Ministers have no plans to reopen the previous government’s curriculum and assessment review as part of education reforms announced by the prime minister, Schools Week understands schoolsweek.co.uk/government-d...

Burnham government won't reopen curriculum review

Education secretary Lucy Powell also understood to be committed to existing reform timetable

schoolsweek.co.uk

This is a genuinely exciting announcement about Burnham's intention for public service reform There are some potentially massive changes to the way that services are funded and operate A few things that jumped out at me 👇 www.gov.uk/government/p...

Rewiring the State – Cabinet Statement (HTML)

gov.uk

New comment: PM buy-in is needed to reform adult social care, so yesterday's speech was positive And political consensus would help. But waiting for consensus shouldn't stop reform, else Burnham risks becoming the latest PM to fail on social care www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/comm...

Burnham can’t take the politics out of social care reform | Institute for Government

The new PM will have to prioritise to make progress on social care during this parliament

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Sensible policy klaxon 🚨 Currently, if a 16 year old chooses to stay in school/college, their family can keep claiming benefits as before (notably child benefit). If they opt for an apprenticeship, the benefits stop. The system discourages apprenticeships. The DWP just announced a fix 🧵

The new prime minister is about to run out of prison spaces. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. But once again, there are no easy answers and just cancelling early releases is not a solution. The focus must be on public protection - including better protection in the community. 🧵

The government must focus on public protection when it comes to prison releases | Institute for Government

There are no easy answers to meeting the prison capacity challenge.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Some may say I'm biased... but I think this is a great piece Have a read!

Stuart Hoddinott@stuarthoddinott.bsky.social · 2w ago

NEW BLOG: organisational boundaries in local govt, the NHS and police do not match up That's a problem for Burnham's devo ambitions He should intervene now to create an aligned system that paves the way for future public services devo More 👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/burn...

Burnham’s instincts to turn to transport first are on the pulse of public opinion, the public service that people across the country seem most dissatisfied with

🚨NEW REPORT from @instituteforgovernment.org.uk on government and academia How has the relationship changed? What does government still need to do to make the best of the UK’s leading research ecosystem? Thoughtful thoughts (and a link) from @teodorgrama.bsky.social below 👇👇

Teodor Grama@teodorgrama.bsky.social · 2w ago

For those who want a break from Burnham news… NEW @instituteforgovernment.org.uk report out today by @paddy-mcalary.bsky.social, Saudamini Sigdel and I on how govt can better engage with researchers & bring their evidence, insights and expertise into policy making.

Breaking: The schools minister Georgia Gould has been re-appointed as a Department for Education minister in Andy Burnham’s government, with her exact brief unconfirmed schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-mini...

Schools minister Georgia Gould stays on at DfE in reshuffle

London MP and key Starmer ally will remain a DfE minister, but with her exact role unconfirmed

schoolsweek.co.uk

Burnham’s cabinet is the first to achieve gender parity. And the Office for Equality and Opportunity will move to the MHCLG with Bridget Phillipson remaining in post as Minister for Women and Equalities. Here’s our IfG breakdown of what yesterday’s announcements mean for women in government … 🧵

As Ed Miliband looks set to leave DESNZ a short 🧵on the department's achievements with him as minister and where there's still work to do:

@jillongovt.bsky.social and I had a report ready to go but were pipped to the post by Burnham’s (predictable) decision to bring digital ID to an end. There were too many questions to answer and little that had been decided, making it an easier (and popular) decision than most will be for Burnham!

Jill Rutter@jillongovt.bsky.social · 2w ago

First concrete decision from Burnham govt - binning the digital ID scheme - new comment from @hcdunlop.bsky.social and me @instituteforgovernment.org.uk www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/andy... Not a surprise and good to move quickly ..but will still need a view on other govt ID work

Moving people like Josh MacAlister & Georgia Gould in education, or Sarah Jones on the policing brief, would be a mistake. It would slow down or derail reform programmes while new ministers got up to speed, wasting more time and effort. Great piece from @timdurrant.bsky.social here

Burnham’s first reshuffle should resist a sweeping change of junior ministers | Institute for Government

Beyond refreshing his Cabinet, keeping most ministers in their current roles is Burnham’s best chance of getting things done in government.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Good news, and... One of the big positives in the Starmer govt’s approach was its move beyond a narrow focus on rough sleeping. Burnham should make sure this pledge sits within a broader prevention strategy - not simply drive more spending on poor-value temporary accommodation to meet the target

James Ball@jamesrball.com · 2w ago

Ending rough sleeping is a nice pledge to hear – but worth noting it's *much* easier to achieve than ending homelessness. We pretty much managed it during Covid, but things got worse again rapidly. www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

The day’s first casualty: James Timpson resigns as prisons minister. This is a big surprise! Timpson had a long history as a prisons reformer before entering government and seen as one of Starmer’s more innovative & exciting appointments. He’s also delivered a big change programme in gov. So: why?

Prisons minister Lord Timpson quits government

The businessman said it was an "honour" to serve in the post, but the BBC understands he feels he has achieved all he can in the role.

bbc.co.uk

If Burnham wants to do welfare reform, then No.10 must help navigate the big trade-offs (not just leave this to HMT/DWP). Putting senior people in No.10 who understand just how difficult that is should help (Cooke was a DWP adviser with Purnell 2008-09, then DWP SpAd in 2024 before moving to No.10)

Ailbhe Rea@pronouncedalva.bsky.social · 3w ago

Scoop: Andy Burnham has appointed Graeme Cooke, a former adviser to his chief of staff James Purnell, as Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit. Cooke currently advises on domestic policy in Starmer's Number 10. He takes on the policy chief role initially on a three-month transition contract.

