The public appointments system struggles to appoint candidates in a timely and efficient way. It has been dogged by controversy in recent years, from media speculation over the appointment of new chairs of Ofcom and the BBC to delays at the Charity Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority. Politicians, officials, candidates and the public have expressed frustration with the process. The Institute for Government’s report, Reforming Public Appointments, proposes a package of reforms including clearer data on the causes of delays, fewer ministerial decision points, and an expansion of regulation to include more roles.

Our panel explored what the purpose of the public appointments system is, how well it is working now and what reforms might be needed:

This event was chaired by Dr Matthew Gill, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. 

#IfGpublicappointments

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Halpern, the ‘What Works’ National Adviser since 2013 and Chief Executive of the Behavioural Insights Team, has spent nearly a decade advising ministers and other leaders in government on using evidence to make better policy. As his term as national adviser comes to an end, he spoke at the Institute for Government to look back at the successes, failures and future prospects for doing ‘what works’ and how it should continue to inform government practice and policy.

Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and head of the civil service policy profession, joined David to reflect on good policy making, with Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government chairing the event.

#IfGWhatWorks

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From u-turning on budgets to sacking chancellors, spooking the markets and seeing borrowing rates climb, it has been a dramatic, chaotic and, for many people, painful start to Liz Truss’s time as prime minister.

What mistakes were made in the transition between Boris Johnson’s No.10 and Truss’s administration? Why were Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng so quick to disregard the value of institutions and experience in government? How should a prime minister change course when things go wrong? And what can Jeremy Hunt do as the new chancellor to restore faith in this government’s handling of the economy?

As Truss attempts to calm the markets, the public and her party, the IfG’s new director Dr Hannah White brought together an expert IfG panel to examine where the prime minister went wrong and explore the lessons that should be learned from her first 40 days in No.10 for future incoming administrations.

With

#IfGTruss

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Institute for Government was delighted to welcome Michael Cockerell, the BBC broadcaster and political journalist whose award-winning political documentaries have taken viewers behind the scenes of British politics for nearly half a century. He has interviewed a dozen prime ministers from Macmillan to Johnson, and made films about leading politicians including Roy Jenkins, Enoch Powell Denis Healey, Barbara Castle, Ken Clarke and Alan Clark.  

His documentary series have included the How to Be trilogy (How to Be Chancellor, How to Be Foreign Secretary and How to Be Home Secretary), The Great Offices of State and The Secret World of Whitehall.

In conversation with IfG Senior Fellow Dr Catherine Haddon, Michael Cockerell discussed his memoir, Unmasking our Leaders, and share the stories and secrets – including clips from a number of his documentaries – of the politicians that he has met and interviewed. And with a new prime minister moving into 10 Downing Street, this event will also explore the qualities that make – and sometimes break – our political leaders.

#IfGCockerell

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's tax-slashing plan for growth stunned MPs, commentators and economists alike on Friday - and sent the value of the pound plummeting. So just how big a gamble is his vision for the economy? Does his plan for easing the cost of energy crisis add up? And how long does Liz Truss have to convince voters that her policies will deliver growth? 

The IfG economics team of Tom Pope, Giles Wilkes and Olly Bartrum assembled to make sense of a huge day in Parliament. Presented by Hannah White.

This is a recording of a Twitter Spaces conversation 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Institute for Government was delighted to welcome Dame Dr Jenny Harries OBE, Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency.

After serving as the UK’s deputy Chief Medical Officer during the pandemic, Dr Harries took on leadership of the new UK Health Security Agency in April 2021. In conversation with Dr Matthew Gill, Programme Director at the Institute for Government, she discussed her vision for the UKHSA:

Jenny Harries is the inaugural Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency. She was previously the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England. She has served on the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and worked in a variety of public health roles in the UK and abroad.

#IfGHarries

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Modelling and forecasting played a prominent role in the way policies were designed and decisions were made during the coronavirus pandemic. But the government’s handling of the crisis raised questions about how modelling - epidemiological and economic – was used by ministers.

So how should models be produced and used within government? How should they be communicated to the public? And how well equipped are ministers and officials to understand and interpret modelling when making their decisions?.

This panel explored the role of modelling in the Covid pandemic, the lessons that ministers should learn, and how the UK should draw on modelling in future crises.

The event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.

#IfGforecast

We would like to thank The Forum, Imperial College London’s policy engagement initiative for kindly supporting this event.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Institute for Government was delighted to host an event with the Office for Budget Responsibility to discuss their new Fiscal Risks and Sustainability Report.

While the economic shocks of the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have been huge, there are many other factors likely to change the shape of the UK state and the demands placed on it in future. Some – such as the ageing of the population and the shift towards net zero carbon emissions – can be anticipated; others – such as the impacts of unabated climate change and possible future geopolitical instability – are harder to predict with certainty.

This event opened with a short presentation by Richard Hughes, Chair of the OBR, on the main findings in the report followed by a panel discussion on the major challenges facing the UK and how the government can best prepare for these.

Our panel included:

The event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.

#IfGeconomy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From housing to aviation, the digital economy to patient safety, ministers have a huge range of responsibilities. Yet little is known about how different ministers approach their roles and the reasons for these differences.

How do ministers make decisions? How do they work with the civil service and devise policy? And how do they manage their teams? Dr John Boswell and Dr Jessica Smith of the University of Southampton, drawing on the Institute for Government’s Ministers Reflect archive, have identified different patterns in the way ministers work and seek to lead the civil service - and the different approaches taken by men and women serving in ministerial roles.

To discuss their findings, and how this can help future ministers and civil servants:

This event was chaired by Tim Durrant, Associate Director at the Institute for Government.

#IfGministers

We would like to thank the University of Southampton and the ESRC for supporting this event.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ministers emphasise the need to create new manufacturing jobs. But from law and accountancy to retail and hospitality, the UK economy is predominantly services-based – with many high value services jobs concentrated in the South East.

So how can the services sector contribute to economic growth across the UK? What can the government do to help service sector clusters thrive outside London and the South East? And is the government getting the balance right between focusing on manufacturing and services?

To discuss these questions and more:

The event was chaired by Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.

#IfGlevellingup

We would like to thank Gowling WLG for their support for this event.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices