government/n...

Some - cautious - good news on the govt’s civil service gagging rules Nick Thomas-Symonds has written to us rowing back on the worst aspects: “it is important for civil servants to speak in public about matters for which they have responsibility” www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/welc...

To explain this a bit: as the Speaker says- and as is set out in Erskine May- "unless the discussion is based upon a substantive motion, drawn in proper terms, reflections must not be cast in debate upon the conduct of the Sovereign, the heir to the throne, or other members of the royal family"

Great thread from Maria looking into what's going on with productivity in the criminal courts

Great @mattdathan.bsky.social @thetimes.com write up of today’s fantastic new @instituteforgovernment.org.uk report by @cassiarowland.bsky.social on the state of the criminal justice system. Which is again/still in a state of ‘slow-motion collapse’ www.thetimes.com/article/3319...

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/...

Contract management is incredibly important and something that @instituteforgovernment.org.uk has talked about extensively in our work on procurement. But this is the first time I can remember that contract management has been part of a populist policy platform!

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...

NEW REPORT: adult social care is putting immense pressure on local authorities' budgets, but there's no real evidence of improved access Since 2016/17, spending on long-term care: ⬆️25% People receiving LT care: ⬆️1% What's going on? Findings from our new report on adult social care🧵👇

Whatever form the inquiry takes, it's clear we have a serious problem with learning lessons and implementing recommendations from previous inquests, reviews, inquiries etc. We are seeing similar, repeated failings happening again and again. It's the bit of the system that needs serious thought.

NEW COMMENT: Alarm bells are ringing in local govt and a rising proportion of spending goes on very few services That should worry Labour. Rising council tax and worsening service performance fosters the sense that govt wastes money More from me 👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/fail...

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.

Councils are increasingly focussed on acute services (social care, homelessness) used by few people. All the median voter sees is that pot holes arent fixed + libraries are closed. @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social argues that Labour's reelection chances will be harmed if they don't fix council finances

Kicking off this year’s Performance Tracker 2025, Part 1 from the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk looks at how local government, social care and homelessness services are performing. Great job @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social & @amberdellar.bsky.social!

This is a fantastic, in-depth look at how local authorities are performing, and the impact of austerity on local public services. One thing particularly stood out to me from the report - the benefit of stable, long-term political leadership in local authorities for maintaining performance...

And yet a reasonable chance that those 24 years will prove to have been faster than the current restoration and renewal process

Our first instalment of our Public Services Performance Tracker 2025 looks at the state of local government finances and overall performance in adult social care, children's social care and homelessness. Read the report to find out more 📖👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

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/...

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 👇

Really looking forward to chairing this next week. We’ve got some fantastic case studies from @local.gov.uk and @foundationsww.bsky.social

As ever, this is sobering but nonetheless required reading on where public services find themselves in 2025 (and beyond) and why. Top notch work from the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk team.

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

[NEW] How does the quality of local government services vary across the country – and what is driving performance? The first instalment of our Public Services Performance Tracker 2025 with @nuffieldfoundation.org is out now🚨👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

On Monday the government announced updates to the ministerial code 👀 One change is the Cabinet Office will now advise the PM before any decision to establish a public inquiry is taken, and before the ToRs are agreed

The point of a multi-year spending review and regular SR cycle is to provide stability. That stability allows frontline public services to make long-term decisions that will deliver better outcomes and VfM. It's a big failure of policymaking if spending decisions are being reopened 4 months later

Looking forward to this. I will be talking about procurement, drawing on a recent @instituteforgovernment.org.uk report co-authored with @drbenpaxton.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Productivity Pitches #8: Spreading innovation across public services By highlighting outstanding examples of innovation across public services, the event aims to share and support ways to improve performance levels. @njdavies.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/produc...

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 🧵

EVENT | Productivity Pitches #8: Spreading innovation across public services 📅 Tuesday 21 October, 12:30-13:45 Join us for the eighth edition of #ProductivityPitches with Foundations, the What Works Centre and @local.gov.uk. Register to attend www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/produc...