The government's digital ID plan: Why now and what for?
Keir Starmer has announced plans for a new digital ID scheme to combat illegal working and make it easier for people to use vital government services like applying for a driving licence and accessing tax records. The government has said that digital ID will be mandatory for right to work checks by the end of this parliament.
But critics argue that government has not made a clear case for digital ID, and warn that building a secure, reliable and trusted form of digital identity will be a monumental challenge to implement.
So what problem – and for whom – would digital ID solve? Are the government’s ambitions realistic? Is the right data and security infrastructure in place? And what could this mean for digitally excluded groups?
To discuss these questions and more, we will be joined by an expert panel including:
Rachel Coldicutt, Founder and Executive Director of Careful Industries
Matthew Feeney, Advocacy Manager at Big Brother Watch
David Normington, former Permanent Secretary at the Home Office
Morgan Wild, Chief Policy Adviser at Labour Together and author of “Britcard: a progressive digital identity for Britain”
The event will be chaired by Tim Durrant, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.
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How can the fast stream deliver more for the civil service?
The fast stream, the civil service’s flagship talent development programme, has recently seen a record number of applications and reclaimed the top spot in the Times Higher Education graduate scheme ranking.
But exclusive Institute for Government research reveals that the programme still faces significant challenges, including early exits from the scheme, variable quality of postings and fast streamers struggling to find roles upon scheme completion.
What should the fast stream’s role be in the wider civil service recruitment ecosystem? What can the government do to ensure that the fast stream delivers more for the civil service? What can the civil service learn from other sectors? And what should future fast stream reform efforts focus on?
To explore these questions, the IfG was delighted to be joined for a panel discussion on the future of the fast stream by:
Robert Eagleton, National Officer for the Fast Stream at the FDA Union
Rachel Hopcroft CBE, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at NatWest Group
Sonia Pawson, Director of HR at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and former Head of Fast Stream
The conversation started with a presentation of key IfG research findings by Teodor Grama, author of Changing course: How to reform the civil service fast stream.
The event was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.
00:00 Introduction
02:16 Presentation on report key findings
10:29 Discussion
33:54 Q&A from the audience
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IfG DevoLab #3: How devolution can improve transport connectivity
The IfG DevoLab is a new initiative from the Institute for Government dedicated to exploring the innovations enabled by devolution, learning from the results, and sharing the lessons so that places can take better decisions about how to use devolved powers and budgets.
On 6th November, the IfG hosted its third IfG DevoLab event in Leeds, at which speakers from three regions set out how the powers and profile of mayors are being used to improve transport connectivity within and between their regions.
The three case studies presented at IfG DevoLab #3 were:
‘Improving transport connectivity in West Yorkshire’, by Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford City Council and Chair of the West Yorkshire Transport Committee
‘Connecting Liverpool City Region through Merseyrail’, by Huw Jenkins, Lead Officer - Transport Policy at Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
‘Mayoral partnerships with Great British Railways’ by Richard Crabtree, Head of Mayoral Partnerships at Shadow Great British Railways
The three speakers were joined by Tom Bridges, UK Government Business Leader at Arup, for a broader discussion of how devolution can improve transport connectivity, how the government can support innovation and learning, and whether there is a case for further devolution in this area.
This event was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.
Insights from this discussion will inform a published policy briefing containing the three case studies and a synthesis of key lessons.
We would like to thank Arup for kindly supporting this event.
We are also grateful to our strategic partner L&G for its wider support of the IfG DevoLab series.
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Leadership change in the civil service: How can new permanent secretaries deliver for government?
As well as the election of a new government, the last year has seen the appointment of a new cabinet secretary and eight new permanent secretaries to lead departments.
How will this new leadership cohort change the civil service? What should they prioritise as they get to grips with their new departments? And how can they build the most talented teams to deliver the government’s priorities?
To explore these questions, with a particular focus on the Civil Service Commission’s role in recruiting senior leaders and developing the talent pipeline, the IfG was delighted to be joined for a panel discussion on civil service leadership and change by:
Atul Devani, Civil Service Commissioner and entrepreneur
John-Paul Marks CB, First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive of HM Revenue and Customs
Baroness Gisela Stuart, First Civil Service Commissioner
Baroness Stuart spoke briefly to consider the opportunities and challenges for the civil service. She spoke to the Commission’s strategic priorities for 2025–27.
The event was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.
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Productivity Pitches #8: Spreading innovation across public services
Productivity in public services has never been more important. Most services are struggling to return to pre-pandemic performance levels, and the new Labour government has indicated that spending will remain tight. Improvements in performance will likely come from frontline workers finding new, innovative ways of delivering services.
So what can be done to improve productivity? By highlighting outstanding examples of innovation across public services, Productivity Pitches, a series of events hosted by the IfG, aims to share and support ways to improve performance levels.
This event was the eighth in the series and focused on innovation across public services.
Each speaker had 10 minutes to present their innovation, followed by 10 minutes of audience questions. The chair and a guest from The Productivity Institute – which kindly supported this event series – brought together the common themes from the pitches and discussed the lessons for improving productivity.
The speakers for this edition of Productivity Pitches were:
Aoife O'Higgins, Director of Evidence at Foundations, the What Works Centre for children and families explained how their work showing the efficacy of Family Group Conferencing (FGC) has led to the government legislating in the Children, Wellbeing and Schools Bill to mandate that councils offer parents a Family Group Decision Making meeting before referring a child to social services. This substantially expanded the use of FGCs.
Rhian Gladman and Gary Hughes on LGA’s peer challenge programme and transformation support. For its peer challenge programme, the LGA recruits senior local government officers and political leaders to act as peer reviewers. Following a meeting with the council that will be reviewed, a small team of peer reviewers is sent in to speak to people, assess processes and documents, and use their knowledge to provide peer-led feedback. For transformation support, the LGA matches peers with transformation experience with councils that need that specific advice.
The event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. Joel Hoskins, Research Assistant at The Productivity Institute joined to the discuss common themes.
Productivity Pitches was kindly supported by The Productivity Institute.
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The Labour government has a huge majority in parliament – but Keir Starmer’s administration is also facing an incredibly complex set of policy challenges. So how can the prime minister and his team turn around public service performance? What can chancellor Rachel Reeves do to get the economy growing again? What will mission-driven government actually mean in practice? Who should be making the key decisions in Westminster – and beyond? And what will the appointment of a new cabinet secretary mean for the future direction of the civil service?
From reforming how the centre of government works to the battle for the future of the civil service, from making a success of levelling up to achieve net zero goals, IfG EVENTS stimulate fresh thinking and share ideas about how government works – and how it could work better.
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