Ifg Events Podcast

This event was part of the IfG's Conservative Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: Dr Tony Ballance, Chief Strategy & Regulation Officer at Cadent Gas Josh Buckland, Partner at Flint Global Colm Murphy, Head of Transformation at National Grid ESO Dhara Vyas, Deputy Chief Executive at Energy UK This event was chaired by Olly Bartrum, Senior Economist at the Institute for Government. This event was kindly supported by Cadent Gas.

This event was part of the IfG's Conservative Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: Lord Bethell, former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the (Department of Health and Social Care Dr Layla McCay, Director of Policy at the NHS Confederation Rachel Wolf, Founding Partner at Public First This event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

This event was part of the IfG's Conservative Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: George Freeman MP, Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology James Wild MP, Member of Parliament for North West Norfolk Anna Bradley, Chair of the Solicitors Regulation Authority Phoebe Clay, Co-Director of Unchecked UK Antony Walker, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of techUK This event was chaired by Dr Matthew Gill, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. This event was kindly supported by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

This event was part of the IfG's Conservative Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: Rt Hon Lord Maude of Horsham, Member of the House of Lords and former Minister of State for Trade and Investment and Minister for the Cabinet Office Virginia Crosbie MP, Member of Parliament for Ynys Môn Professor Adam Boddison OBE, Chief Executive Officer of the Association for Project Management Alastair Evans, Director of Corporate and Government Affairs of Rolls-Royce SMR This event was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government. This event was kindly supported by the Association for Project Management.

This event was part of the IfG's Conservative Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: George Freeman MP, Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Katherine Bennett, Chief Executive Officer at the High Value Manufacturing Catapult Professor Nigel Brandon, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London Giles Wilkes, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. This event was kindly supported by Imperial College London.

This event was part of the IfG's Conservative Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers: Paul Scully MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Dr Andrew Rogoyski, Institute for People-Centred Artificial Intelligence at the University of Surrey Hetan Shah, Chief Executive of the British Academy Anna Thomas, Co-Founder and Founding Director of the Institute for the Future of Work This event was chaired by Gavin Freeguard, Associate at the Institute for Government. This event was kindly supported by the Institute for People-Centred Artificial Intelligence at the University of Surrey.

This event was part of the IfG's Conservative Party Conference 2023 fringe programme. Speakers:  John Penrose MP, former Minister for Constitutional Reform Henry Hill, Deputy Editor of ConservativeHome Amy Leversidge, Assistant General Secretary at the FDA Jess Sargeant, Associate Director at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Dr Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government. This event was kindly supported by the FDA.

Revelations about the widespread use of – and failure to replace – reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in schools have put government capital spending in the spotlight.  For decades the UK has invested less than other wealthy nations. Government departments receive relatively ungenerous capital budgets, consistently underspend, and in some cases use capital budgets to cover day-to-day spending shortfalls. This has impacted on public service productivity and led to serious concerns being raised about the safety of some public buildings – with the concrete crisis in schools the most recent example. So why has the UK government historically set relatively low capital budgets and why do departments consistently underspend capital allocations? How can government provide public services with higher, more stable capital settlements and ensure that public service infrastructure is adequately maintained and renewed? What can we learn from other countries?  To discuss these questions and more, the Institut

Baroness Hale, former President of the Supreme Court, joins Dr Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government, and Professor Michael Kenny, Director of Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge, for an in conversation. This event was part of the IfG and Bennett Institute's joint conference on the Future of the UK Constitution.

There is now an expectation that the public should be consulted on constitutional change. However, traditional routes for gaining public legitimacy – such as referendums and elections – can result in binary choices, or unclear mandates.  So is there a greater role for deliberative democracy? Processes including citizens' assemblies, with informed discussions amongst a representative group of citizens, can offer many benefits to decision-makers, but getting them right is a challenge and getting them wrong can do more harm than good. When and how the public should be involved in constitutional decision making? How could options for deliberative democracy best be implemented? What are the challenges and benefits of this approach? Speakers: Sarah Allan, Director of Capacity Building and Standards at Involve Joanne Anderson, former Mayor of Liverpool Doreen Grove, Head of Open Government at the Scottish government Professor Alison L Young, Sir David Williams Professor of Public Law at the University of Cambrid

The devolution settlement of 1999 marked a major constitutional development for the UK, but over two decades on devolution is anything but settled. The devolved governments and parliaments have become established features of the UK constitution, but the UK’s central institutions have failed to adapt. With further devolution on the agenda, there may be more changes in the near future. So what can the UK government, parliament and civil service do to improve the workings of devolution? How can the UK government work with devolved legislatures to achieve common aims whilst also respecting the desire for policy divergence in different nations? How can the UK parliament reflect the multi-national state? And what civil service reforms are needed to facilitate co-operation over conflict? Speakers: Rt Hon Sir Robert Buckland MP, former Secretary of State for Wales Christine Jardine MP, Member of Parliament for Edinburgh West and Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Scotland) Ciaran Martin, Professor of Practice in the Ma

Speakers: Dr Catherine Haddon, Programme Director at the Institute for Government Dr Alice Lilly, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government> Jack Newman, Research Associate at the Productivity Institute and the Department of Politics, University of Manchester Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government The event was chaired by Jess Sargeant, Associate Director at the Institute for Government. This event was part of the IfG and Bennett Institute's joint conference on the Future of the UK Constitution.

