Ifg Events Podcast

The Institute for Government was delighted to welcome the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Anneliese Dodds MP for an in conversation event with Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government. They discussed the government’s economic response to the coronavirus, the implications of Rishi Sunak’s emergency fiscal measures, and what should be done to help businesses and individuals as the furlough scheme is wound down and the lockdown is lifted. The Shadow Chancellor set out Labour’s economic policies and priorities and explain how the opposition’s policies have developed since she succeeded John McDonnell as Shadow Chancellor. Annelise Dodds has been the Member of Parliament for Oxford East since 2017. Before becoming Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in April 2020, she was Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury from July 2017 – April 2020. Before this she served for three years as a Member of the European Parliament for South East England.

The deadline for extending the Brexit transition period has now passed. Agreement or no agreement, the government insists that the UK will not seek more time beyond the end of the year. With less than six months to go, it is more important than ever that businesses are prepared for a dramatic change in trading conditions. However, over the past few months, coronavirus has rightly dominated the attention and resources of both businesses and government. With many firms reeling from the economic effects of lockdown, preparing for the end of the year will be a tall ask. Ongoing uncertainty about the shape of the UK’s future relationship with the EU only makes the task more difficult. To discuss these issues, we drew together a panel of experts representing businesses of different sizes and across a range of sectors. We asked how prepared businesses are, what more needs to be done and how the government can best help firms prepare. Panellists Sonali Parekh, Head of Policy at the Federation of Small Businesses

Better use of data is key to more effective government. Across government, teams are doing fascinating work with data. But those projects don’t get the attention they deserve. At this event, the 12th in our series, our speakers presented their data projects in an exciting, quickfire format. Each set of speakers had eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the audience. In July we heard from: Andrew Morris, Director of Health Data Research UK, on Health Data Science in the Covid-19 era and options and opportunities for the UK. Kerina Jones, Professor of Population Data Science, Swansea University, on information governance and public engagement in using population datasets. Kirby Swales, Deputy Director, and Lan-Ho Man, Principal Research Officer, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, on the potential of linked administrative data in social policy programmes (including Troubled Families and Homelessness Reduction). Professor Betsy Stanko, Senior External Advisor and Amy Su

On 1 July 2020, Germany will take over the rotating six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, the grouping of the 27 EU governments. During this time, it will need to help broker an agreement on the multiannual EU budget and the proposed €750 billion coronavirus recovery fund and forge a new relationship with the UK. Germany has also promised to strengthen EU discussions on climate change and foreign policy, in particular with China. To discuss Germany’s presidency of the EU, Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government, will be joined by HE Andreas Michaelis, Germany’s new ambassador to the UK and former permanent secretary to the German Foreign Office.

Negotiations around the future UK–EU relationship are intensifying, with the UK still intending to leave the transition period at the end of this year – with or without a deal. The devolved administrations have a strong interest in the shape of any future agreement with the EU – and in particularly contentious areas like fisheries. They will also be responsible for implementing parts or preparing for no trade deal in devolved areas. And in Northern Ireland, any UK–EU agreement will have implications for how goods are checked at the Irish Sea border. This event looked at how – and how well – the UK government has engaged the devolved administrations in its talks with the EU, and the interests of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can best be represented in any free trade agreement. Panellists: Jenny Gilruth MSP, Minister for Europe and International Development, Scottish government Jeremy Miles MS, Counsel General and Minister for European Transition, Welsh government David Phinnemore, Professor of Europ

Fisheries has been a major area of contention between the UK and EU during the Brexit process. With an initial ambition to conclude negotiations on fisheries agreement by July, both parties are under pressure to reconcile their divergent positions in under a month – with both sides admitting that an agreement is unlikely. At this event, panellists discussed the importance of fisheries to negotiations, the UK and EU positions and whether a deal can be struck. Panellists also considered the UK’s priorities as an independent coastal state and how this may vary across the nations of the UK. Panellists: Theresa Villiers MP, Former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Deidre Brock MP, SNP spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Barrie Deas, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations James Kane, Associate at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Maddy Thimont Jack, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government.

The speed and scale of the support that the UK government rolled out to businesses following its decision to shut down much of the UK economy in March 2020 was unprecedented in peacetime. At this event, panellists discussed how effective the design and implementation of these measures has been, how the government worked with the private sector to understand what was needed and refine the policies, what new difficulties arise as the government tries to lift restrictions and how government should work with businesses to understand those and adapt policy to deliver for the public interest. Panellists: Baroness Morgan of Cotes, former Treasury minister and former chair of the Treasury Select Committee Martin McTague, National Vice Chair Policy and Advocacy at the Federation of Small Businesses Josh Hardie, Deputy Director-General, Policy and Campaigns at the Confederation of British Industry This event was chaired by Giles Wilkes, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government. We would like to thank the Feder

The UK and EU are in the middle of their toughest negotiation yet – agreeing their future relationship. With the two sides opening positions clear and the clock ticking, this event will explore the EU’s ambitions for future relations with the UK and some of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. The Institute for Government was delighted to welcome Stefaan de Rynck, Senior Adviser to Michel Barnier and Head of Task Force for Relations with the UK. He spoke to Joe Owen, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

The UK is taking back control of trade policy in a world transformed by the impact of coronavirus. Following the UK’s exit from the EU in January, it was already a challenge to create a trade strategy that takes barriers to trade with the wider world down, whilst putting new ones up between the UK and its biggest trade partner. As countries begin to espouse the virtues of shorter and more local supply chains, the UK’s strategy of distancing itself from its neighbours to link up with partners on the far side of the globe looks ever more anomalous. How will coronavirus shape the future of international trade, and how can ‘Global Britain’ adapt to a world facing de-globalisation? To discuss these questions, we were joined by: Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, Director of the European Centre for International Political Economy Klemens Kober, Director Trade Policy at the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) and former TTIP negotiator Meredith Crowley, International Trade Economist at the University

While the UK government’s response to coronavirus has been widely-criticised, Taiwan has seen fewer than 500 cases of Covid-19 and only seven deaths. For this special IfG Live event, the Taiwanese Digital Minister, Audrey Tang, joined us to explain how the country has contained the virus so successfully without a nationwide 'lockdown'. The minister discussed how Taiwan's existing strength in digital government and experience of the SARS outbreak in 2003 enabled it to respond rapidly, co-ordinating work across government, drawing on innovation in the private sector and civil society, and countering disinformation to keep the public well-informed. Audrey Tang was in conversation with Gavin Freeguard, Programme Director and Head of Data and Transparency at the Institute for Government.

