Better government at less cost: key advice from the Institute for Government

Over the past year the Institute for Government has been working closely with politicians and the civil service to help the government become more effective. Our research and advice brings together studies on international comparisons, views from the civil service and conclusions from some of our expert led events.

Based on our reports, we've pulled together seven broad lessons to help the new government make the right decisions in those first crucial days in power.

You can download the full list (PDF, 247KB) or see a summary below.

1. Take a little time over your first appointments

British governments are always under pressure to hit the ground running. The result is that Prime Ministers usually have a matter of hours to announce Cabinet appointments, and at most a few days to form their entire government. It all happens too quickly, and it risks bad decision making.

There is also, of course, a high likelihood of minority or coalition government. This could mean the process of government formation taking days, or even weeks.

During that time important decisions must be made with a clear head.

 See Transitions (PDF, 5.6MB) and Making Minority Government Work (PDF, 3.3MB)

2. Don’t reorganise departments on a whim – build institutions to last

The creation of a new department is a powerful way to signal a change in direction and grab the headlines, but machinery of government changes do not come cheap.

More importantly, in most cases it takes at least two years for the new organisation to settle and three or more for the expected benefits to begin to flow through.

So, before playing around with the map of Whitehall, the next PM should be sure they have strong rationale for the change, and be prepared for morale and productivity to drop - especially in departments that have been frequently reshuffled in the past.

There is a strong case however for clarifying the division of responsibilities between Ministers and many of the nearly 1,000 ALBs in the public sector. Politicians should note that around half of these are relatively small, advisory bodies, but there is a strong argument for phasing out anomalies such as Non-Ministerial Departments.

 See Shaping Up (PDF, 3.1MB)

3. Tackle the deficit

The size of the deficit is unprecedented for post-war Britain. Nobody involved in government today has much experience of fiscal consolidations on this scale. There is a lot to learn about the processes that will produce a successful consolidation, and only a short time to do it.

For the consolidation to work, it needs to be the product of a truly collective decision by the Cabinet. One option is to set up a Cabinet sub-committee that is not chaired by the Treasury, but by a more 'neutral' figure. This sends a clear signal that ministers need to take part in a collective decision-making process, rather than bilateral discussions with the Chancellor.

Try to develop a sense of 'buy-in' for the consolidation plan across Whitehall, from the wider public sector and most crucially, from the general public themselves. Frontline professionals should be involved in the detailed planning of cuts in their service areas. The government also needs to guard against the public sector's tendency to retreat to service silos and to protect core business at the expense of collaboration and innovation.

 See Undertaking a Fiscal Consolidation (PDF, 1.4MB), Making Minority Government Work (PDF, 3.3MB) and Program Review (PDF, 1.1MB)

4. Encourage ministerial development

To help meet the very significant challenges of the next parliament, the Prime Minister should insist on structured induction and development at all levels of the ministerial team. The PM could lead by example by publicly committing to undertake a few hours of personal development every quarter, and expecting his senior colleagues to do the same.

 See Transitions (PDF, 5.6MB) and Shaping Up (PDF, 3.1MB)

5. Strengthen the centre of government - but don't make it bigger

Despite political and media focus on the PM, central government itself is curiously decentralised. Powerful departments are granted significant autonomy over their own domains.

This set-up might have made sense when money was plentiful, but tackling the deficit will require a more focused and assertive approach from the central troika of No 10, Cabinet Office and Treasury.

A stronger centre doesn't mean more people - the process of strengthening the centre would strip out non-core activities. Neither does it mean weaker departments. Departments do want the freedom to run their own policy areas, but our research shows they also want the centre to set out the government's priorities and to help facilitate cross-government working.

 See Shaping Up (PDF, 3.1MB) and Installing New Drivers (PDF, 4.06KB)

6. Redesign services across boundaries

As Total Place is starting to demonstrate, redesigning services across organisational barriers can create big efficiencies. Smarter management of something as simple as government buildings has the potential to save £20bn over the next decade.

But to make the most of this opportunity for better, cheaper services, the government needs to tackle the deep structural barriers to collaboration in Whitehall.

Money and accountability flow through departmental silos rather than being allocated to problems or challenges. This makes it difficult to address entrenched cultural differences between departments and almost certainly creates significant inefficiencies as departments create poorly coordinated policy frameworks while duplicating effort and back office systems.

 See Shaping Up (PDF, 3.1MB), Performance Art (PDF, 1.4MB) and Installing New Drivers (PDF, 4.06KB)

7. Ensure policymakers understand the science of behaviour change

Emerging evidence shows that our behaviour can be influenced in surprising and unexpected ways. For example, when given a choice, we have a strong tendency to stick with the default option. That means we often choose not to take actions, such as signing up for a pension plan, even if these actions benefit us.

If governments, individuals and communities can recognise and harness these hidden forces, they could help us make better choices. First however, policy makers need to win the public's permission for greater use of tried and tested approaches.

 See MINDSPACE (PDF, 1.6MB) and  Hidden Wealth of Nations

For more detail on our recommendations, read our full report (PDF, 247KB)