Parliament is at the centre of the UK constitution, passing law, representing citizens, and holding the government to account. However, the government’s strong control of the House of Commons, and issues of democratic legitimacy in the House of Lords, have raised questions about whether parliament is an effective check on the executive.  So how well does parliament fulfil its constitutional role? Are MPs and peers able – and willing to protect the constitution? What reforms are needed to help ensure that they can?  Speakers: Rt Hon Sir David Lidington, former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Rt Hon the Baroness Smith of Basildon, Shadow Leader of the House of Lords Rt Hon the Lord Wallace of Saltaire, Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson on the Cabinet Office  Dr Hannah White OBE, Director of the Institute for Government The event was chaired by Jess Sargeant, Associate Director at the Institute for Government. This event was part of the IfG and Bennett Institute's joint conference on the Future of th

Briefing on the final report from the IfG/Bennett Institute team. To mark the conclusion of the Institute for Government/Bennett Institute Review of the UK Constitution, this special one-day event brought together commentators, academics and parliamentarians for a series of keynote speeches and panels to consider all these questions and more.

The Institute for Government welcomed Rt Hon Liz Truss MP to give a keynote speech on the economy. A year since her government’s Growth Plan – the September 2022 ‘mini-budget’ – including a programme of tax cuts and supply side reforms, the former prime minister set out her vision for how the government could enable the UK to achieve faster economic growth. Following her speech Liz Truss was in conversation with Dr Hannah White, the Director of the Institute for Government, before taking part in a Q&A with an invited audience.

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. Data Bites aims to change that. This event was the 45th in our series, where the speakers presented their work in an exciting, quickfire format. Each speaker had eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the audience. This month's speakers were: Penny Babb, Head of Policy and Standards at the Office for Statistics Regulation, on the review of the Code of Practice for Statistics. Ian Gordon, Head of Data at Parliament Restoration and Renewal on Data and the Built Environment Nic Granger, Director of Corporate and Chief Financial Officer at the North Sea Transition Authority and Chair of the Offshore Energy Data Strategy Taskforce, on digitalising offshore energy Kaveh Jahanshahi, Lead Data Scientist at the ONS Data Science Campus, on estimation of travel to work matrices The event was chaired by Gavin Freeguard, A

The Darlington Economic Campus is rapidly establishing itself as the civil service’s flagship office outside of London – and has been described by chancellor Jeremy Hunt as moving “decision makers and advisers closer to the communities we serve.”  So how has the Darlington Economic Campus changed the way policy is made? What difference has it made to the local area and is it contributing to the levelling up agenda? What are the factors behind the campus’s success and should it be used as a blueprint for future relocations? And what are the next steps in the government’s plan to relocate the civil servants from London?  A recent IfG report has evaluated the impact of the Darlington Economic Campus on the civil service and the local area and set out recommendations for current and future relocations.  At this event, which was held in Darlington, there was a welcome from Nigel Robinson from PA Consulting, and a short presentation from Jordan Urban, the report’s lead author. Baroness Penn, Treasury Lords Minis

The government’s plans for capital projects have repeatedly shifted over the last decade. Capital budgets have been cut, then boosted, and now retrenchment is planned again. And major capital projects, such as HS2, have been subject to revisions in budget and scope. The five-year national infrastructure delivery plan and the national infrastructure and construction pipeline only apply to some projects and are still subject to change. This makes it difficult for the construction sector to plan, which can increase government costs and mean its capital budgets do not go as far. So what are the benefits of, and barriers to, a longer-term and more stable project pipeline? This event explored those key questions from both the government’s and industry’s perspective. To explore these questions and more, our expert panel included: Sir John Armitt, Chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission Steve Beechey, Group Public Sector Director at Wates Bill Esterson MP, Shadow Minister for Business and Industry Urvas

There has been no shortage of central government attempts to support regional development over past decades, but these have been insufficient to close the widening gaps in geographical disparities, with efforts lacking scale, coordination, data and effective oversight, and policies ultimately proving short lived. So what can be done to fix the problem? The Levelling Up White Paper proposed several reforms to 'rewire Whitehall' to ensure the government delivered more effective regional policy, including the creation of a Levelling Up Advisory Council (LUAC) – an expert group reporting to the levelling up secretary of state – to provide insight, challenge, and advice to the government on its design and delivery of the levelling up policy agenda. This event will also consider how central government can best be organised to deliver effective long-term regional policy, whether the white paper’s reforms are the right ones, what difference structures like the Advisory Council make, and what else is needed. So what

How to restore trust in politics by strengthening standards in public life has been in the spotlight in recent years. The Labour Party has proposed a new, independent Ethics and Integrity Commission to “stamp out corruption in government, strengthen the rules and ensure they are enforced.” But how would that commission work in practice? If Labour forms the next government, what powers would the commission have to investigate alleged poor behaviour? How will it enforce its judgements? Who would sit on the commission and how will it work with government ministers? To answer all these questions and set out her vision for how to make politics work better at a time of depleted trust, the Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Deputy Leader and Shadow Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster, gave a keynote speech at the Institute for Government. The event was chaired by Tim Durrant, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. Following her speech, Angela Rayner took part in a Q&A with the in-person and onli