Change. That was the great slogan of the last election.
It would be hard for anyone in politics to argue that the public’s appetite for change has been met. People remain frustrated by the state of Great Britain. They feel let down and disconnected from politics, something that any MP and Minister knows from their constituents.
Interpretation of “change” may have differed at the edges, but as we move towards next week’s Autumn Budget, action on the cost of living and improvements in public services sit at the heart of our political debate. The constrained economic climate adds pressure on the government to find new solutions to old challenges, whether that’s cutting NHS waiting lists, improving programmes for young people, or transforming adult social care.
Delivering orthodox government – anything that is seen by the public as continuation of the status quo – will not meet the scale of the challenge we face. Politics without a bold solution for public service reform is not politics that can meet this moment for Britain. That is true for the costs incurred and the poor outcomes delivered by status quo public services.
Luckily, we know it is precisely in times of crisis that innovation, bravery and creativity thrive. People across the country have faced challenges in their communities with solutions that might have seemed impossible or even ridiculous, taking risks the state too often avoids, and have found it to pay off.
There is an energy across Britain’s communities and all tiers of government that we risk losing sight of. Ideas and work that have too often been sidelined or overlooked have now come to the centre of the conversation. When, in December 2024, the then Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden launched the government’s “Test, Learn and Grow” programme, we saw a new form of messaging about reform, far removed from the usual talk of levers pulled from the centre and Whitehall departments reorganised. Instead, we heard the government embrace innovation and collaboration, we heard a genuine belief that change comes from the bottom up, and all of this underpinned by a humility that no single institution can have all the answers (especially if they’re based in SW1).
It’s the people embracing change we will bring together at our conference Britain Renewed 2025: Public Service for People and Place.
We’ll be joined by leaders from across politics, local government, the civil service, civil society and business, all willing to get stuck into the work of how we reform our public services. We’re thrilled to be joined by ministers Josh Simons MP and Kirsty McNeill MP, as well as a fantastic line up of speakers from across local and regional government, civil society, business and our public services.
We’ll be asking what a programme of genuine public service improvement looks and feels like for the public, and what it means for civil servants and others across sectors tasked with delivering change. And we’ll explore how that energy for public service reform – what James Plunkett calls the ‘energy at the edges’ – can really take root in Whitehall.
We know that real change won’t just be measured in political projects or opinion polls, but will be measured in the lives of people and places across Britain. It will be measured by those who feel valued and recognised. Whether it’s the young person who gains the confidence and skills to enter the workforce or the elderly couple who are able to remain at home, in their community, supported by the people around them, who are in turn supported to deliver such care. Each story is a life, each an interaction between people, the state, and the community they call home.
We’re proud to be hosting Britain Renewed 2025: Public Service for People and Place, where we will give a platform to those that have delivered change, and to hear from those leaders that wish to build a new era for public service reform, built on a respect for ordinary people in places across Britain.
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On December 2 we will be hosting Britain Renewed 2025, a one-day conference bringing together politicians, senior civil servants, community leaders, frontline public servants and business voices to build momentum for public service reform to take hold across Whitehall. You can find out more about the event here.
