Nick Davies
@njdavies.bsky.social
đ€ 8812
đ„ 835
đ 683
Programme Director at
@instituteforgovernment.org.uk
working on public services
pinned post!
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 đ§”
about 1 month ago
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Books I read in 2025. A Suitable Boy is probably the best single book Iâve ever read (itâs certainly the longest). Honourable mentions for Perfume, Who They Was, Under the Frog, Killing Thatcher and the trilogy of Station Eleven, The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility
about 10 hours ago
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Ben Paxton
2 days ago
The new powers to debar or exclude suppliers that break the rules or perform poorly were supposed to help fix accountability in public procurement. But I'm not aware of these new powers being used much at all so far, and the attempt highlighted here by
@jessicaelgot.bsky.social
has faced problems
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Cassia Rowland
12 days ago
Any thoughts or feedback on our Public Services Performance Tracker most gratefully received! Even if youâve only skimmed the summary (or read our threads on here!) weâd love to know what you thought
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Have you ever read the Public Services Performance Tracker published by
@instituteforgovernment.org.uk
? If so, weâd love to hear from you. Weâre surveying readers to find out what is most useful and what we should prioritise next year. It will only take around 5 mins to complete
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Performance Tracker Survey 2025/2026
Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/S33HJPY
13 days ago
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Nick Davies
Institute for Government
13 days ago
WEBINAR | How can the government make a success of the abolition of NHS England? Join our webinar to explore the risks and opportunities associated with abolishing NHS England.
@markgdayan.bsky.social
@sjanereed.bsky.social
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/govern...
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Polly Mackenzie
13 days ago
"Every time I pull a lever" says the Prime Minister. This dead metaphor is killing his ability to get things done. There aren't any levers. There's only leadership.
howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/there-aren...
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There aren't any levers
A dead metaphor is killing the government's ability to get things done
https://howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/there-arent-any-levers
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Cassia Rowland
14 days ago
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...
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Scrapping juries would save less than 10% of court time, according to research
Reforms aim to ease backlog of nearly 80,000 cases waiting to be heard in England and Wales
https://www.ft.com/content/8a9fd011-8bb6-436f-a5b4-719163505e81
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Chaminda Jayanetti
17 days ago
so great that Labour's adult care policy amounts to a Louise Casey report and an unspecified pay rise in about 2028
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
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Hospitals in England âface dangerous winter overcrowding due to discharge delaysâ
Exclusive: Analysis of NHS data shows rise in patients âstrandedâ in beds as flu crisis hits and resident doctorsâ strikes loom
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/dec/14/hospitals-in-england-face-dangerous-winter-overcrowding-due-to-discharge-delays
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Nick Davies
Sophie Metcalfe
20 days ago
NEW IfG verdict on the child poverty strategy from me and
@amberdellar.bsky.social
A critical package for the govt, but it needs: - stronger powers/accountability in DWP to lead it - much more robust support for LAs - earlier monitoring/evaluation
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/chil...
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Three things the government needs to do to make the child poverty strategy work | Institute for Government
The child poverty strategy is a concrete shift towards prevention but ministers must take action to implement it effectively.
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/child-poverty-strategy
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Given the govt's comittment to a) shift care from treatment to prevention and b) shift spending away from hospitals, its hard to justify the decision to keep spending on public health flat for the next three years when the NHS will see real terms spending growth
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Prevention shift âleft behindâ as budgets are held flat
Public health allocations are due to be held flat in real terms for three years, despite the government's intended "shift from treatment to prevention".
https://www.hsj.co.uk/finance-and-efficiency/prevention-shift-left-behind-as-budgets-are-held-flat/7040560.article?mkt_tok=NTI1LVNIQS0zNTUAAAGesIxB77fLn08dP8NVT0hRA3bKHmDaXU1KxhvT1406H6zP8M6gvXRPrHYZutff_twr3FVP8OgE2YqHEpP-g3Mx6VyvZk8KwvjNFNUsIge3
20 days ago
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Nick Davies
Institute for Government
24 days ago
WEBINAR | How can the government make a success of the abolition of NHS England? This webinar will explore the risks and opportunities associated with abolishing NHS England.
@markgdayan.bsky.social
@sjanereed.bsky.social
@nuffieldtrust.org.uk
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/govern...
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Nick Davies
Maria Laura La Corte
27 days ago
The
@instituteforgovernment.org.uk
âs Week in Public Services blog is back! This week I looked at the Budgetâs place-based budget pilots, jury trial restrictions, and Ofstedâs concerns on childrenâs social care. Some thoughts below.
medium.com/week-in-publ...
