IfG Events

Latest Episodes:

The future of UK-EU security cooperation Oct 09, 2020

Show notes

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event

The UK’s policing and intelligence communities cooperate closely with their EU counterparts, sharing intelligence and collaborating on cross border investigations to fight crime and tackle terrorism.

This event considered the implications of Brexit for this cooperation, including the impact on data-sharing and the UK’s use of the European Arrest Warrant..

Panellists

Patrick Calvar, Special Advisor, Institut Montaigne; Director-General, French Interior Security (2012-2017)
Sir Julian King, Visiting Policy Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute; European Commissioner for the Security Union (2016-2019)
Naomi Long MLA, Minister of Justice, Northern Ireland Executive
Sir Robert Wainwright, Partner, Deloitte; Director, Europol (2009-2018)

The event was chaired by Georgina Wright, Senior Researcher, Institute for Government

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State aid: a dealbreaker for the UK? Oct 09, 2020

Show notes

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event

As the deadline for reaching a deal with the EU approaches, state aid remains a major obstacle to any future partnership. A recent IfG paper, Beyond State Aid, set out why the UK should adopt a domestic subsidy control regime, deal or no deal. But the government has so far been unwilling to commit to a domestic regime, or to any further commitments on subsidies that could secure a deal with the EU. And the government is legislating to override the state aid provisions of the Northern Ireland protocol agreed with the EU last year through its controversial UK Internal Market Bill.

Both sides are now making positive noises about the prospect of a deal, but on state aid their public positions remain very far apart and both will need to move if a deal is to be reached.

The event asks:

Why is state aid an issue in the negotiations?
Is a compromise possible with the EU?
With the end of the Brexit implementation period looming, should and can the UK plot a new course on state aid rules?
How can the state aid provisions in the Northern Ireland protocol be addressed?

Panellists

George Peretz QC, Barrister at Monckton Chambers
Allie Renison, Head of EU and Trade Policy at the Institute of Directors
James Webber, Partner at Shearman & Sterling

This event was chaired by Thomas Pope, Senior Economist at the Institute for Government.

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The UK internal market after Brexit Oct 05, 2020

Show notes

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event

Leaving the EU means the governments of the UK have new freedoms to set standards in areas which have been subject to European rules, including the environment. Such freedom could enable the UK to meet its goal of delivering global leadership on the environment and improve standards (as several governments in the UK have expressed their intention to do) but does not prevent a move toward deregulation or the lowering of standards in pursuits of other policy goals.

The UK government introduced the UK Internal Market Bill to manage trade between the four countries of the UK from the end of transition which has sparked controversy for a number of reasons. The bill has sparked controversy for a number of reasons, including concerns from the devolved governments that the proposals will infringe on existing devolution settlements and threaten to stall - or even undermine - their development of ambitious standards and regulation.

How can the integrity of the UK internal market be balanced with the governments’ environmental objectives? What would a regime that promotes a race to the top look like? How would that be reconciled with the UK government’s ambitions to do trade deals around the world?

To discuss the role of the environment in the internal market, our panel included:

Martin Harper, Director of Global Conservation at the RSPB
Dr Viviane Gravey, Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast
Dr Emily Lydgate, Senior Lecturer in environmental law at the University of Sussex
Gail Soutar, Chief Adviser on EU Exit and International Trade at the National Farmers' Union

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

#IfGBrexit

This event was kindly supported by Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

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Children's social care and the spending review Oct 05, 2020

Show notes

The coronavirus crisis has hit children’s social care. The disruption caused by the lockdown and continuing restrictions has forced social workers to conduct visits with children remotely, local authorities to take a less rigid approach to procurement, and the government to temporarily remove some statutory protections for vulnerable children.

The crisis followed a decade of big increases in spending on child protection, but severe cuts to universal services such as children’s centres. Local authorities have persistently overspent on these services but the increase in spending has not kept pace with demand.

Ahead of the spending review, this event looked at what level of funding is needed for children's social care, what the right balance is between early intervention and crisis support and which of the changes made in response to the crisis should be kept.

Our panel included:

David Simmonds MP, member of the Commons Education Select Committee
Jenny Coles, Director of Children’s Services at Hertfordshire County Council and President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services
Kathy Evans, Chief Executive of Children England
Rob Whiteman, Chief Executive of CIPFA

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

#IfGpublicservices

We would like to thank the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) for supporting this event.

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Legislating by consent Oct 01, 2020

Show notes

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event

The Institute for Government has launched a new report on the status of the Sewel convention which sets out eight proposals for how to reform and strengthen the legislative consent process.

