Some welcome urgency from government on getting water infrastructure built as quickly as possible - which is crucial in the context of an increasing demand shortfall, as I explored in a blog for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk last month www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/inde...
Thames Water has been fined its biggest penalty so far by the water industry regulator Ofwat
But what is Ofwat and how does it function?
Read our full explainer: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/of...
Monday's announcement puts government at risk of cutting quango numbers for its own sake. But efficiency, accountability, and freeing up ministers to focus on the big picture are what really matter, and there are better ways to achieve these things. My latest for @instituteforgov.bsky.social:
The passage of Labour's Tobacco and Vapes bill has been plain sailing so far. But history shows the success of anti-smoking policy hinges on cross-party (& public) buy-in, which the govt must not take for granted - certainly not now.
My latest for @instituteforgov.bsky.social 👇
In a big day for government reviews at the IfG - a new blog from me about Sir Jon Cunliffe's Independent Water Commission. I explore why was it set up, what it is doing, and what this all has to do with 'terrible Tuesday'...
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/inde...
NEW REPORT from @jillongovt.bsky.social and I on how government should set up and run independent policy reviews to help deliver reforms. We looked back at previous reviews, and spoke to former reviewers to get their reflections and advice (1/12)
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...
A job advert for research internships 2025-26 at the IfG. Six one-year, full-time internships starting in September 2025. Salary: £30,000 Deadline: Tuesday 2 April, 11:00
Interested in making government more effective? Applications for our 2025–26 research internship programme, starting in September 2025, are now open.
Closing date: Tuesday 29 April, 11:00 ⏰
Find out more:
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/about-us/car...
Planning reform given big emphasis in Rachel Reeves' statement today, including key measures from last week's Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
For a breakdown of 5 major changes, check out this recent blog from @sophiemetcalfe.bsky.social and me
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/five...
Some more detailed thoughts on the regulatory action plan published last week...
1/ Today’s policy paper from HMT on regulation and growth is welcome: www.gov.uk/government/n.... In the main, it grips the need to prioritise growth in an energetic but proportionate way. Nonetheless, implementation of some proposals will be difficult and there are some pitfalls to avoid.
📣New report from me & @brionya.bsky.social
MCAs’ decision-making is often limited by unanimous voting rules
Effective decision making for key strategic plans requires a shift to simple majority voting alongside greater capacity and accountability
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...
Line chart from the Institute for Government of government funding of arm's-length bodies by category, 2013/23-2022/23 (in 2024/25 prices), where funding of NDPBs has increased over the time period but funding of executive agencies and non-ministerial departments has stayed almost flat.
In light of today's announcement - this chart gives some context on how NHS England accounts for almost half of government's total spending on ALBs, and how increases to its budget have been the main driver for the overall increase in funding for ALBs in recent years.
Reports by @drmatthewgill.bsky.social -
our @instituteforgov.bsky.social expert on all things public bodies -
are must reads right now… 👇
Can AI transform civil service productivity? How would you cut the administrative costs of regulation by 25%? And what would that mean for arachnids in Ebbsfleet? Join us to discuss these - and other themes from Keir Starmer's speech - at lunchtime today!
While we all speculate about what exactly the PM will say tomorrow and what the balance between ministers, depts and public bodies should be over policy decisions, I thought I'd have a look through the @instituteforgov.bsky.social's interviews with former ministers to see what they have to say...
The National Wealth Fund is a key part of the govt's plans to address chronic underinvestment in the UK and stimulate growth. But what is it, and how does it work? An explainer: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/na...
Following a great IfG event yesterday on the government's clean power targets, a new explainer by me on the role of the National Energy System Operator (NESO)⚡ www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/na...
It still remains to be seen whether the data from govt's Applicant Tracking System will make a difference. Interesting that the Commissioner points to Downing St input as a cause of delays - more granular data pinpointing at what stage of processes delays are happening would be welcome.
As I pointed out in Whitehall Monitor 2025, these sorts of delays undermine the governance of ALBs and can deter potential applicants, potentially leading to less diverse and high-calibre boards.
The Commissioner for Public Appointment's report for 2023-24 has now been published. It's a shame to see that delays to appointment processes got even worse, with only 13% concluding within the recommended timeframe of 3 months. publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/u...
Bar chart from the Institute for Government showing public body reviews conducted, 2010-25
The current public body review programme will conclude in March. While it covered a greater proportion of bodies in scope of review than the previous iteration, its overall impact is unclear. It will be interesting to see what conclusions PACAC will draw on this in their inquiry on public bodies.
A line chart from the Institute for Government of arm's-length body staff numbers by category, 2012/13–2022/23, where staff numbers of NDPBs, executive agencies, and non-ministerial departments rose over time.
The former category grew slightly more slowly than the overall CS in 2012/13–2022/23. The latter increased dramatically by 43.7%, again largely due to the reclassification of Network Rail.
The ALB workforce is split into those classified as civil servants (around 62% in 2022/23) and those who are public servants.
Line chart from the Institute for Government of government funding of arm's-length bodies by category, 2013/23-2022/23 (in 2024/25 prices), where funding of NDPBs has increased over the time period but funding of executive agencies and non-ministerial departments has stayed almost flat.
On balance, and the recent inclusion of Network Rail aside, ALB budgets remained fairly flat in real terms between 2012/13–2022/23. The exception was - unsurprisingly - NHS England.
Stacked bar chart from the Institute for Government showing the number of arm's-length bodies, 2012/13-2023/24, where the total number of ALBs fell dramatically between 2012/13 and 2016/17, and has increased very slightly since then.
There's less focus on cutting numbers of ALBs since 2017, and indeed the Lab govt. has announced a number of ambitious new bodies
(like GB Energy) to contribute to its missions. Full list here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/pu...
NB: ALBs are a subsection of public bodies, consisting of non-ministerial depts. (like HMRC), executive non-departmental public bodies (e.g. NHS England) and executive agencies (e.g. DVLA).
It's important to understand the ALB landscape because, as I note in this chapter, over half of government's spending was channeled through them in 2022/23.
More Whitehall Monitor findings! For the first time since 2022 we put together a chapter on arm's-length bodies for WM2025 (published yesterday) - thanks to the Cabinet Office's publication of the 2023 public bodies dataset at the end of last year.
Finally - worth saying that we wrote this before publication of the new AI opportunities action plan this week. Good to see that addresses some issues we raised - incl. helping the public sector safely experiment with AI, providing better guidance for scaling up pilots & increasing pay for talent.