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Week in Public Services: 5th December 2025
This week: jury trial restrictions, place-based budgeting pilots, and warnings from Ofsted on the childrenâs social care market.
https://medium.com/week-in-public-services/week-in-public-services-5th-december-2025-406feac84b81
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Nick Davies
Amber Dellar
27 days ago
Last week the Chancellor announced a central government takeover of special educational needs deficits. I write about the potential impacts of this move on SEND reform, including on governance of the system, local innovation and trust
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Central governmentâs takeover of SEND deficits raises the stakes for SEND reform | Institute for Government
At the budget the chancellor announced a significant change to SEND funding arrangements
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/comment/central-governments-takeover-send-deficits-raises-stakes-send-reform
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When I was a young parliamentary researcher, a hereditary peer called the office to ask if the MP I worked for would support his red squirrel campaign. He said âI was going to call it the grey squirrel annihilation league but thought that might get marginally less supportâ
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27 days ago
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Nick Davies
Jack Worth
28 days ago
Today's ITT Census data is positive, showing a sizeable increase in trainee numbers vs last year, alongside lower targets due to other supply improvements like retention. But there's still more to do as secondary recruitment is still below target at 88 per cent
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Just caught up with this and it's fantastic. Essential reading (particularly for government strategists and the media!)
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28 days ago
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Ben Paxton
28 days ago
The 'clogging up' of A+Es is not due to the 2% of people coming to ED with this quite arbitrary list of conditions. The main reason they're clogged is poor flow through hospitals!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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Patients clogging up A&E with hiccups, sore throats and niggles
NHS bosses warn the public to use hospitals wisely amid concern this could be a tough winter.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74xqn2zg1eo
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I was a little sceptical about the OVfMâs unusual setup but it has worked very well. The key question, as Ben argues, is whether politicians and officials can now put its proposals into practice and take up the mantle of driving further system reform
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29 days ago
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Nick Davies
Helen Buckingham
about 1 month ago
This is such a good piece of work by
@nuffieldtrust.org.uk
&
@instituteforgovernment.org.uk
. The structure is not the fundamental problem, it's the multiplicity of dysfunctional behaviours which surround it. Until those are fixed, every structure is likely to fail.
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Hannah White
about 1 month ago
I'm really delighted to announce that- in a restructure of the
@instituteforgovernment.org.uk
âs senior team - I've appointed
@gemmatetlow.bsky.social
to the new role of Executive Director of Research & Innovation &
@alexgathomas.bsky.social
to the new role of Executive Director of Impact & Influence
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NEW REPORT: abolishing NHS England could help simplify accountability, improve prioritisation and create savings. But the change could also lead to increases in policy incoherence and blame culture, as well as the loss of skills, capacity and focus on areas outside the day-to-day NHS.
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Abolished to perfection? Building a better centre for the NHS | Institute for Government
The abolition of NHS England creates both risks and opportunities.
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/building-better-centre-nhs
about 1 month ago
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Nick Davies
Cassia Rowland
about 1 month ago
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. đ§”
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/david-lammy-...
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David Lammyâs proposals for judge-only trials would make England and Wales an outlier | Institute for Government
Most countries donât use jury trials, but few rely on a single judge to pass both verdict and sentence
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/david-lammy-proposals-judge-only-trials
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Stuart Hoddinott
about 1 month ago
Agree with every word of this We've gone from 9% of social care staff coming from outside the UK and EEA in 2021/22 to almost 25% in 2024/25 The govt has no near-term replacement It means either: 1) staffing shortages or 2) councils spending far more to attract staff, with no extra funding
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Pleased to see the govt commitment to using procurement to drive innovation. Procurement accounts for roughly 1 in 3 pounds spent by govt but it's utterly unstrategic about how it uses this
@drbenpaxton.bsky.social
and I previously identified the barriers that the task-and-finish needs to remove
about 1 month ago
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Nick Davies
Stuart Hoddinott
about 1 month ago
Key chart for public services Govt is back to pencilling in undeliverable plans to hit its fiscal rules After taking out likely funding for protected areas, other departments will have to absorb 3.3% annual real terms cuts. That includes prisons, courts, and local govt, among others
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Place-based budget pilots and changes to spending controls in the budget both reflect a growing recognition by this govt that trying to deliver efficiencies by tightly controlling spending and reducing frontline autonomy tends to have the exact opposite effect. That's a really positive shift
about 1 month ago
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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
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about 1 month ago
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John Denham
about 1 month ago
Really pleased to see a new commitment to place-based budgets today. Further progress towards the implementation of 'Total Place' principles as urged with
@jesstud.bsky.social
a couple of years ago.
www.newlocal.org.uk/publications...
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Proposed changes to spending controls are incredibly positive. As
@instituteforgovernment.org.uk
has previously noted, the cumulative complexity of controls muddies accountability, makes govt a worse customer, and wastes time and money. We asked govt to review and that's exactly what they've done
about 1 month ago
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Nick Davies
Neal Hudson
about 1 month ago
They've also got a big backlog of new homes to add.
bsky.app/profile/resi...
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Iâm excited ministers get to find out what a hot mess the Valuation Office is. Itâs currently taking more than a year (based on personal experience!) to undertake assessments that are meant to take less than 4 months
about 1 month ago
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The Public Services Performance Tracker is regularly described as âsoberingâ but this is definitely the first time weâve had âalmost lyricalâ
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
about 1 month ago
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Tim Durrant
about 1 month ago
I would say this, but the IfG's budget live blog is already great, even before we get to the main event - where else do you get this kind of content?
