Productivity Pitches #6: What can central government do to improve productivity in public services?
Productivity in public services has never been more important. Most services are struggling to return to pre-pandemic performance levels, and the new Labour government has indicated that spending will remain tight. Improvements in performance will likely come from frontline workers finding new, innovative ways of delivering services.
So what can be done to improve productivity? By highlighting outstanding examples of innovation across public services, Productivity Pitches, a series of events hosted by the IfG, aims to share and support ways to improve performance levels.
This event was the sixth in the series and focused on central government.
Each speaker had 10 minutes to present their innovation, followed by 10 minutes of audience questions. The chair and a guest from The Productivity Institute – which is kindly supporting this event series – brought together the common themes from the pitches and discussed the lessons for improving productivity.
The speakers for this edition of Productivity Pitches were:
Brice Dassy and Dominic Lague on how the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) has recently started using the Cabinet Office-developed Government Reporting Integration Platform (GRIP) to simplify and speed up the data collection and sharing process for major projects, providing ministers with more timely and relevant information than under the previous system.
Neil Lloyd on The National Underground Asset Register (NUAR), the first centralised record of all assets that are buried under the ground. When fully implemented, the NUAR will save a range of government agencies time and money when carrying out vital road works and other construction projects.
Freya Pinks and Laurie Thraves on the launch of The National Situation Centre (SitCen), which was established to collate up to date data and information in one place. Their dashboards allow policy makers to assess risk and respond quickly in the case of a national emergency or crisis. (This presentation is not included in the recording above)
The event was chaired by Emma Norris, Deputy Director at the Institute for Government. Institute for Government. Bart van Ark, the Managing Director of The Productivity Institute, joined the discussion of common themes.
Productivity Pitches is kindly supported by The Productivity Institute.
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52:47
A keynote speech by Darren Jones MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The IfG was delighted to welcome Rt Hon Darren Jones MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, to set out how smarter decision-making methods in government can reduce waste and deliver for the taxpayer.
In a speech at the IfG, Darren Jones set out his plans to reform government financial systems to achieve better strategic financial decision making going forward. This comes after the prime minister last week announced plans to reshape the way the British state delivers and serves working people by becoming more tech-driven, productive, agile and mission focused.
Darren Jones was then in conversation with IfG Chief Economist Gemma Tetlow and took part in an audience Q&A.
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18:10
What is Keir Starmer’s new plan for government reform?
This Institute for Government webinar brought instant expert analysis of the prime minister’s plans to radically overhaul the British state.
Ahead of his speech, Keir Starmer told officials he wants to unshackle them from bureaucracy to stop their talent being "constrained”, and to create an “agile, mission-focused and more productive” civil service.
But planned job cuts across the civil service and a clampdown on quangos and regulators have seen the government’s reform blueprint dubbed “Operation Chainsaw” – echoing Elon Musk’s DOGE plans for reforming the US government.
So what is in the PM’s plan? What will it mean for delivering Labour’s missions and its milestones? What should civil servants expect in the coming weeks and months? And how can Whitehall leaders best put the government’s reform agenda into action?
To discuss these questions and more, we were joined by an expert panel including:
Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government
Dr Matthew Gill, Programme Director at the Institute for Government
Hannah Keenan, Associate Director at the Institute for Government
The event was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.
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59:08
Government reviews: Dither and delay, or route to reform?
Keir Starmer commissioned a number of high-profile reviews into difficult policy areas on taking office, but the prime minister seems to have become more sceptical about their value in recent weeks.
At this event, to mark the launch of a new IfG report on lessons from past policy reviews, a panel of former reviewers and commissioners of reviews explored when reviews can lead to real change – and what needs to be done to ensure they succeed.
When is it the right time to launch a review? How should ministers best set up, work with and respond to reviews? And has the prime minister changed his view of reviews – and, if so, why?
Discussing these questions, and more, were:
Rt Hon Ed Balls, former Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and Special Adviser at HM Treasury (and commissioner of several reviews)
Dame Carol Black, leader of multiple past reviews, including: the Review of Drugs (2021), Drug and Alcohol Addiction, and Obesity: effects on employment outcomes review (2016), Health at Work Review (2011) and Working for a Healthier Tomorrow Review (2008)
Dame Tracey Crouch, former Minister for Sport and Civil Society and Chair of the Fan-led Review of Football Governance (2021)
Sir Howard Davies, Chair of the Airports Commission (2012–15)
The event was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.
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1:06:37
A keynote speech by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester
The IfG was pleased to welcome Rt Hon Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, who delivered a keynote speech on how the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) plans to use its expanding powers and spending freedoms.
From April 2025, Greater Manchester will be funded by a new ‘integrated settlement’ that gives the mayor and other local leaders far greater control of spending in areas such as transport, skills, employment and housing. In his speech, Andy Burnham set out his vision for how these powers should be used to drive growth and improve outcomes for people across the region, and what further powers should be devolved.
Andy Burnham was then in conversation with IfG Devolution Programme Director Akash Paun and took questions from the media and public audience.
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The Labour government has a huge majority in parliament – but Keir Starmer’s administration is also facing an incredibly complex set of policy challenges. So how can the prime minister and his team turn around public service performance? What can chancellor Rachel Reeves do to get the economy growing again? What will mission-driven government actually mean in practice? Who should be making the key decisions in Westminster – and beyond? And what will the appointment of a new cabinet secretary mean for the future direction of the civil service?
From reforming how the centre of government works to the battle for the future of the civil service, from making a success of levelling up to achieve net zero goals, IfG EVENTS stimulate fresh thinking and share ideas about how government works – and how it could work better.
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