My reflections on parliament’s response to the Mandelson scandal. Scrutiny of the truth of what politicians say is rightly increasing but politicians need to make judicious use of strong accountability mechanisms www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/star...

Just did a quick bit on the radio about the end of the Parliamentary session, prorogation and ping pong. All the Ps. So let's get into that....

As we listen to Philip Barton....some thoughts on the evidence on Mandelson vetting from Ian Collard, published by foreign affairs committee last night committees.parliament.uk/publications...

New weekend reading from me - Antonia Romeo is the first Cabinet Secretary in a decade (and there have been a few) to publish her performance objectives. Sounds a bit unremarkable, but there's more to it than meets the eye 👇

It's that time again... ONS Public Sector Employment dropped today, revealing a familiar pattern - the civil service just can't stop growing. An increase of 535 from Q3 2025 to Q4 2025 brings the total to 520,860 (FTE). @instituteforgovernment.org.uk

A hard-hitting report out today from the Public Accounts Committee on government use of external consultants. Lots which chimes with our @instituteforgovernment.org.uk analysis in Whitehall Monitor 2026. committees.parliament.uk/committee/12...

I wrote a piece for LBC on how proposed reforms to criminal trials actually risk making things worse, rather than better www.lbc.co.uk/article/crim...

Lots of v good points in this from @neildotobrien.bsky.social - civil service performance management is rubbish. But important not to think that's unrecognised inside CS. It's the complaint you hear most often, at all seniorities - the problem is making fixing it a priority & sticking with it!

Worth saying that DHSC was one of the morale success stories last year - engagement went up by 5 ppt between 2023 and 2024

We've got the full picture of what happened across the main themes in the people survey here 👇 A notable increase of almost 3 percentage points in officials' satisfaction with their pay and benefits And the fifth(!) consecutive year of falling satisfaction with 'leadership and managing change'

Extraordinary day of course for the royal family, the picture will live on for a long time. Also the sovereign is central to govt and important in many ways But people who spend a lot of time centring the royals can get royal-pilled. This is not (a) the abdication; (b) a war; (c) the fall of a govt

Our analysis of the likely impact of the gov’s jury trial reforms has got some attention! This is the courts minister's response to the justice select committee asking about my figures. Here’s why I don’t think it’s a fair assessment: (report here www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...)

New piece from @hannahkeenan.bsky.social, @hcdunlop.bsky.social and me. Our take on the task facing the new cabinet secretary 👇

An old debate, but this is (mostly) the right answer - current job is way too big for one person. But 'chief advisor' bit is confused. The cab sec part of the job *is* being principal policy adviser to the PM...

Romeo was always the bold choice and is more likely than Wormald to drive the change the civil service needs. But after recent briefing she's appointed under a bit of a cloud. Not knowing where that will go makes this feel risky - and Starmer *really* can't afford another appointment going south

That really was an expedited process

Antonia Romeo appointed as cabinet secretary - @alexgathomas.bsky.social and I wrote last week about the challenges ahead for her and what lessons need to be taken from Wormald's tenure: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/next...

So the new cabinet secretary will indeed be Antonia Romeo Here’s what we think she needs to prioritise www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/next...

Great piece from @hannahkeenan.bsky.social on the continually failing structures at the centre of government. And why they’re (partly) to blame for governments cycling ever faster through cabinet secretaries and other key appointments

The workload facing MPs and their staff is growing, in ways that aren't visible to the public: casework and the inbox. For @thehousemag.bsky.social, I delved into what the workload looks like, why it's growing, and what this means for how MPs can balance the different aspects of their role

Yesterday the Cabinet Office published the ministerial direction on Chris Wormald's exit payment 👇 This has been discussed a bit in the media, mainly in terms of 'civil service tried to block the huge payout' A few points on this.. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Interesting piece from @benjudah.bsky.social - the latest former spad to reflect on the problems with the systems they grappled with in government. As he says, @instituteforgovernment.org.uk and others have long been making the case for far-reaching reform...

Lib Dems want to split the treasury. Has been floated lots before - they're right that HMT is overly powerful, essentially setting the govt strategy by default. You could get round that by splitting it, or (as we @instituteforgovernment.org.uk think) by boosting No10 so it can drive strategy

Amidst everything else going on today, @darrenpjones.bsky.social has been up in the Commons setting out the govt response (on standards / appointment process / vetting) to the Mandelson revelations...

Tim Allan only joined No10 in September last year as part of the most recent (very turbulent) 'reset'...

Regardless of other effects, changing PM – and the ensuing Cabinet reshuffle - would mean progress on SEND, nuclear, planning reform and a host of other difficult issues is put back 6-12 months or more. Further entrenching the narrative that nothing works and nobody can fix it.

