The Institute for Government was pleased to welcome Matthew Pennycook MP, Minister for Housing and Planning, to give a speech on leasehold reform and the move to commonhold.

The speech, in which the Housing Minister spoke about the government's ambitions on ending the feudal leasehold system, follows publication of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny.

Following the speech, Matthew Pennycook was in conversation with Nehal Davison, Programme Director (policy making) at the IfG, and took part in an audience Q&A.

Successive UK governments have made immigration policy a high political priority, but no recent government has seemed to meet public expectations in the pursuit of those policies. So, what have recent immigration policies been trying to achieve, and why have so many people ended up unhappy with the outcome?

A new book by Madeleine Sumption explores these questions. Drawing on decades of research, she explores the unavoidable trade-offs governments face, and the impacts of their choices on people and communities.

To answer these questions and more, this IfG event brought together an expert panel, including:

Rt Hon Amber Rudd, former Home Secretary (2016–18) and former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2018–19)

Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University and a member of the UK Government’s Migration Advisory Committee

This event was chaired by Alex Thomas, Executive Director for Impact and Influence at the Institute for Government.

The government is reeling from the revelation that Peter Mandelson was appointed as UK ambassador to the US despite having failed a security vetting process.

With the blame-game dominating the week in Westminster, what will we learn from Keir Starmer's 'judgment day' Commons statement? What will Olly Robbins – who was sacked by the PM as Foreign Office permanent secretary – reveal in a crucial select committee appearance? What has the vetting row shown about the way decisions are made at the top of government? How should the vetting and appointments process be overhauled? And what does this row mean for relations between civil servants and ministers?

An IfG expert webinar answered these questions and more.

The webinar featured:

Tim Durrant, Programme Director at the Institute for Government

Hannah Keenan, Associate Director at the Institute for Government

Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government

Dr Hannah White, Director and CEO of the Institute for Government.

Improving productivity is at the heart of the government’s plans for public services, underpins the ‘strategic and agile state’ and is a critical enabler for many of its ambitions for the future.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has been drawing on experience from the public and private sector to make sure the 2027 spending review consolidates and furthers the government’s productivity drive.

This builds on the work already underway within the government through the Office for Value for Money and its departmental target of 2% productivity, efficiencies and savings.

But what has the government achieved so far? How is HM Treasury supporting productivity improvements across government and monitoring departmental efficiency plans? What is the Chief Secretary doing to push this agenda on?

To explore these questions and to discuss his priorities and approach, the Institute for Government was pleased to be hosting Rt Hon James Murray MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Professor Andy Westwood, Policy Director at The Productivity Institute made opening remarks. James Murray was then in conversation with Dr Hannah White, Director and CEO of the Institute for Government.

This event was kindly supported by The Productivity Institute (TPI).

The second webinar in our three-part series focusing on the findings of Whitehall Monitor 2026.

The webinar featured:

Heloise Dunlop, Researcher at the Institute for Government and co-author of Whitehall Monitor 2026

Becky Noble, Public Services AI Lead at PA Consulting

Jack Worlidge, Senior Researcher at the IfG and co-author of Whitehall Monitor 2026

The event was chaired by Hannah Keenan, Associate Director at the IfG and lead author of Whitehall Monitor 2026.

Whitehall Monitor 2026, the IfG’s annual data-led assessment of the size, shape and performance of the civil service, examines how the workforce changed in 2025.

We would like to thank PA Consulting for kindly supporting this event.

Our first webinar in a three-part series focused on the findings of Whitehall Monitor 2026.

The first Whitehall Monitor webinar – kicking off a three-part series exploring the IfG’s annual flagship report on the civil service – looked at the context in which much needed strategic workforce planning should be taking place: how the size and shape of the civil service has changed in the past year, against a backdrop of multiple exit schemes and a complex recruitment landscape.

