Thread by @ifgevents

Starting now: our @instituteforgov expert briefing, with @NJ_Davies, @Jess_Sargeant, @AlexGAThomas, and chaired by IfG Director @DrHannahWhite

We'll be live-tweeting throughout using the hashtag #IfGGovt23, and you can ask questions via Slido: app.sli.do/event/9KY5VbbH…

Hannah White welcomes the audience to the event, thanks Grant Thornton for their support, and asks the opening question: what are the big challenges in your area in 2023?

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For the Civil Service, Alex Thomas says the challenge will be to cope with tight budgets to make efficiencies while improving the service it provides to ministers and the public. Pay will also be an issue, referring to the fast stream strike announced today.

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Nick Davies highlights backlogs, staffing, and funding as the challenges for public services. Backlogs have been exacerbated by the pandemic, but many of them were building before.

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Industrial action will be a core challenge on the staffing front - Nick references his comment piece published this morning, which argues the government needs to consider its strikes strategy:

instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/govern…

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Jess Sargeant says there is lots she could talk about in her focus on the constitution and Northern Ireland, but outlines parliamentary management as a key challenge for Sunak. Might MPs choices be focused by the upcoming election?

Jess outlines devolution and the union as a challenge - she references the decision to effectively veto the Scottish Gender Recognition Reform Bill and suggests it is a continuation of a more hardline approach to the union.

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Asked what will specifically be achieved in 2023, Alex Thomas says "it is never too soon" to address the problem of civil service churn and references a paper published before Christmas on how to get external expertise and talent into the service.

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Alex is asked what putting the civil service on a statutory footing would mean. He says it would give the Civil Service clarity on its role, especially for Permanent Secretaries and allow for better accountability of the service and its effectiveness.

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Hannah White asks if net zero is being "squeezed off the agenda". Alex Thomas says having the target is good and says, although it is not front of mind, the "institutional architecture" of the Civil Service keeps the work going in the background

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Nick Davies speaks about speculation the government will make higher pay offers to resolve disputes, but notes this might have to come from existing departmental budgets. He outlines it is ultimately a political choice how any pay offers are funded.

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Nick notes the main action that could be done now to improve public services is resolving the pay disputes. Other measures will be longer-term and may require capital spending

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Jess Sargeant is asked about the Brown Review and whether Labour will adopt it wholesale. Jess says Labour will need to think about priorities and how a Labour government will achieve change - building parliamentary coalitions (including in the Lords).

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Jess is asked about restoring the Northern Ireland Executive. She says it is a major challenge. Progress has been made in UK-EU protocol talks but there is a long way to go, with many big barriers still to be addressed. She says any deal may not meet the DUP's demands

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We now move to public questions. The audience ask questions about net zero, putting the civil service on statutory footing, and civil service relocation.

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Alex says that net zero will require better cross-departmental action, a need to improve accountability for the civil service in real-time, and says change is happening on relocation, perhaps more than figures may suggest

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More questions come from the audience, particularly on in-sourcing and out-sourcing. Nick Davies points to IfG research in 2019 showing out-sourcing did lead to financial savings in the early years but rarely moved the needle on quality of service.

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Alex Thomas says that bringing back the Civil Service College would be a good idea, but outlines that what it teaches is a more complex question. He says that civil servants need a degree of knowledge on their subjects and this is eroded by churn.

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And that rounds up our IfG expert briefing! We'll be back in fifteen minutes with a keynote speech from Lisa Nandy MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities.

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