My unpopular opinion: releasing the emails & messages surrounding Mandelson’s appointment is entirely reasonable. Releasing every communication between Mandelson and any ministers or Spads over the course of his ambassadorship is disproportionate, unnecessary and sets a really bad precedent.

Unsurprisingly there's a lot of chat about what kind of vetting Mandelson would have gone through before being appointed as ambassador to the US... We wrote this to explain the appointment process after he was sacked last year 👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/se...

Mandelson has resigned from Lords. So why is he still a Lord? Because the process of retiring from the Lords, or expelled, is not the same as removing their title. See our explainer on how Lords are appointed, vetted, retired or expelled www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/jo...

I'll be speaking on a panel at this event hosted by @resolutionfoundation.org in a couple of weeks, talking about what the day-to-day of a researcher at a think tank is like. Improving representation personally important to me so please do share! Sign up: www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/worki...

What did we learn from our conference this week? @timdurrant.bsky.social @hannahkeenan.bsky.social @danhaile.bsky.social @benpaxton.bsky.social @jackworlidge.bsky.social and me give our verdict www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/gove...

Analysis of government spending on consultancy services has become a solid feature of Whitehall Monitor (2026 edition out today!) in recent years. This year it's particularly pertinent given the government's focus on cutting spending. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

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..

📢NEW REPORT📢 Every year @instituteforgovernment.org.uk sets out the latest on the civil service - size, professions, pay, morale. You name it, we analyse it. This year's report is out today. If you're interested in state capacity, you should be interested in what's happening in the civil service. 🧵

NEW: Report from me and @nehaldavison.bsky.social on how and why boys from low-income families get left behind in their early years 🧵⬇️ www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Our reaction to Mel Stride’s big day at the Tory conference There are savings to be made in the civil service. But an arbitrary headcount target & ignoring new demands on the state won’t deliver them The hard work of doing that falls to the govt www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/mel-...

The @instituteforgovernment.org.uk team is back on our party conference travels. This time to Manchester, where @kemibadenochmp.bsky.social is under pressure to give the Conservatives reason to be optimistic - writes @jackworlidge.bsky.social: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/kemi...

Special Delivery! @emma-conway.bsky.social and I have been thinking about how Keir Starmer and co (especially Darren Jones) can make a success of 'phase two' - which is all about delivering on the government's priorities. Read more here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/star...

The essential analysis of latest changes in civil service staff numbers from @howesdaniel.bsky.social 👇 No surprise that the civil service is *still* growing, though at a far lower rate than in recent years

Many organisations run graduate schemes focused on developing future leaders. That's what the fast stream has always been, at its core. It now needs to overcome the instinct to be all things to all people and rediscover that sense of purpose. Me for @civilserviceworld.bsky.social:

Brilliant new @instituteforgovernment.org.uk research from @teodorgrama.bsky.social on the civil service fast stream - setting out how it's lost its sense of purpose, and what should be done about it 👇

Great to see our latest @instituteforgovernment.org.uk report on the fast stream covered in The Guardian. The civil service wants the fast stream to do too much, all at once. A smaller programme that is laser-focused on developing future leaders would deliver more for the civil service.

I'm not blaming anyone in particular. 100% of the pressures in politics are short term, 95% of the policy dilemmas are long term, and so government is basically a dialogue of the deaf. A wonk in one corner saying "we need difficult tax reform" and a PR guy responding "give me something for the Mail"

The government is restricting civil service internships to applicants from lower socio-economic backgrounds to get more working-class young people into the civil service. Using internships will not solve everything, but the experiment is worthwhile www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/soci...

I also think we're at risk of losing sight that we're talking about 200 people here. 0.04% of the civil service. An internship is as good a shout as any to improve diversity (let's see if it works), but gov needs to sort other stuff including pay and wider recruitment too. Some thoughts from IfG 👇

Joining @hannahkeenan.bsky.social and @jackworlidge.bsky.social, looking at grades in this year's CS Stats, the growth of Grades 6/7 continues, rising 5% from 2024. All grades have continued to grow, except AO/AA. But growth is slowing - except for SCS, which grew more in 2024-25 than 2023-24. (1/2)

Civil service pay is another interesting story in this year's stats, with real terms pay ticking up again as expected...

Departmental Efficiency Plans published alongside the spending review project major efficiency gains in the next few years. For some depts, these plans are heavily weighted towards the end of the SR period. And many depts seem to be betting big on digital to deliver the efficiencies they seek.

The SR confirms an overall 16% real terms cut to dept administration budgets by 2029/30 (which will drive down staff numbers).... ...but for lots of depts, including the largest and biggest spenders, these cuts are suspiciously (implausibly?) weighted to the final year

When I was working at HMT, during one fiscal event, someone senior came on the building intercom to ask us to stop watching the statement on our computers, to free up some bandwidth so they could upload the documents. Maybe they still haven’t upgraded to fiber?