Better use of data is key to more effective government. Across government, teams are doing fascinating work with data. But those projects don’t get the attention they deserve. At this event, the eleventh in our series, our speakers presented their data projects in an exciting, quickfire format. Each set of speakers had eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the audience. In June we heard from: Sean O'Callaghan, Architect and Design Thinking Coach, SAP, on infant mortality in Indiana – data driven government in action. Rachel Tsang, Head of Policy and Strategy, and Catriona Fraser, Policy and Strategy Lead, GOV.UK, on responding to C-19 and how this has accelerated GOV.UK's strategy to develop a more personalised offering for our user Andy Helliwell, Executive Director, Government Shared Services, Cabinet Office, on shared services' critical role before, during and after COVID-19. Natalie Record, Digital Housing and Planning Policy Lead at MHCLG, on how data can transform housing and pla

In a matter of weeks, coronavirus has transformed the activity of government. But the immediate crisis won’t last forever, and big choices for citizens and government lie on the horizon. How have citizens’ expectations of public services changed? Will they have more or less trust in government, and what might that mean for the size of the state and any digital legacy? Will the public demand better evidence-based policy making, or have they still had ‘enough of experts’? Will government need to re-write its relationship with business and workers? And what changes will be required of the civil service to fit the post-corona landscape? On the panel to discuss these issues were: Rt Hon Lord O'Donnell, former Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service Ben Page, CEO of Ipsos MORI Vicky Pryce, Chief Economic Adviser at the Centre for Economics and Business Research and former joint head of the Government Economic Service. The discussions was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Go

Successive governments have failed to address the problems facing social care. The Conservatives promised to begin cross-party talks to find a solution within the new government’s first 100 days, but any attempts toward reforming the system have been overtaken by the coronavirus outbreak – which has placed substantial additional pressure on the social care system. This event brought together leading experts to discuss the following questions: What is the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on social care? Which long-term reforms of adult social care should the government prioritise? To what extent will these prepare social care for future crises? What impact will coronavirus have on efforts to build cross-party agreement on fixing social care? Is the government’s approach likely to succeed? Our panel included: Liz Kendall MP, Shadow Social Care Minister Sally Warren, Director of Policy, King’s Fund Greg Allen, CEO, Future Care Capital Nicholas Timmins, Senior Fellow, Institute for Government The event was

Data Bites #10 by Institute for Government

Lifting lockdown: how to approach a coronavirus exit strategy by Institute for Government

Data Bites #9: Getting things done with data in government by Institute for Government

Successive UK governments have tried to use independent commissions, cross-party agreements and public engagement to diffuse politically contentious issues. Most recently, the Johnson government has pledged cross-party talks on social care and a royal commission on justice, and six House of Commons committees are running a citizens’ assembly on climate change. This panel debate assessed the pros and cons of different approaches and how they can be deployed most effectively. Our panel included: Sir John Gieve, former Permanent Secretary at the Home Office Professor Sir John Hills, former Member of the Pensions Commission Dame Julie Mellor, Chair of Demos Professor Dawn Oliver, former Member of the Royal Commission on Reform of the House of Lords. This event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. There was an opportunity for questions from the audience.

The Institute for Government was delighted to welcome Mervyn King and John Kay to discuss their new book – Radical Uncertainty. They talked about the confusion in how we think about risk and uncertainty, and about the extent bogus quantification and the policy errors which result. Gemma Tetlow, chief economist at the IfG joined the panel, which was chaired by Bronwen Maddox, director of the Institute for Government. Professor John Kay is an economist with wide experience in academia, business, finance and public policy. For 20 years he wrote a regular column for the Financial Times. Lord King of Lothbury was Governor of the Bank of England from 2003-13.

The collapse of Carillion was driven by the reckless behaviour of the company’s directors, but government admitted its own approach to outsourcing had often been poor, and the system of checks and balances had not worked. Two years on, this panel discussed the findings of a new Institute for Government report assessing whether government has succeeded in implementing reforms. Tom Sasse, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government, presented the key findings. The panel included: Chris Luck, CEO of Shaw Trust Liz Crowhurst, Head of Infrastructure and Public Sector Policy at CBI The event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

Boris Johnson accepted a Northern Ireland protocol when he negotiated a new withdrawal agreement with the European Union last October. This protocol creates special customs and regulatory arrangements for Northern Ireland to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, and will come into force when the transition periods ends on 31 December – irrespective of the future trading relationship between the rest of the UK and the EU. But many of the details of how the protocol will work in practice remain to be agreed – and there is little time left for new systems and processes to be put in place to meet the UK's legal commitments. This event examined how the Northern Ireland protocol might operate, what needs to be done to make it work, and its political and constitutional implications. Our panel included: Stephen Farry MP, Alliance Party Deputy Leader and MP for North Down Stephen Kelly, Chief Executive of Manufacturing NI Dr Anna Jerzewska, independent customs and trade adviser Denis Staunton, London Edito