Commission on the Centre of Government

The Institute for Government’s Commission on the Centre of Government looked at why No.10, the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury do not always work as well as they should and what could be done to radically improve the centre of UK government.

A poorly organised centre is one of the core weaknesses of UK government. Successive prime ministers have found that their ability to deliver their priorities has not been helped, and has sometimes been hindered, by the way the centre of government is structured, and by failings in No.10, the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. In particular, in recent years the strains of responding to Brexit and Covid exposed deep problems.

This is why the Institute for Government brought together a commission to examine the problems at the centre of government and to recommend solutions. 

The Centre Commission’s purpose was to produce concrete recommendations for a confident, proactive, coherently-structured centre of government equipped to meet the challenges and take the opportunities of the 21st century and deliver for the people of the UK.