On Thursday 22 February we are delighted to join forces with the Institute for Government to hold a breakfast meeting addressing public service productivity.
The importance of the public sector and public services for productivity growth generally is perhaps less well appreciated than it ought to be. Yet the public sector and public services account for up to a quarter of national output and over two fifths of national spending. So, how well the public sector and public services use the resources at their disposal matters.
This seminar will provide an opportunity to discuss what the key dimensions of public sector and public service productivity are; the considerable challenges involved in measuring them and plans for improving them; what we know about the drivers of public sector and public service productivity; and what actions might be taken to promote them perhaps as part of a more broadly based public service reform agenda.
Stephen Aldridge is Director for Analysis and Data at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. A government economist by background, he has also worked in the Department of Trade and Industry (now the Department for Business and Trade); various predecessors to his current department; the Cabinet Office; and Her Majesty’s Treasury. Amongst other things, Stephen is a founding trustee and Board member of the Centre for Homelessness Impact; a member of the Public Policy Committee of the British Academy; a fellow and Council member of the Academy of Social Sciences; a trustee of Local Trust; and an Advisory Board member at the Centre for Science and Policy at the University of Cambridge. Stephen was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the Queen’s birthday honours list 2007.
Gemma Tetlow is Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. She leads the Institute’s work on public finances and contributes to economics-related work across the Institute. Gemma is a regular commentator on the radio and television – including BBC Radio 4, Times Radio, ITV News and Sky News – and in the print media.Gemma has a PhD in economics. She started her career as a research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, eventually being promoted to lead its work on public finances and pensions. After that, she joined the Financial Times as economics correspondent, reporting on UK and global economic developments, before joining IfG in 2018. She also serves as an ONS Fellow, helping the UK’s national statistics authority to transform and improve its economic statistics, sits on the advisory board for the CAGE research centre at Warwick University and is a governor of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR).
Amanda Rowlatt is Chief Analyst at the Department for Transport. Before this she was Chief Economist at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Competition Commission and the Office for National Statistics. She has also had policy director responsibilities at the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for International Development. Amanda is Deputy Chair of Brunel University and is on the Council of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research.
The event starts at 09.00am and will be held at the offices of the Institute for Government, 2 Carlton Gardens, London, SW1Y 5AA.
Registration is from 08.30am.
Members can book via the SPE notices.