On Wednesday we hosted Mayor David Skaith for an 'In Conversation' as part of ongoing 'Meetings with Mayors' series Policy Director, @stkaye.bsky.social, has written a blog with his key takeaways from the event

Best of luck with what's next my friend. It has been a privelege.

Patrick King@patrickking.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨Personal news🚨 After three and a half brilliant, jam-packed years @reformthinktank.bsky.social, today is my final day I'll still be based in Westminster (more on this to come). But if I could just give a quick shout out to the exceptional people I've worked with 🧵

🚨Personal news🚨 After three and a half brilliant, jam-packed years @reformthinktank.bsky.social, today is my final day I'll still be based in Westminster (more on this to come). But if I could just give a quick shout out to the exceptional people I've worked with 🧵

My last ever Reform blog! On the dynamics of when it's best/easiest to enact radical change

Re:State@re-state.bsky.social · last yr.

'The paradox of radicalism' In today's blog, @patrickking.bsky.social writes about why radical policies are hardest to advocate for when we need them most reform.uk/comment/the-...

Why do we continue to see competitive salaries in the public sector as a problem? There are plenty of reasons to cull quangos, but how much senior staff are paid is not one of them In fact being able to pay a competitive salary is one reasons quangos are created

This says much more about the frugality of PM's pay than it does about officials running some of the most important and specialist parts of the State www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Figures show at least 350 bosses earn more than the Prime Minister

More than 350 quango bosses received a higher taxpayer-paid salary than the £172,153 Keir Starmer is entitled to.

dailymail.co.uk

I've been wanting to write about this for a while. A senior official once told @reformthinktank.bsky.social that the future is "policymaking as code". What does that say about the value of policymaking? And the future of the civil service/think tank/charity complex?

Re:State@re-state.bsky.social · last yr.

How does policymaking survive in an age of automation? Our blog today, by @patrickking.bsky.social, looks at the future of what he calls the 'policy-industrial complex'👇 reform.uk/comment/the-...

How can we make Neighbourhood Boards truly successful? 🏘️ In the blog this week, researcher, @floconway.bsky.social, shares her thoughts...

V excited for this next week! 🔥 What's it really like working inside Downing Street? What works, what doesn't? How does the machine need to change?

🎉The Blog is out! This week, our Head of Health, @rosiebeacon.bsky.social, writes about the Govt's plans for secondary care and the challenges facing proposed reforms... 🏥🚑

The 'prioritise my thing' in Whitehall playbook: 1) The empowered Chair/Chief Exec 2) Unlimited authority - granted direct from PM 3) Single business case + budget 4) Pay *much* more than civil service to get *actual experts*

Antimicrobial resistance is a major challenge to the UK’s health security and is already responsible for a significant burden of death, disability and prolonged illness globally. We've submitted evidence to the Public Accounts Committee's inquiry on AMR governance, with insights from our research👇

Great to see the Evaluation Registry go live. As we argued in Efficiency Mindset, there should be every incentive for depts to develop policies with a strong VfM evidence base. Making past evaluations more transparent & accessible clearly supports this. civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2025/03/31/p...

We need to boldly commission a public review in how we mean to be bold. Then conduct a consultation on bold measures, put that through several cabinet committees, notably the Committee on Bold Action, and then argue about them in the run up to a fiscal moment. Where we'll discover there's no money

Prof Christina Pagel@chrischirp.bsky.social · last yr.

I am getting increasingly frustrated by Labour bigwigs speechifying about how the world has changed and we need to be bold and then... not being bold

@theguardian.com is reporting that “In cases where it is essential quangos are independent from ministerial decision-making, for example those with a regulatory function or that scrutinise government or protect the rule of law, then these will remain unaffected.” t.co/h3OcjAIz09

Reform of the State is a precursor to economic growth. As @chriscurtis94.bsky.social says, the risk of keeping the status quo now "significantly outweighs the risk of reform". Our report with @labourgrowth.bsky.social sets out key steps that would allow for a more nimble, effective Whitehall.

It's really excellent to see today's announcement on pharmacy, and investment matching rhetoric on the shift to community health provision. We should recognise and reward decision-makers when they break from the status quo & immediate to invest in the long-term & important.

Re:State@re-state.bsky.social · last yr.