The webinar featured:

Heloise Dunlop, Researcher at the Institute for Government and co-author of Whitehall Monitor 2026

Daniel Howes, Research Assistant at the IfG and co-author of Whitehall Monitor 2026

Liz Tolcher, Associate Partner – Skills & Workforce Transformation Expert at PA Consulting

The event was chaired by Hannah Keenan, Associate Director at the IfG and lead author of Whitehall Monitor 2026.

Whitehall Monitor 2026, the IfG’s annual data-led assessment of the size, shape and performance of the civil service, examines how the workforce changed in 2025.

We would like to thank PA Consulting for kindly supporting this event.

As war in the Middle East disrupts energy markets across the world, what are the implications for households and businesses in the UK and how should government respond to the price shock?

This IfG webinar explored Rachel Reeves’s options for supporting consumers – and what the ongoing conflict could mean for energy policy, the transition to net zero and for the public finances.

What are the implications of different scenarios for oil and gas shipments from the Middle East? What do they mean for the design of support packages? How would different approaches impact government objectives on inflation and growth? Has the government learned the lessons from the response to the 2022 price shock?

And do events in the Middle East accelerate or slow the transition to net zero? Should they lead to a rethink on North Sea licensing?

This webinar featured:

Nick Butler, former Head of Strategy for BP and then senior policy adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Dan Haile, Senior Economist at the Institute for Government

Emma Pinchbeck, Chief Executive of the Climate Change Committee and former CEO of Energy UK

Andrew Sissons, Director, Sustainable Future Mission at NESTA

This webinar was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.

With just a few weeks remaining before May’s Scottish parliament election, Malcolm Offord, Leader of Reform UK in Scotland, joined us to discuss the state of devolution, Scotland’s economy and public services, and the future of Scotland.

With Reform UK predicted to win a sizeable number of seats in Scotland for the first time, this webinar saw Malcolm Offord set out his policies and plans for Scotland, and discussed how Reform UK would govern if in a position of power at Holyrood. He was in conversation with Institute for Government Programme Director Akash Paun, and answered questions submitted by the online audience.

This event is part of a series the Institute for Government is holding with political leaders from Scotland and Wales.

The IfG DevoLab is dedicated to exploring the innovations enabled by devolution, learning from the results, and sharing the lessons so that places can take better decisions about how to use devolved powers and budgets.

On 25 February, in Manchester, we held our fourth IfG DevoLab event, where three speakers set out how the powers and profile of mayors are being used to increase the supply of affordable homes within their regions.

The three case studies presented at IfG DevoLab #4 were:

‘Increasing the supply of affordable homes in the West of England’, by Stephen Peacock, Chief Executive of the West of England Combined Authority

‘From housing growth to good growth - experiences delivering housing growth in Greater Manchester’, by Andrew McIntosh, Director of Sustainable Growth & Infrastructure at Greater Manchester Combined Authority

‘Supporting regions to increase the supply of affordable homes’, by Jackie Rigby, Assistant Director - Place, Partnerships and Capacity at Homes England

The three speakers were joined by Ben Denton, Head of Strategic Growth – Affordable Housing at L&G, for a broader discussion of the benefits of devolution and mayoral leadership for this agenda, how mayors can support the government make progress toward its challenging house-building targets, and how further devolution could help accelerate the supply of affordable homes.

This event was chaired by Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

Insights from this discussion will inform a published policy briefing containing the three case studies and a synthesis of key lessons.

The Institute for Government would like to thank L&G for its support of this event and for its wider support of the IfG DevoLab series.

This event took place two months before the people of Wales cast their votes in the seventh election to Senedd Cymru (the Welsh parliament) since it was established in 1999. The polls suggest that Plaid is on track to overturn Labour’s century-long dominance of Welsh politics to become the largest party in the Senedd for the first time, opening the path to Rhun ap Iorwerth becoming Wales’s next first minister.

Watch our event recording to hear the Plaid leader deliver a short speech on how he would govern as first minister, followed by a conversation with Akash Paun, Programme Director for Devolution at the Institute for Government, and a Q&A with the live and online audience.