Thread by @ifgevents

BM: Tony Blair is right that the government is losing the capacity to identify and solve the country's biggest problems. There are many things that do work well - like the vaccine roll out - but examples of the opposite are "too frequent for comfort".

BM: Britain accepts compliments for government when it should not There is a state of complacency that is corrosive for public trust. On energy regulation, on the Afghan exit, on the postmaster scandal and fraud on pandemic loans #IfGDirector

BM says she will focus on three problems
1. failings in basic competence
2. the lack of clear responsibility and accountability for performance
3. the shortcomings of an old constitution in the 21st century.
#IfGDirector

BM: 1. Complacency and incompetence on basic government. When Lord Agnew resigned he accused the government of 'lamentable' oversight in the coronavirus loan scheme and widespread fraud #IfGDirector

BM: Some of the responsibility is on ministers, but he is right about widespread knowledge and care, amongst civil servants and ministers. A big part of that is that they change jobs too often #IfGDirector

BM: there is a temptation for politicians to keep announcing new initiatives. The problems are the same so they try the same solutions and do not learn why similar efforts have failed #IfGDirector

BM: the @instituteforgov has encouraged the civil service to curb staff turn over and discourage the PM from reshuffles, but move on ministers who are performing badly #IfGDirector

@instituteforgov BM: We are producing a paper later this month on a statutory role of the civil service so that it is responsible to maintain skills #IfGDirector

@instituteforgov BM: But Lord Agnew's key complaint is s culture of indifference or ignorance. If the Treasury looks like it doesn't care, it looks like fraud will be tolerated

@instituteforgov BM: there is not a single answer to this but change underway. Reform used to be niche but now it is central, the IfG's success is putting this on the agenda. #IfGDirector

@instituteforgov BM: On the second point - accountability and responsibility. We have argued for clearer responsibility for civil servants and ministers, strengthening parliament's ability to hold the government to account and enough transparency for media and parliament to do their job

@instituteforgov BM: This is true for the devolved nations too, and devolution needs more accountability. Performance of public services in Wales and Scotland has been poor and the quality of data for comparison is shockingly poor.

@instituteforgov BM: These problems have also been exacerbated by the the outdated nature of the UK constitution. That is why we have launched the review of the UK Constitution with @BennettInst #IfGDirector

@instituteforgov @BennettInst BM: On standards, the system is not broken but could be improved and we need better ways of enforcing the Nolan principles. If there is no sanction there is a culture of not caring, leadership matters #IfGDirector

@instituteforgov @BennettInst BM concludes by saying that we have had an extraordinary two years. Much did work well in the pandemic, in the heart of government & in public service but we are at the beginning of an inquiry of what went wrong #IfGDirector

@instituteforgov @BennettInst BM: during this crisis there has been a commitment to reforming the civil service and the government. There is more attention on performance and and acknowledgement that British is not always as good at government as it could be #IfGDirector

@instituteforgov @BennettInst BM: the government needs to solve it's own problem to solve the country's problems. And it cannot if it does not draw on the lessons of the past & uphold the basic standards of public life and the rules which it has thought essential for the rest of the country. #IfGDirector