IfG government reform one-day conference

The Institute for Government was delighted to host a special one-day conference exploring why government needs to change and what reforms are needed.

This conference follows the publication of two IfG reports, A new statutory role for the civil service and Better policy making, which set out a series of reforms to the role of the civil service and its accountability and governance, and how policy is designed.

The authors of those reports set out their key recommendations, followed by two expert panel discussions with speakers discussing these critical areas of government reform.

Morning session

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Welcome by Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government.

Opening remarks from Lord Sainsbury of Turville, Chair of the Institute for Government

Alex Thomas, IfG Programme Director, set out a new model which puts the accountability of the civil service in statute to enshrine the civil service’s objective, governance, authority and relationship with ministers and gives the head of the civil service the statutory responsibility to meet that objective and the power to lead the civil service accordingly.

Discussion with speakers:

• Sir Ian Cheshire, former Government Lead Non-Executive
• Dame Margaret Hodge MP, former chair of the Public Accounts Committee
• Sir Jonathan Jones QC, former head of the Government Legal Department

Chaired by: Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government.

Afternoon session

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Introductory remarks by Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government

Setting out the recommendations of a recent IfG report, Tom Sasse, IfG Associate Director, made the case for reforms such as appointing a dedicated head of policy making in each department, encouraging officials to specialise more in policy areas, and greater co-ordination of cross-departmental policy making.

Discussion with speakers:

• Andrew Carter, Chief Executive of the Centre for Cities
• Anna Isaac, Economics Editor at The Independent
• Paul Kissack, Group Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust
• Rachel Wolf, Founding Partner at Public First.

Chaired by:

• Dr Hannah White, Deputy Director of the Institute for Government

Closing remarks from Lord Sainsbury of Turville.

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