Why reforming the state can draw on the dynamism and innovation of Britain’s communities

UCL Policy Lab was delighted to host the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Rt Hon Pat McFadden MP, as he set out the next stage of the government’s “plan for change” this week. 

Our own research has shown that the British public demand change in the quality and nature of our public services. It has also revealed that many voters are sceptical about whether change will come. In focus groups, voters often complain that promises have been made about new government action to alleviate challenges ordinary people face, be it cutting waiting lists or improving transport links, but little has happened.

All of this shows, as Pat McFadden suggested in his speech, that the “how” matters at least as much as the “what”.  As a number of leading UCL academics have been arguing we need a more imaginative state, and that is a state that needs to be better at sharing and devolving power, testing and learning to see what works – partnering with communities and the private sector to find new solutions.

Critically, this approach is about trusting and respecting those outside Whitehall and empowering those wanting to make a difference within the system. Too often, these voices and innovators are hampered not by their lack of drive but by systems that can stifle difference and risk-taking.

This is why at the UCL Policy Lab we have been so proud to have been convening these conversations, as we did yesterday, and working with communities, researchers, civic society and businesses to drive a new era in public service reform. We know that no one organisation or individual has the solution, that is the nature of our complex and modern world. The fixes will not be uniform or singular; the answers to today’s problems will match the beautiful patchwork nature of our nation.

And that patchwork can be the source of energy and dynamism, as Tom Baldwin and I argued in our recent book England. And it is this story we’ll continue to tell and shape here at the UCL Policy Lab.
 
We look forward to continuing and growing that work with you all in 2025.

Marc Stears, Pro-Provost (Policy Engagement) and Director, UCL Policy Lab  

More thinking on reforming the state

• Mission Driven Government: Ordinary Hope and Public Services. Dan Honig.
• Labour promises to unleash private investment for public services. Will it work? Eleanor Woodhouse.
• Autonomy, incentives, and the effectiveness of bureaucrats. Imran Rasul, Daniel Rogger and Martin J. Williams.
• The Reform Dividend: A Roadmap to Liberate Public Services. Demos.
• Mission Critical 01: Statecraft for the 21st century. The Future Governance Forum.
• Great government: Public service reform in the 2020s. IPPR
• Risk aversion must be swapped for more experimental, innovative approaches—anylsis from our colleagues at The Future Governance Forum. 
• “Many secretaries of state are struggling to get the machine moving,” Harry Quilter-Pinner, IPPR in the FT.
• 'Encouraging to hear "test and learn" language throughout. Recognition that rewiring of the state won't happen from top down'. Nick Plumb, Power to Change. 
• 'We have good people working in a broken system' James Plunkett from NESTA gives his anylsis of Pat McFadden's speech.