Daniel Howes

Performance Tracker 2025: Criminal justice system | Institute for Government The government must act to avoid the justice system returning to the crisis point seen when Labour entered office, or worse.

Really pleased to have contributed to the new criminal justice section of Performance Tracker 2025, now live on the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk’s website. It brings together new analysis on police, criminal courts and prisons. Some thoughts below. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Civil service grades | Institute for Government There are five broad groupings of grades in the civil service. But what are they, and how have number of civil servants at each grade changed?

More civil service data for you to get stuck into: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/ci...

This time, it's all about grades and how they've changed. Grade inflation is not just an issue for A-level students, it seems...

Public Services Performance Tracker 2025 | Institute for Government Labour’s public service plans are less than the sum of their parts.

NEW: @instituteforgovernment.org.uk have published pt1 of Public Services Performance Tracker 2025 covering local government finances and overall performance, adult social care, children's social care and homelessness

Incredible work by @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social & @amberdellar.bsky.social

Our reaction to Mel Stride’s big day at the Tory conference

There are savings to be made in the civil service. But an arbitrary headcount target & ignoring new demands on the state won’t deliver them

The hard work of doing that falls to the govt

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/mel-...

Comment | How Keir Starmer’s government can be built for delivery

With delivery now a central priority, government must get the metrics, routines and feedback loops right, say @emma-conway.bsky.social and @howesdaniel.bsky.social

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/star...

How Keir Starmer’s government can be built for delivery | Institute for Government The prime minister can learn from the past to make a success of “phase two” of his government.

Special Delivery! @emma-conway.bsky.social and I have been thinking about how Keir Starmer and co (especially Darren Jones) can make a success of 'phase two' - which is all about delivering on the government's priorities. Read more here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/star...

The 2025 budget and beyond: How Rachel Reeves can approach tax reform to help drive growth | Institute for Government A big autumn approaches for the chancellor.

New @instituteforgovernment.org.uk report by me, @gemmatetlow.bsky.social and @jillongovt.bsky.social on how Reeves should approach tax this Autumn

With tax rises inevitable, Reeves should reject path of least resistance and embrace tax reform 1/3

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

The core dept DSIT has 3195 FTE staff (up from 2275 Q1 '25), but the Met Office (2350), Intellectual Property Office (1620), UK Space Agency (315) and BDUK (255), which are executive agencies of DSIT, are included in the overall size of the department.

5/ The government has big intentions to reduce the size of the civil service, which have not been reflected in this data release. This is likely due to the time lag involved in initiatives such as voluntary exit schemes. Stay tuned to see if next quarter’s stats indicate anything different!

4/ The most striking change from the previous quarter is the large proportional increase in the size of DSIT, which has grown by 12.8%. This is due to a transfer of staff from GDS in the Cabinet Office to DSIT, reflective of this MoG change: hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2024...

3/ The largest department is still the MoJ with over 90,000 staff, most of whom work outside the ‘core’ department in HM Prison and Probation Service. The smallest department, DCMS, is over 40 times smaller, with 2,125 staff.

2/ The headline statistic is that the CS has grown (again) to an overall FTE size of 516,950 – 3,750 more than this time last year (0.73%) and 480 (0.1%) more than last quarter (Q1 2025).

Civil service staff numbers | Institute for Government Who exactly are civil servants and how many are there?

1/ If you've been itching to know how the size of the civil service has changed... we at the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk have you covered.

I've crunched the numbers from the latest ONS data release, which you can read about here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/ci...

David Lammy should reverse the proposed “democratic lock” over the Sentencing Council | Institute for Government Ministers should welcome the role of experts.

David Lammy should reverse the proposed “democratic lock” over the Sentencing Council

We need a politics that does not pile pressure on ministers to overrule independent decisions, says @drmatthewgill.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/davi...