Nick Davies

Looking forward to this. I will be talking about procurement, drawing on a recent @instituteforgovernment.org.uk report co-authored with @drbenpaxton.bsky.social

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

Productivity Pitches #8: Spreading innovation across public services

By highlighting outstanding examples of innovation across public services, the event aims to share and support ways to improve performance levels.
@njdavies.bsky.social

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/produc...

His films are meant to be rom-coms but every single one is a horror

This is part of the wider phenomenon of ‘Richard Curtis’s idea of romance is incredibly disturbing’

There are also countless other people both within IfG (particularly @gemmatetlow.bsky.social @tompope.bsky.social @marialaura-lacorte.bsky.social and Will) and beyond who have given many hours towards the project

Particular thanks to @nuffieldfoundation.org, whose support has made it all possible

All of the hard work has been done by @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social @cassiarowland.bsky.social @amberdellar.bsky.social @philipnye.bsky.social and you should follow them all for expert insight into the services they cover

4. As a result of these changes, the report is going to be even more substantial than in previous years. We’re therefore splitting up publication across the next five weeks, starting with local govt (cross-council analysis, adult social care, children’s social care, homelessness) on Tuesday

3. We’ve added analysis of local variation (rather than just assessing the aggregate national picture) into each of the chapters. This provides a better insight into the drivers of performance and how public services are actually experienced in different parts of the country

2. We’ve added three chapters on the cross-cutting issues facing local govt, the NHS and criminal justice respectively. This is in addition to the overarching cross-service analysis that draws together the main themes from all nine services we assess

1. We’ve added a full chapter on homelessness. This is the other major acute service (in addition to adult and children’s social care) that is stretching council budgets

On Tuesday @instituteforgovernment.org.uk will publish the first part of Performance Tracker 2025, our flagship annual stocktake of the state of public services

We’re doing things slightly differently this year, so I thought I’d do a quick thread explaining some of the changes

🧵

Productivity Pitches #8: Spreading innovation across public services Tuesday 21 October 2025, 12:30 — 13:45 (GMT)

EVENT | Productivity Pitches #8: Spreading innovation across public services

📅 Tuesday 21 October, 12:30-13:45

Join us for the eighth edition of #ProductivityPitches with Foundations, the What Works Centre and @local.gov.uk.

Register to attend www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/produc...

Five party conferences reveal different visions for how government should work | Institute for Government Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems, Reform UK and the Greens all have plans to change how government works.

After attending a marathon five ((FIVE! 😳) party conferences I’ve written about what they told me about how our politicians are thinking about government (tl:dr governing is hard; they want to take back control; and Reform UK was ubiquitous…) www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/five...

lol, sadly not. Clearly I should use more props

Hahaha. I’m going to choose to take that as a compliment

That said, we had full rooms for all the IfG events. While there were far fewer corporates/charities, there were still lots of members about. I’d say 90% of questions in Conservative fringe events came from members (vs less than 50% at Labour and Lib Dems)

Conservative conference was quiet this year. How quiet? Well, 5 months ago I gave a speech on procurement at the same venue that was better attended than Robert Jenrick’s keynote

I'm increasingly convinced this is a huge driver of dissatisfaction with govt

Council tax is one of the most visible taxes that people pay, it goes directly out of their bank account and they get a letter about it going up every year

Yet bin collection frequency falls and libraries close

If you’re in Manchester today then join us for a discussion on what a Conservative vision for public services should look like

We did but by that point they had been running Kent for 4 months and were well aware of the reality of local government finances

Tell me you haven’t read Performance Tracker* without telling me you haven’t read Performance Tracker

*or literally any serious writing on local government finances

Tories tout £47bn in spending cuts in bid to reclaim fiscal reputation Shadow chancellor says he will target welfare spending, overseas aid budget and civil service staffing to find savings

On the civil service bit of this…£8bn savings *a year* by the end of the Parliament claimed

Reducing headcount to 2016 levels is easier said than done, as previous govts know

on.ft.com/46Da3nm

IfG at the Labour Party Conference 2025 | Institute for Government The IfG was in Liverpool for the Labour Party Conference 2025.

If (shock horror) you managed to miss @instituteforgovernment.org.uk at Labour conference then have no fear. Audio from all our events is now online. This includes 3 events I chaired: implementing govt's health reforms, delivering preventative healthcare, and rebuilding the criminal justice system

How can the government rebuild the criminal justice system? Tuesday 30 September | 17:15–18:15

Don't miss our final #Lab25 event on rebuilding the criminal justice system - we will be joined by Deputy Mayor Kate Green, Clare Moody, @cassiarowland.bsky.social @fionarutherford.bsky.social @justicehq.bsky.social @njdavies.bsky.social

Find us in Clyde Room, Arena Floor at 17:15 zurl.co/O52cg

The Lionesses and Red Roses have really spoilt my children. Supporting England is meant to be an endless series of disappointments! They don’t know they’ve been born

The role of procurement in delivering mission-led government | Institute for Government How can the government remove the barriers to its missions?

The role of procurement in delivering mission-led government

New report by @njdavies.bsky.social and @drbenpaxton.bsky.social on how public procurement could support delivery of mission-led government, and the key barriers to this.

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

The role of procurement in delivering mission-led government | Institute for Government How can the government remove the barriers to its missions?

NEW REPORT: @instituteforgovernment.org.uk finds that confused missions, pervasive risk aversion, poor data quality, insufficient commericial capability, and a failure to focus on outcomes means that govt is failing to make the most of £400bn+ a year it spends on procurement

This type of language is utterly unacceptable. Two MPs have actually been murdered in the last decade. Using violent rhetoric like this isn't big or clever, it's dangerous and idiotic

Excellent thread from @drbenpaxton.bsky.social summarising the key findings of our new report bsky.app/profile/drbe...

The role of procurement in delivering mission-led government | Institute for Government How can the government remove the barriers to its missions?

Procurement is massively underrated as an opportunity for improvement, and where a mission-led approach could make a difference.
Our NEW REPORT explores why this change is hard, and how procurement should be used to shape markets + drive innovation🧵
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...