IfG Events

Latest Episodes:

Data Bites #10: Getting things done with data in government May 14, 2020

Show notes

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event. Better use of data is key to more effective government. Across government, teams are doing fascinating work with data. But those projects don’t get the attention they deserve. At this event, our speakers presented their data projects in an exciting, quickfire format. Each speaker had eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the audience.

Gavin Freeguard, Programme Director and Head of Data and Transparency at the Institute for Government, chairs this event with our speakers:

Tom MacInnes, Chief Analyst at Citizens Advice, on what traffic to their website tells us about what the population were worried about in the first phase of the COVID-19 crisis.
Eleanor Stewart, Head of Transparency at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on data as diplomacy.
Glen Robinson, National Technology Officer for Microsoft UK, on keeping data safe and the benefits of scale.
Terence Eden, Head of Open Technology at NHSX, on why making things open makes them better.

We would like to thank Microsoft for supporting this event.

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Coronavirus and the Devolved Nations May 13, 2020

Show notes

How well is the intense cooperation over COVID-19 between Westminster and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland working? Is Coronavirus demonstrating the strength of devolution, or does it highlight the need for central government to take a strong lead? What can we learn from cooperation in past crises? And what does all this mean for the Union and the debates around Scottish independence and Irish reunification?

Debating this with Akash Paun, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government, this are:

Rt Hon Carwyn Jones AM, former First Minister of Wales
Dr Katy Hayward, Reader in Sociology at Queen’s University Belfast
Rt Hon Lord Dunlop, former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland
Professor Nicola McEwen, professor of Territorial Politics, University of Edinburgh

@ifgevents #IfGDevo

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Coronavirus and English devolution May 07, 2020

Show notes

In the week that local and mayoral elections were due to take place across England, before being postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we discuss the state of English devolution. What have metro mayors and combined authorities achieved? What should happen next with the devolution process? How has the Covid-19 crisis has affected the debate, and what role have the devolved bodies played in responding to the current health and economic crisis?

Joining Akash Paun, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government, are:

Julia Goldsworthy, Director of Strategy at the West Midland Combined Authority
Professor Alan Harding, Chief Economic Adviser to the Mayor of Greater Manchester
Dr Nicola Headlam, former Head of Northern Powerhouse, Cities and Local Growth Unit, UK Government

Audio production by Alex Rees

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Lifting lockdown: How to approach a Coronavirus exit strategy May 07, 2020

Show notes

How will the government ease the lockdown restrictions? What choices and trade-offs will ministers need to make in order to get the country moving again? How can it communicate these complicated messages while also retaining public support?

We explore these questions – perhaps the hardest to face any peacetime prime minister – at a live online event with panel of IfG experts:

Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government
Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government
Dr Catherine Haddon, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government
Giles Wilkes, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government

In the chair is Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government.

Read the new IfG report Lifting lockdown: how to approach a coronavirus exit strategy which calls on the government to be straight with the public that there can be no single grand exit plan to release the Coronavirus lockdown. The report also warns that the government’s five tests for starting to lift the lockdown are not a good enough guide to the longer-term exit strategy

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Windrush in focus with Wendy Williams May 01, 2020

Show notes

HM Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams led the Independent Review into the Windrush Scandal, which concluded that “hundreds, and possibly thousands of people” in the Windrush Generation suffered because of failures in every element of modern government. The review further exposed fundamental issues within the UK’s immigration system and wider failures of policy making, bureaucracy, law and political leadership.

Wendy Williams discusses what went wrong, what needs to change and what lessons the UK government has learned with Joe Owen, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

Interview recorded and edited by Candice McKenzie. Audio production by Alex Rees

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Parliament and Coronavirus: democracy in the age of social distancing Apr 24, 2020

Show notes

As the UK parliament begins its unexpected experiment with digital democracy, the IfG is delighted to convene an expert panel to discuss democracy in the age of coronavirus. From online select committee hearings to parliamentary questions by Zoom, we explore how Westminster is adapting to the need for social distancing, the risks and benefits of the two Houses’ chosen approaches, and what the long-term consequences of this period of enforced innovation may be.

Karen Bradley MP, Chair of the Commons Procedure Committee, will be joined by Sir David Natzler, former Clerk of the House of Commons, and Esther Webber of The Times. In the chair is Dr Hannah White, Deputy Director of the Institute for Government.

Audio production by Alex Rees.

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Coronavirus and the UK economy: Andy Haldane Apr 21, 2020

Show notes

The COVID crisis is affecting every aspect of the economy, and, uniquely, it’s hitting every country in the world hard at the same time. What can government do in a crisis without a rulebook? Andy Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England, joins Bronwen Maddox to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the UK economy.

Is the authorities’ economic response sufficient to support businesses during the lockdown? What role should the Bank of England play in this process? What changes might COVID-19 make to the future of the economy and financial system? And are we in for a V-shaped downtown, an L or a Nike Swoosh?

“This is a simultaneous and enormous shock to every country on the planet.” – Andy Haldane

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Audio production by Alex Rees.

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Extending the Brexit transition? Apr 09, 2020

Show notes

Can the UK and EU reach a deal by the current deadline of 31 December 2020 now that COVID-19 has set many governments’ plans into disarray? Lead negotiators Michel Barnier and David Frost are both currently self-isolating and they have yet to set a date for the next round of talks. The clock is ticking.

The UK and EU have until the 1 July 2020 to decide whether to extend the transition period, and on what terms. How likely is that? And could an extension be agreed at a later date? Joining Joe Owen, Programme Director at the Institute for Government, to explore this complex issue are:

Allie Renison, Head of EU and Trade Policy at the Institute of Directors
Shanker Singham, CEO of Competere
Fabian Zuleeg, Chief Executive and Chief Economist at the European Policy Centre
Professor Catherine Barnard, Professor of EU Law and Employment Law, University of Cambridge; Senior Fellow, UK in a Changing Europe

Audio production by Alex Rees.

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Shaking up the Mandarins? Civil Service reform and Corona Apr 03, 2020

Show notes

Major reform for the Civil Service was one of the new government’s major priorities… and then the Coronavirus happened. What will bring about more change: the Government’s own plans, or the unprecedented exigencies of this health emergency? Can any Civil Service really be ready for an event like this? The enormity of Corona aside, which innovations might help the Civil Service respond better in “normal” circumstances? And what could be the long-term consequences of reform for its structures and processes?

Our Programme Director Alex Thomas welcomes a stellar panel to discuss the future of the Civil Service:

Ben Gummer, former Minister for the Cabinet Office
Una O’Brien, former Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health
Sam Freedman, CEO, Education Partnerships Group and former senior policy adviser to then Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove

Audio production by Alex Rees

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The Good, the SpAd and the ugly: Special advisers in government Mar 30, 2020

Show notes

Special Advisers or SpAds play a key role in government, giving ministers political advice and working as all-purpose fixers. In the latest of the IfG’s virtual live events, we ask how they fit into the new administration’s vision of how government should work. Should we accept that we need more, not fewer temporary political appointees to oil the wheels of government? How can ministers get the best out of their SpAds? Do ministers need training in how to manage them – and do SpAds need protection? Plus the threat of what guest John McTernan calls “drastic SpAdflation”.

Discussing the changing role of SpAds with Tim Durrant, Associate Director at the Institute for Government, are: