While Whitehall and Westminster take a short ‘breather’, we’re busily planning the rest of our summer schedule after a hectic May.
Ministers and officials alike will be thinking hard about the next phase in the Coalition’s evolution. In our review of its first year, 'One Year On', we took stock of the Government’s progress in areas including public service reform, Whitehall transformation and the much-maligned yet enduring Big Society. Our poll with Populus showed that whilst a majority of the public believe the Lib Dems did the right thing in entering a coalition, they generally think coalition government is far less desirable and effective than single-party government.
We also launched our report 'The Challenge of Being a Minister' and we concluded that whilst there is probably no such thing as an ‘ideal’ minister, frequent reshuffles and a lack of feedback certainly don’t help individuals to achieve success. Lord Heseltine, the most-mentioned example of an effective minister in our research, joined us for our lively launch event on 24 May.
In June, international colleagues will join us to discuss the best models for supporting heads of government to drive their policy agendas. Meanwhile, Patricia Hewitt MP, Lord Sainsbury, John Cridland and others will discuss how business interacts with government in the first of a series of breakfast seminars in partnership with Editorial Intelligence. You can sign up here.
Finally, I’m heading back to Birmingham this month for the launch of our Mayors and Growth report which looks at the contribution of elected mayors to the economic prosperity of the areas they serve. You are welcome to join me at the event on 14 June.
