The Institute for Government Essay Competition 2016

We don’t yet know what the spending review settlements will look like, but we do know that the next five years will be tough for the Civil Service. Delivering the Prime Minister’s ‘smarter state’ – a streamlined, digital, devolved government – will be impossible without big changes and new ideas. Who better to provide those ideas than the people who will have to deal with whatever comes next? Today we’re launching the second Institute for Government Essay Competition. We want undergraduate and masters students currently studying at UK universities to answer the question: 'If you were made Head of the Civil Service tomorrow, what would your priorities be?' Last year’s winner – Kristopher Cawood of the University of Cambridge – convincingly argued that ministers from outside politics would make government more effective, while runner-up Raymond Kennedy argued for the need for an internal Government Consultancy Company. IfG staffers have their own thoughts in this year’s question (with some tongues perhaps slightly in cheeks) which will soon be popping up on the Guardian Public Leaders Network site. But this competition is all about hearing ideas and arguments from people who aren’t already hardened Whitehall wonks like us. Recent graduates are part of the lifeblood of the Institute for Government. Twice a year we recruit (paid) interns – there are currently six on staff. They fully participate in the work of the Institute, while gaining a valuable insight into the workings of government. From here, they go to spread the Institute’s gospel of effective government in diverse organisations – from the Open Data Institute, to Haringey Council, to the Treasury. We want to make sure Institute’s interns and researchers of the future – and the next generation of politicians and civil servants – know who we are and what we do. We have assembled a team of judges with a wide variety of perspectives on Whitehall: Jane Dudman, editor of Guardian Public Leaders Network; Patrick Diamond, lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and former Labour special advisor; Julia Goldsworthy, former Liberal Democrat MP and advisor to Nick Clegg; and our own Hannah White, one of the Institute for Government’s programme directors and a former Parliamentary Clerk. But it’s not all about us. The first prize winner will receive £500 (with £250 and £100 for the second and third place winners respectively), and be invited to the Institute for receive their award. In addition, the academic departments in which the first- and second-prize-winning students are currently studying will also receive a prize (£1,000 and £750 respectively). Essays should be no more than 2,000 words long, and the competition deadline is the 31^st January 2016. Further details are available on our Essay Competition web pages. We look forward to reading your entries!