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Cassia Rowland
about 1 month ago
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 â but the claim itâs *necessary* doesnât stand up:
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The Leveson review: Cutting jury trials is not the only option | Institute for Government
The Leveson review is welcome â but doesnât address the most fundamental problem in the courts.
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/leveson-review-courts
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Nick Davies
Andy Cowper
about 1 month ago
Thanks Nick. Temporarily unpaywalled.
www.healthpolicyinsight.com/cowpers-cut-...
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Cowperâs Cut 403: Itâs a big mess, you say?
âIn Whitehall we were very worried about the promises they (Labour) made before the election on not raising taxes because we obviously knew the true state of the public finances that would face them o...
https://www.healthpolicyinsight.com/cowpers-cut-403-its-a-big-mess-you-say/
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Cath Haddon
about 1 month ago
It feels like budget has been going for weeks but a good live-blog starts the day before. Lots from
@instituteforgovernment.org.uk
before the big day âȘïžWhat has govt already announced? âȘïžWill they change fiscal strategy? âȘïžWhat to look out for on tax?
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/live-blog/au...
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LIVE BLOG | Autumn budget 2025: Rachel Reeves prepares to announce tax measures | Institute for Government
IfG experts analyse Reeves' budget and explore what the chancellor's plans for the economy, tax and spending mean.
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/live-blog/autumn-budget-2025
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Another great edition of
@hpiandycowper.bsky.social
's newsletter. This week it features the Covid inquiry,
@instituteforgovernment.org.uk
analysis of the NHS, and the brutal PAC report on reducing elective waiting times
www.healthpolicyinsight.com/cowpers-cut-...
about 1 month ago
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Nick Davies
Giles Wilkes
about 1 month ago
oh, I appear to have started a Substack by accident
gileswilkes.substack.com/p/the-fiscal...
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the fiscal rules, again?
people don't like them. Their better ideas just recreate them
https://gileswilkes.substack.com/p/the-fiscal-rules-again
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Nick Davies
Stuart Hoddinott
about 1 month ago
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
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Great column by
@sonia-sodha.bsky.social
on Labour's efforts to improve public services. They inherited a mess, but should have done far more in opposition to prepare for government
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
about 1 month ago
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Just finished Donât Burn Anyone at the Stake Today by
@naomialderman.bsky.social
and canât recommend it enough. Describing the current moment as an information crisis explains so much about why so many people are losing their minds online. But it also provides ideas for how we get through this
about 1 month ago
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Nick Davies
Gemma Tetlow
about 1 month ago
Hot on the heels of yesterday's Covid inquiry report on decision making,
@shaina-sangha.bsky.social
and I have a new report out today looking at how combined epidemiological-economic modelling could help government better prepare for future pandemics
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...
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Combined epidemiological and economic modelling | Institute for Government
The pandemic showed the need for government to improve its use of modelling.
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/epidemiological-economic-modelling-future-pandemics
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Nick Davies
Stuart Hoddinott
about 1 month ago
A chart that surprised me: NHS staff absences for mental health reasons are at record highs, above pandemic levels Absences for that reason have grown far faster than the combination of other reasons since 2016 Staff were absent for 1.4% of all working days for mental health reasons in YE May 2025
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The government has established a new public services cabinet committee. It will be chaired by Darren Jones, with Streeting, Phillipson and Reed also permanent members. Yesterday we called for govt to urgently establish a cross-govt approach to public services, so this is potentially promising
about 1 month ago
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Nick Davies
Sophie Metcalfe
about 1 month ago
NEW: Report from me and
@nehaldavison.bsky.social
on how and why boys from low-income families get left behind in their early years đ§”âŹïž
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...
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The opportunity gap facing boys from low-income families at age 5 and beyond | Institute for Government
Early attainment gaps mean some boys don't just start behind, they stay behind.
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/policy-making-left-behind-groups-boys-low-income-families
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Nick Davies
Russell Webster
about 1 month ago
What progress has Labour made on public services?
@cassiarowland.bsky.social
from
@instituteforgovernment.org.uk
sums up overall government performance in the last of her series of performance tracker guest posts.
www.russellwebster.com/what-progres...
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What progress has Labour made on public services?
Cassia Rowland from the Institute for Government sums up overall government performance in the last of her series of performance tracker guest posts.
https://www.russellwebster.com/what-progress-has-labour-made-on-public-services/
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Nick Davies
Stuart Hoddinott
about 1 month ago
NEW REPORT: performance in hospitals in England declined to record lows under the last govt Labour won the election promising to turn the NHS around How are they doing? đ§”đ
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...
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Performance Tracker 2025: Hospitals | Institute for Government
Hospital performance is trending gently upwards. But tight finances in hospital trusts will constrain further efforts.
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/performance-tracker-2025/nhs/hospitals
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reposted by
Nick Davies
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 đ§”
about 1 month ago
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It's snowing in Westminster on the same day that we've published the final chapters of Public Service Performance Tracker 2025. Truly, this is like Christmas day for the IFG public services team
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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