Institute for Government Institute for Government

So what can be done to improve productivity? By highlighting outstanding examples of innovation across public services, Productivity Pitches, a new series of events hosted by the IfG, aims to share and support ways to improve performance levels.

This event was the third in the series and focussed on health and social care.

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 – who are kindly supporting this event series – then brought together the common themes from the pitches and discussed the lessons for improving productivity.

Preventative public services are designed to deal with problems before they develop, or before they become more complicated to manage. Evidence suggests that children in particular benefit from investment whether that’s in the early years, or earlier in their life cycle, helping to prevent problems from determining their outcomes later in life. The Labour Party has put prevention at the centre of its plans for public services, promising a ‘prevention first revolution’. And the government has identified increased prevention as a key contributor towards improved public sector productivity. However, high demand for acute services means governments have often found it difficult to invest in prevention.

So what can be done to bring about a change of approach?

This event brought together a panel of experts to discuss:

What are preventative services and how has investment in them changed over time?
What evidence is there that preventative services improve outcomes and deliver savings?
What are the barriers to government taking a preventative approach?
How could government funding be shifted towards preventative services?
What can be learnt from previous examples of preventative approaches?
To discuss these questions and more, we were joined by an expert panel, including:

Stuart Hoddinott, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government
Rt Hon Sir Sajid Javid MP, former Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Donna Molloy, Deputy Chief Executive at Foundations
Lynn Perry MBE, Chief Executive of Barnardo’s

The event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

We would like to thank Barnardo’s for kindly supporting this event.

The Rt Hon David Lammy MP set out how a foreign policy lens of 'progressive realism' might affect the practice of diplomacy, should Labour win the election.

The discussion covered the evolution of the Foreign Office as an institution, under both Labour and Conservative governments. It focused in particular on the balance between traditional diplomatic activity and the new demands created by climate change, global health challenges and the regulation of emerging technologies.

The Shadow Foreign Secretary also explored the convergence between domestic economic and foreign policy and its implications for how Labour's mission-driven approach would shape how Whitehall works on international issues.

Following his speech, David Lammy was in conversation with Dr Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government, and took questions from the audience.

Parliament and regulators: How can scrutiny be improved? by Institute for Government

The Institute for Government welcomed Lucy Powell MP, the Shadow Leader of the Commons, to give a keynote speech on how a Labour government would approach parliament, the legislative process, and the role of MPs.

With Westminster hit by a series of scandals in recent years, what can be done to restore parliament's image? How can the legislative process be improved? And how would Labour, if elected, approach the way that MPs work in parliament?

Following her speech, Lucy Powell was in conversation with Dr Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government. She then took part in an audience Q&A.

General election: What makes a successful communications strategy? by Institute for Government