Commission on the Centre of Government
How to radically improve the centre of government.
The Institute for Government’s Commission on the Centre of Government is looking 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 have exposed deep problems.
This is why the Institute for Government has brought together a Commission to examine the problems at the centre of government and to recommend solutions. The Centre Commission’s purpose is:
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.
The Commission will report in February 2024. The Commissioners are:
- Dr Hannah White OBE (Chair) – Director of the Institute for Government
- Sir Anthony Seldon FRSA FRHistS FKC (Deputy Chair)
- Baroness (Louise) Casey of Blackstock, DBE, CB
- Rt Hon. Professor the Lord (Ara) Darzi of Denham KBE FRS FMedSci HonFREng
- Lord (Danny) Finkelstein, OBE
- Rt Hon. Sir Lawrence Freedman, KCMG, CBE, FBA
- Rt Hon. Sajid Javid MP
- Professor Matthew Juniper
- Sir John Kingman KCB FRS
- Sir Richard Lambert
- Baroness (Martha) Lane-Fox of Soho, CBE
- Anne McElvoy
- Baroness (Sally) Morgan of Huyton
- Ian Mulheirn
- Mark Thompson
- Dr Karin von Hippel
- Dr Ben Warner
- Wendy Williams
Supporting the research of the Commission will be:
You can submit written evidence to the commission: centre.commission@instituteforgovernment.org.uk.
Supported by a grant from Charities Aid Foundation.
More on the Centre Commission
In conversation with the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP
Sajid Javid shared his experiences at the heart of government to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses at the centre and how they could be fixed.
Why doesn't the centre of government work?
The event explored how the government machine works and why it can hinder delivery of a prime minister's priorities.