Under the Sewel convention, the UK parliament does not normally pass legislation on devolved matters without the consent of the institutions in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. Since 1999, consent has been given in this way for over 200 Acts of Parliament.

But Brexit has undermined the convention and exposed its limitations as a guarantee of devolved autonomy. Two key pieces of Brexit legislation have been passed without devolved consent, and a battle now looms over the UK Internal Market Bill.

On the panel to discuss these issues were:

Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, Chair of the House of Commons Procedure Committee
Mick Antoniw MS, Chair of the Welsh Parliament Legislation, Constitution and Justice Committee
Pete Wishart MP, Chair of the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee and SNP Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Akash Paun, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government

The event was chaired by Dr Hannah White, Deputy Director of the Institute for Government.

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The UK border after Brexit Sep 29, 2020

Show notes

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event

At the end of the year the UK will leave the single market and customs union: goods crossing the border between Great Britain and the EU will be subject to customs formalities for the first time in nearly 30 years, as well as new regulatory checks. The Northern Ireland protocol also means that there will be new rules for goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.

With just months to go, new IT systems and infrastructure still need to be put in place, additional staff need to be recruited, and businesses will need to be ready to comply with these new trading requirements. But there is still some uncertainty about how some aspects of the border, particularly in the Irish Sea, will work in practice.

To discuss these issues, we were joined by a panel of experts, including those representing sectors that will play a critical role in ensuring the UK border works effectively from the end of the year.

Panellists:

Baroness Verma, Conservative Peer and Chair of the Lords EU Goods Sub-Committee
William Bain, Policy Adviser to the British Retail Consortium
Richard Ballantyne, Chief Executive of the British Ports Association
Alex Veitch, Head of Public Policy at Logistics UK (formerly the Freight Transport Association)

This event was chaired by Maddy Thimont Jack, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government

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How to deal with a second wave and lockdown Sep 25, 2020

Show notes

Cities around the world are seeing a resurgence in coronavirus cases. Some have had to re-impose lockdowns, including in the UK.

This panel event will explore how other countries – and cities in the UK – are dealing with new localised lockdowns, and ask what the UK government can learn from them.

Georgina Wright, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government, is in conversation with:

Sir Peter Soulsby, Mayor of Leicester
Nicolas Bauquet, Research Director at the Institut Montaigne
Danielle Wood, CEO of Grattan Institute.

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Decision making in the COVID crisis Sep 14, 2020

Show notes

The Government has endured wide-ranging criticism of its Coronavirus response: from the timing of lockdown and its initial testing capacity to U-turns on quarantine and A-level results, through an ill-fated contact tracing app. How far are these failures explained by the difficulty of making decisions under enormous pressure? Or are they symptoms of deeper, enduring problems with the government machine?

Drawing in particular on three case studies examined in a new IfG report – COVID testing capacity, lockdown and the Government’s economic support measures – our panel looks at why different aspects of the Government’s pandemic response did or did not work as hoped, and the lessons the Government can learn.

Alex Thomas, programme director at the Institute for Government is in conversation with:

David Gauke, former Secretary of State for Justice
Tom McTague, staff writer at The Atlantic
Una O’Brien, former permanent secretary at the Department of Health
Sarah Nickson, researcher at the Institute for Government

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The UK Internal Market Bill explained Sep 11, 2020

Show notes

The Government has sparked controversy by introducing the UK Internal Market Bill, which would give ministers the power to break international law in their application of the Northern Ireland protocol, and also has significant implications for devolution and intra-UK trade.

What does the Bill do, why does the government think it’s necessary, and how is the EU likely to respond? Why it has upset the devolved administrations, and what challenges might it face in its passage through Parliamen?

Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government, talks to the IfG Brexit Team:

Maddy Thimont Jack, Senior Researcher, Institute for Government
Jess Sargeant, Senior Researcher, Institute for Government
James Kane, Associate, Institute for Government

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Netting Zero Sep 10, 2020

Show notes

The Government says the UK will reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But what does it need to do to meet its target? What would a serious net zero plan look like? How does government need to change to implement one? And, in the week the Climate Assembly launches its findings, how should the public be involved in decisions?

Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the institute for Government is in conversation with:

Chris Stark, Chief Executive – Committee on Climate Change
Rebecca Willis, Professor in Practice - Lancaster University & Expert Lead at Climate Assembly UK
Emma Norris, Director of Research – Institute for Government
Tom Sasse, Senior Researcher – Institute for Government

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