I think @philtinline.bsky.social has hit in a really important idea here – working out why we keep getting trapped in doom loops is going to be crucial in the next few years. Working out how to escape them, even more so.
If you read one thing today make it this. Fantastic read.
Part inspired by people like @samfr.bsky.social @cathhaddon.bsky.social @hannahkeenan.bsky.social but much less well self-edited than their work, this is part personal catharsis as longread. But if the present malaise is not a burning platform, what is?
andrewgreenway.substack.com/p/in-permane...
All that will require leadership and bravery from politicians and officials; not least to ensure some old ways and institutions are jettisoned. Without courage, reform will likely be a process that is done to them, rather than done with or by them - and likely less successful for it.
To unpick that will require 3 things to happen at once, at different speeds: storytelling for the short term, new teams *showing* what different working can deliver to the public in the medium term, and structural changes to overhaul the culture and organisation in the long term.
The state can and does do great things, but only in crisis, and *despite* the strictures it imposes on itself in normal times. It does not default to being the best of itself. The core critiques of what's wrong are unchanging. There's consensus across the spectrum that incrementalism isn't enough.
The same things keep going wrong in the same ways. We've already had the £3bn NS&I 'full spectrum disaster' and the Civil Service pensions debacle this year. It's only February.
The Civil Service has a new Cabinet Secretary at a time where the bureaucracy faces a stark choice between reform and Reform. It needs a new story for state capacity, a Northcote-Trevelyan review for the C21st, and new institutions to break inertia.
andrewgreenway.substack.com/p/in-permane...
Yes. Die was cast right from the job spec imo. Not a doable job, or the right one. Heywood did an IfG talk about a decade ago on 'what a CabSec does' that was vg. It seemed impossible then, even for him. And he had blind spots. AND it's got harder. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/role-m...
Very good post about a very bad thing.
Bad
It's unusual to come across a truly bad new digital service these days. People now praise the online passport service for speed and ease of use, the same for Jobseeker's, voter registration. Most online public services delivered since the establishment of the Government Digital Service are at…
Louise Casey blunt on grade inflation in the civil service - compares decisions grade 5s make now to those fast streamers used to make…
I am writing a policy pamphlet. Here are all the ways to demonstrate I don't really have a policy answer, that I need to avoid:
a. You call for a "national conversation or debate"
b. You suggest that what is needed is “a change in culture”
1/
Universal Credit is a model for how to do government right (FREE TO READ!)
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/universal-...
@martinjordan.com would be my go to on Germany and digital!
Agree with Tom. I think there's also a question for civil service benefits that considers the whole lot in the round (pension, hols, salary, etc), and allows more choice + flex in where you put your money. Now mix is same for all - and leads to concentration of certain demographics/risk appetites
photo of a red shopping basket filled with turnips, under the headline: If you’re worried about food tariffs, adopt a frugal mindset and cook smarter Learn to shop for groceries like a thrifter and work on eliminating waste By Sheryl Julian Globe Correspondent,Updated April 7, 2025, 7:21 a.m. caption: The big question is, writes Sheryl Julian, are we expected to remove all the pleasures from the table and turn the nightly dinner into a feast of locally grown turnips (above) and leafy greens?Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
you know things are going well when they break out the turnip photos
Obviously it's Reddit and that attracts Reddit people but I do think it's funny how "a simple single government website and functioning passport service" are things people genuinely feel quite patriotic about and are such easy wins if you roll that out even further. www.reddit.com/r/AskBrits/c...
My favourite bit of the whole Carswell piece 👇
Niche, for sure, but to anyone who has actually been to a single one of the weekly meeting of permanent secretaries, let alone more than 100, the idea that this meeting takes all the major public policy meetings is utterly hilarious
📣OUT NOW – Impactful Devolution 02: Local govt for the digital era
Last week the PM set out plans for digital change across Whitehall.
Our new report with @publicdigital.bsky.social sets out how digital can drive reform in local govt. Read it here ⬇️
www.futuregovernanceforum.co.uk/resource/imp...
On 3/24, join us & @niskanencenter.bsky.social for a discussion on how to address the critical but often overlooked issues with implementation across the Executive branch.
Feat: @marcidale.bsky.social @pahlkadot.bsky.social & @andrewgreenway.bsky.social
www.popvox.org/events/imple...
You should give it go. Headlines are very dangerous things...
James is always worth reading, and this longread is particularly worth the time, especially if you're an optimist about governments taking state capacity seriously.
You should know that a big part of 18F's work was to make sure multi-million to multi-*hundreds*-of-millions dollar contracts at fed *and* state level didn't go to shitty enterprise IT consultancies that *repeatedly* delivered tech that didn't work, was late, or didn't even do what it needed to
Pat McFadden MP is stood at a lecturn saying “Test it. Fix the problems. Change the design. Test it again. Tweak it again. The most important question isn’t, ‘How do we get this right the first time?”, It’s ‘How do we make this better by next Friday?’”
Hats off to the 10% - TEN PER CENT - of the UK population who can summon up some strong opinions about King Stephen of Blois
My proposal for this grey February Monday is that political reporters should be abolished. They're far too addicted to the psychodrama, they don't have expertise in any policy areas, they bigfoot their expert colleagues on any story that involves an MP, and this creates too noise and little light.
‘We have to get over the feeling that any failed pilot is a waste of money. It is not, as long as you've learned something by doing it.’
NAO chief Gareth Davies on the need for innovation in public services and how the NAO will support this
www.thetimes.com/article/9e71...
A truly dreadful piece of writing that neatly demonstrates why he had no respect at all from the rest of the senior civil service.
Loads of interesting stats in this just-published State of digital government review. Not least that 50% of digital and data recruitment campaigns failed in 2024.
What matters now are crunchy actions to follow the crunchy analysis.
www.gov.uk/government/p...
