IfG Events

Latest Episodes:

Brexit, Covid and British business Apr 01, 2021

Show notes

On the eve of his departure from the British Chambers of Commerce, Adam Marshall joins the IfG’s associate director Maddy Thimont Jack for a frank discussion about the challenges that Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic have posed for British business.

The outgoing BCC director general discusses his organisation’s attempts to navigate the EU referendum result, the impact of the Brexit deal and the end of the transition period, and sets out how government can support British businesses to make the most of opportunities now that the UK has left the EU.

Audio production by Candice McKenzie

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The role of technology in reaching net zero Mar 30, 2021

Show notes

Innovation is at the heart of the prime minister’s vision for net zero. Developing and deploying new and existing technologies effectively will be critical to progress in areas including in energy, transport, housing, industry and agriculture.

The government can point to successes, like offshore wind, but progress elsewhere has been frustrated by inconsistent R&D investment, policy and regulation. It faces big choices about where and how to support green industries.

On our panel to discuss these questions were:

Georgia Berry, Director of Political Campaigns at OVO and former Special Adviser for Energy and Infrastructure in the No.10 Policy Unit
Dr Ajay Gambhir, Senior Research Fellow at the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London
Juergen Maier, Chair of Digital Catapult and Vice Chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership

The event was chaired by Tom Sasse, Associate Director at the Institute for Government.

#IfGnetzero

We would like to thank the Transition to Zero Pollution initiative at Imperial College London for their support in staging this event.

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In conversation with Rebecca Evans MS Mar 26, 2021

Show notes

As part of our series of events in the run up to the 2021 devolved and local elections, the Institute for Government was delighted to welcome Rebecca Evans, Welsh Minister for Finance and Trefnydd (Leader of the House).

Rebecca Evans was in conversation with Akash Paun, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government, about Welsh devolution, the 2021 election, relations between Cardiff and Westminster, and the future of the Union.

Rebecca Evans has been the Member of the Senedd for Gower since 2016, representing the Welsh Labour Party. She has served in a number of ministerial posts, including, since 2018, as Minister for Finance and Trefnydd (equivalent of the Leader of the House).

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Industrial Strategy Council – annual report Mar 25, 2021

Show notes

The Industrial Strategy Council provided an update on progress in implementing the 2017 Industrial Strategy, and the lessons that the annual report contains for the government’s new Plan for Growth. It also considered the lessons learned for industrial policy from the development of Covid vaccines over the past year.

The panel included:

Andy Haldane, Chair of the Industrial Strategy Council
Dame Vivian Hunt, member of the Industrial Strategy Council and the Build Back Better Council
Giles Wilkes, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government

This event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.

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How can governments combat the spread of misinformation? Mar 24, 2021

Show notes

The Covid-19 pandemic has fuelled a parallel “infodemic” of harmful misinformation about the virus and vaccines. This has highlighted the wider challenge for governments of combating the spread of misleading content on the internet and social media platforms.

This Institute for Government event, held in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, explored the scale of the misinformation challenge facing the UK government and the policy approaches that government can take to address it.

On our panel to discuss these issues were:

Damian Collins MP, former Chair of the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Professor Peter Knight, Professor of American Studies at the University of Manchester and Principal Investigator on the AHRC’s ‘Infodemic: Combatting Covid-19 conspiracy theories' project
Will Moy, Chief Executive of Full Fact
Marianna Spring, specialist BBC reporter covering disinformation and social media

The event was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.

#IfGInfodemic

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IfG Internship Programme: Insights, highlights, and reflections Mar 21, 2021

Show notes

The Institute for Government regularly runs a paid internship programme. Our interns work with our staff to contribute to our mission of improving the effectiveness of government in the UK, and often go on to interesting roles in central and local government, Parliament, the private and voluntary sectors, other think tanks and postgraduate research. Applications are now open for our 2021/22 programme, starting in September.

In this edition of IfG LIVE, Dr Nicola Blacklaws who manages the Institute’s recruitment process, is in conversation with our 2020/21 interns about what it’s like to work at IfG. They discuss some of their highlights (including waiting for a Brexit deal over the Christmas holidays and working on our Ministers Reflect archive), reflect on joining the Institute during the coronavirus pandemic, and share thoughts on how the internship experience has informed what they decided to do next. All this, plus an introduction from Akash Paun, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government, and lead on intern recruitment.

Audio production by Candice McKenzie

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Procurement after Brexit Mar 20, 2021

Show notes

Lord Agnew, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, made a keynote speech on the government’s proposals for post-Brexit rules on public sector procurement of goods, works and services. These include major changes to how contracts are awarded, transparency, review mechanisms and more.

The speech was followed by a panel discussion on the opportunities and trade-offs of different approaches, what we can learn from other countries, and how new regulations can be implemented. In addition to Lord Agnew, the panel featured:

Robert Breedon, Partner at Gowling WLG
Sally Guyer, Global CEO of World Commerce and Contracting

The event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

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The Institute for Government is grateful to Gowling WLG for their support in staging this event.

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In conversation with Rt Hon Jesse Norman MP Mar 19, 2021

Show notes

The Institute for Government was delighted to welcome the Rt Hon Jesse Norman MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury. Following the publication of the National Infrastructure Strategy, this event explored the government’s plans to “transform” the UK’s infrastructure networks to drive the country’s post-pandemic recovery, make progress to reaching the net zero emissions target in 2050 and contribute to ‘levelling up’ the country.

Jesse Norman was in conversation with Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government.

Jesse Norman has been the Financial Secretary to the Treasury since May 2019. Before that he was Minister of State at the Department for Transport from November 2018 to May 2019 and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport from June 2017 to November 2018. He has been the MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire since 2010 and is the author of books on Adam Smith and Edmund Burke.

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Science after coronavirus Mar 19, 2021

Show notes

Scientists around the world have played a central role in the last year, informing policy makers and the public throughout the pandemic. Under pressure they have adapted new ways of working, while the creation and deployment of vaccines could have far-reaching consequences for global scientific collaboration. At this event, we will discuss the early lessons the science community should draw from the crisis.

On the panel to discuss these issues will be:

Dr Rupert Lewis, Chief Science Policy Officer at The Royal Society
Professor Peter Openshaw, Professor Experimental Medicine at Imperial College London (and Vice-chair of NERVTAG)
Dr Beth Thompson, Head of UK & EU Policy and Advocacy at Wellcome Trust

The event will be chaired by Tom Sasse, Associate Director at the Institute for Government.

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Tax policy in the real world Mar 12, 2021

Show notes

Tax touches on almost every area of our lives. It is vital for raising revenues to pay for public services and benefits. Incentives in the tax system also influence behaviour – sometimes deliberately, sometimes as a result of poor policy design, other times as an unavoidable side effect.

As the threat of Covid wanes and as the UK establishes its economic direction outside the EU, the government will face important questions about the future of the tax system – including how to ensure it raises the necessary revenues as well as providing the right incentives. But tax is a particularly contentious area of policy where many previous governments have struggled to make progress.

This event brought together former chancellors to discuss their experiences of tax policy making, the problems they faced and how they made progress

Our panel

The Rt Hon. the Lord Lamont of Lerwick, former Chancellor of the Exchequer (1990–93)
The Rt Hon. the Lord Darling of Roulanish, former Chancellor of the Exchequer (2007–10)
The Rt Hon. George Osborne CH, former Chancellor of the Exchequer (2010–16)

The event was chaired by Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government, with an introduction by Matt Ellis, Managing Partner for Tax at Deloitte UK.

This event was kindly supported by Deloitte LLP.

#IfGChancellor

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