My main takeaway from Reeves statement is how much more there's left to do. The savings announced only cover 1/4 of pressures this year. And budget from April 2025 is MUCH tighter. A lot of unpalatable decisions coming on 30 October. See here for more: instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/fi…

someone much smarter than me has let me understand that this is what they call a big ***ing deal. The OBR revisiting how it was (un)informed about massive spending pressures this last March

A few things from Reeves’ speech: • Welcome confirmation that the civil service headcount cap has been lifted, as Whitehall watchers have suspected it would be • Govt comms the big loser. Will be interesting how ‘unnecessary’ is defined - £50m saving is conveniently round

I feel for HMT officIals. The rules precluded them sharing spending pressures with Ms Reeves ahead of the Election; the current framework precluded them discussing the realism of spending plans with the OBR. The changes to the OBR charter announced today are a big step forward.

The £50m in-year saving on 'non-essential' comms is certainly suspiciously round. But the planned savings on consultancy spend are far more eye-catching. Cutting £550m of consultancy spend *this year* is massive..

📢 Calling local government! We're looking at how local areas can produce good economic plans 📝Do you have any good examples or have insights you'd like to share? Institute for Government wants to hear from you! Click on the survey link below👇 forms.gle/ZPNvvbsyCkzfnJ… #localgov

For the next few months - in the run-up to the spending review - government will be a flurry of negotiations and spads will play a key role in those. Find out how that works here!

Important stuff here - Whitehall needs work!

Feeling proud/smug that reports produced by my team are Smart Thinking top 2 reports for July (with 2 other Institute for Government reports in the top 10!) Find out what all the fuss is about by reading them: instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/fi… instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/cr…

Really pleased to have reports I worked on nab the top two spots for think tank reports in July from Smart Thinking! To see what all the fuss is about, check out Fixing Public Services: instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/fi…

We welcome Reeves' plan to establish a regular cycle of spending reviews. Our report calls on the chancellor to go further, running a more in-depth spending review that sets cross-departmental spending plans for each mission, as well as each department instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/ho…

💡 Interested in joining the IfG's research team and helping us make government more effective? We are inviting expressions of interest from anyone with the relevant knowledge and skills. Closing date: Monday 30 September, 11:00 ⏰ instituteforgovernment.org.uk/about-us/caree…

A quick note on Whitehall transparency - I asked the Cabinet Office if it could say when the long-promised introduction of monthly publication of ministers' meetings, gifts, hospitality and travel logs would be coming (was meant to be delivered summer 2023).

Join our webinar on Thursday 5 September as the IfG launches its brand new Ministers Database for public use, holding information about all government ministers since 1979. With Dr Catherine Haddon, Philip Nye, Jessica C. Smith and Tim Durrant Register here: instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/ifg-mini…

Here at Institute for Government we hold a database of ministerial appointments going back to 1979 I’m very excited to say we’ll shortly be turning it into a public resource - we think it’ll be of use to journalists/academics/others Details of the launch here: instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/ifg-mini…

Catherine Smith's appointment as Advocate General for Scotland allows us to put the finishing touches to the Institute for Government Ministers Database – launching to the public on 5 September instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/ifg-mini…

Institute for Government have launched their fascinating new Ministers Database. 59.7% of Cons MPs 2010–24 were ministers for some of that time, but only 42.8% of Tory MPs 1979–97, and 43.4% of Labour MPs 1997–2010: instituteforgovernment.org.uk/ministers-data…