IfG in the news

6th February 2012

Goodbye, minister: civil service hit by staff exodus

Turnover of top staff risks leaving civil service short of expertise

Source: The Independent

2nd February 2012

Government Needs To Make 'Fundamental Changes' To Meet Spending Challenge, Says NAO

Government departments need to make "fundamental changes" to successfully cut spending by 2015, spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.

Source: The Huffington Post

23rd January 2012

Will LSE's growth commission make a difference?

Former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers and current OBR (and ex-MPC) member Steve Nickell have given evidence

Source: The Guardian Economics Blog

9th January 2012

Carry on policy-making: the case for change in Whitehall

Successful policies will need greater change in Whitehall: David Walker urges the Institute for Government to keep stacking up the ammunition

Source: The Guardian

9th January 2012

Learning lessons from history proves to be the best policy

History is littered with the failures of cherished government policies...The failures make media headlines. Lessons are drawn from them by academics and by the National Audit Office...Far less attention is paid to the successes. But they do exist.

Source: FT.com (subscription required)

A Lexicon for a possible transition?

9th April 2010

Comment by Peter Riddell, Senior Fellow.

If the Conservatives win the coming general election, there will be some new language for the Civil Service to learn.

I compiled this list for the Institute for Government after consultation with members of the Conservative Shadow Cabinet and advisers.

It is not intended as a deep piece of research but to stimulate, provoke and entertain. These lists of terms are suggestive of differing approaches and thinking rather than always direct contrasts.

Out	In
Delivery/roll-out Investment Demand side Top-down Target Regional State Strategy Evidence based Partnership agreements Stakeholder Active centre	Implementation Spending Supply side Bottom-up Payment-by-results Local Society Business Plan Principles based Post-bureaucratic state Social Responsibility Departments

Of course, a returned Labour government might also bring some changes in language:

entitlements (rather than targets)
smarter (rather than smaller)
'my.gov' (instead of 'direct.gov').

More about the adjustments required in Whitehall following a transition of government.