A really excellent piece of work on some of the major challenges around SEND reform.

Amber Dellar@amberdellar.bsky.social · 3w ago

NEW REPORT: how to make a success of SEND reform Government needs to get off the sidelines and build a SEND system that makes it easier for schools, councils and health services to work together. Our new report sets out how 🧵

NEW REPORT: how to make a success of SEND reform Government needs to get off the sidelines and build a SEND system that makes it easier for schools, councils and health services to work together. Our new report sets out how 🧵

Joining up SEND | Institute for Government

How to begin fixing SEND by making the system more joined-up.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

New comment: Starmer can credibly say he steadied the ship on public services But his govt launched a haphazard set of reforms and performance has not improved radically What choices does Burnham face? What can he do in the next ~3 years? 🧵👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/burn...

Burnham should learn from Starmer’s successes and failures on public services | Institute for Government

Keir Starmer squandered the opportunity to reform public services.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

What would a Burnham govt mean for public services? How can he bring a more coherent approach to reform? No better way to answer those Qs than with a guest blog from Thomas Johnson who works on reform strategy in GMCA, Burnham's old patch Short 🧵👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

The radical rewiring of the state: what devolution must deliver | Institute for Government

Devolution is a means of building a more capable state: one that can connect prevention, productivity, growth and fiscal sustainability.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Disadvantaged primary schools have seen pupil numbers fall at more than twice the rate of schools with the least pupil deprivation, new analysis shows https://schoolsweek.co.uk/nfer-clear-link-between-school-disadvantage-and-falling-rolls/

'Clear link' between disadvantage and falling school rolls

Most disadvantaged schools see largest fall in pupil numbers, NFER finds

schoolsweek.co.uk

NEW: Halving the disadvantage gap Quantifying the level of challenge in the Government's twin ambitions of raising Key Stage 4 attainment overall and halving the disadvantage gap. vist.ly/58uug

Halving the disadvantage gap - FFT Education Datalab

Quantifying the level of challenge in the Government's twin ambitions of raising Key Stage 4 attainment overall and halving the disadvantage gap

ffteducationdatalab.org.uk

I discuss some of this in a recent piece for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/shab... Incredible how complex and vulnerable to human error these changes will be, especially for people already in the UK - Windrush will be the best comparison.

Shabana Mahmood’s retrospective action on immigration could undermine trust in government | Institute for Government

The home secretary’s immigration reforms could put her on collision course with the courts

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Mike Slaven@mcslaven.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The key lesson of Windrush IMO is the government should be very careful to change rules that apply to existing groups of immigrants. They will almost certainly lack a holistic sense of the impact. And the government is just crashing straight through that warning

Brilliant to share thoughts on this in @tesmagazine.bsky.social The government faces steep delivery challenges on the horizon to make progress here. My favourite bit is the quote from a parent - it was a privilege to speak about the challenges, but also what a difference good services can make.

Tes magazine@tesmagazine.bsky.social · 2mo ago

With most boys from low-income households not being school-ready by age 5, @nehaldavison.bsky.social and @sophiemetcalfe.bsky.social of @instituteforgovernment.org.uk say policymaking failures are to blame – and recommend ways to tackle the gender-based attainment gap

TWO new @instituteforgovernment.org.uk reports out today from me, @nehaldavison.bsky.social, @sophiemetcalfe.bsky.social and @emma-conway.bsky.social on early years policy and what's needed to ensure boys from low-income families are not left behind. 🧵 tinyurl.com/99pcyskh tinyurl.com/4bcbyyfz

Early years policy making: How can government ensure that boys from low-income families are not left behind during delivery? | Institute for Government

The government’s early years target is doing little to incentivise the system to focus on boys from low-income families.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Love this as a prevention case study: - Low cost, even revenue raising in the short term - Improves health outcomes and reduces costly hospital admissions Shows political leadership is key: - Politically costly for Khan to implement - Did it despite cost savings landing outside GLA

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2mo ago

Emergency hospital admissions fell after introduction of London’s T-charge and Ulez, study suggests

It's good government is confronting the long-known-about fiscal implications of its defence commitments. But across-the-board capital cuts would risk undermining the stability of capital investment, which has been a strength of the government's fiscal and economic policy. New comment from me here

Institute for Government@instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 2mo ago

NEW | Salami-slicing capital budgets for defence is bad fiscal policy making Raiding capital budgets in this way to pay for greater defence capability is the wrong approach, says @drbenpaxton.bsky.social Read our latest comment piece here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/slic...

New data shows 6.0% of pupils now have an EHCP, up from 5.3% last year. This is the biggest yearly increase in EHCPs since at least 2010 (+12%). And means EHCPs are now more than twice as common as they were 16 years ago.

📖💰Can paying disadvantaged teenagers keep them in formal education? 📖💰 In England, 30£/week didn't bring long run benefits. Other policies (part-time edu, traineeships...) might better suit some pupils. New blog summary linked below. @theifs.bsky.social @iza.org wol.iza.org/opinions/whe...

When paying students to stay in school falls short

Paying disadvantaged teenagers to stay in school slightly raises enrolment but does not improve qualifications or future job prospects

wol.iza.org

This only works if you also lift the cap on Local Housing Allowance and build new homes at scale which Councils can use. Otherwise you're just adding pressure to a very limited market and making it impossible for Councils to house people at all.