Senior Researcher, @Patrick_S_King, gives his reaction to today's announcement of the new funding settlement for community pharmacy: reform.uk/blog/incenti...

In a competitive and uncertain world, economic growth relies on a capable state that can act decisively to create opportunities and unblock barriers to progress Great to partner with @labourgrowth.bsky.social to make the case for Whitehall reform!

Re:State@re-state.bsky.social · last yr.

📢NEW REPORT: BUILDING STATE CAPACITY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH The Government have fired the starting gun for deep reform of the State. To respond to the challenges we face and unlock growth, they must now go further. Our report published with @labourgrowth.bsky.social offers the blueprint👇

Well this is exciting We've joined up with the @labourgrowth.bsky.social to publish 9 steps to rewiring the State Reforming Whitehall is not a technocratic exercise, its essential to building a better Britain. This paper makes the case for turning gov into an enabler of growth

Re:State@re-state.bsky.social · last yr.

📢NEW REPORT: BUILDING STATE CAPACITY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH The Government have fired the starting gun for deep reform of the State. To respond to the challenges we face and unlock growth, they must now go further. Our report published with @labourgrowth.bsky.social offers the blueprint👇

A brilliant and rare opportunity to come and work on some of the most interesting Qs of State capacity and resilience! What could be more important or timely? Highly recommend applying, and happy to chat about the role!

Joe Hill@jo3hill.bsky.social · last yr.

📢 Come work with me! We're hiring at Research Manager & Senior Researcher levels to work directly with me @reformthinktank.bsky.social on our civil service reform programme. Great opportunity to be part of a small, high-performing team at a Westminster think tank. Deadline 4th April 🔗👇

Missed our Spring Statement debrief event yesterday? Senior Researcher @patrickking.bsky.social has you covered with the key takeaways: reform.uk/comment/lets...

Let's get fiscal - REFORM

reform.uk

Our statement/budget debriefs are mr fav events in the Reform calendar And this one’s set to be as good as any! I’ll be blogging some key takeaways after. Stayed tuned!

Re:State@re-state.bsky.social · last yr.

As the dust settles on yesterday's spring statement, we're thrilled to be hosting an expert debrief today with Richard Hughes, Chair, OBR, @chriscurtis94.bsky.social, and @lindayueh.bsky.social Follow for live updates and recording!

Petition to bring back serious budget covers

@floconway.bsky.social and @patrickking.bsky.social argue in the MJ that delivering neighbourhood health will mean being radical in devolving power and resources to hyper-local areas👇 www.themj.co.uk/designing-hy...

Designing hyper-local prevention-focused services

On entering government, the health secretary declared the NHS broken. Fixing it will mean embedding local leadership at heart of the health system – and particularly...

themj.co.uk

The biggest neighbourhood health wins will come through experimentation not central direction Our report today argues that the design of a neighbourhood health service must put the autonomy of local leaders and providers front and centre My blog, on other key design principles👇

Re:State@re-state.bsky.social · last yr.

Senior Researcher @patrickking.bsky.social has written a blog to mark the launch of our latest paper: Designing a Neighbourhood Health Service He discusses the 3 core components shared by the most mature and high-impact neighbourhood systems

Now published! t.co/4LrNeOvspk

Patrick King@patrickking.bsky.social · last yr.

Had a great time working on this with @floconway.bsky.social and discovering so many incredible examples of primary care innovation already underway Tomorrow we publish 'Designing a Neighbourhood Health Service' - setting out key design principles and lessons to take away

Will people in politics invent new phrases rather than using 30 year old impenetrable ones, or are they frit??????

Had a great time working on this with @floconway.bsky.social and discovering so many incredible examples of primary care innovation already underway Tomorrow we publish 'Designing a Neighbourhood Health Service' - setting out key design principles and lessons to take away

Today we are excited to launch our new programme, "Building the preventative state", in partnership with Newton. Our Director @charliepickles.bsky.social and Newton Senior Partner Richard Lum joined up to blog about what we're doing and why it matters. reform.uk/comment/buil...

Building the preventative state - REFORM

reform.uk

The Week is out!🎉 "decisions made about spending and policy shouldn’t be put beyond the remit of elected ministers" This week, Policy Director, @jo3hill.bsky.social reflects on the Government's public service reform announcements