In conversation with John Swinney MSP, Deputy First Minister of Scotland

The inside story of a prime minister’s chief of staff

<p>From closed schools to postponed exams, isolating teachers to bursting classroom bubbles, the last 18 months of education has been massively disrupted by the Covid-19 crisis. What can be done to help those students that have fallen behind? How can the gaps in attainment be bridged? And what lessons has lockdown taught us about education?</p><p>To discuss the challenges facing the education system in the next phase of the pandemic and Ofsted's role in the new academic year and beyond,&nbsp;<strong>Amanda Spielman</strong>, the Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills, was in conversation with&nbsp;<strong>Bronwen Maddox</strong>, Director of the Institute for Government.</p><p><em>Amanda Spielman has been Ofsted Chief Inspector since January 2017. Between 2011 and 2016, she was chair of Ofqual, the qualifications regulator. From 2005 she was a founding member of the leadership team at the academy chain Ark Schools. Previously she worked at KPMG, Kleinwort Benson, Mercer Management Consulting and Nomura International.</em></p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ifgofsted&amp;src=typed_query" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>#IfGOfsted</strong></a></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>

<p>From disrupted supply chains to a shortage of lorry drivers, Brexit and Covid have combined to cause major problems at the UK border. Nando’s, McDonald’s and the Co-op are just three of the firms to have been affected.</p><p>As pandemic-related travel problems continue, the true impact of post-Brexit border rules has yet to hit. Full border checks on EU imports to Great Britain will only come into effect later this year, while extensive controls on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland may be introduced in the autumn. Businesses and individuals are currently left in limbo as negotiations between the UK and EU continue over how the Northern Ireland protocol will operate long-term.</p><p>Will border disruption worsen as the year goes on? How ready are business and government for the introduction of new controls?&nbsp;Is the UK’s new immigration to blame for staffing issues? And what more can done to solve existing problems and prepare for further changes.</p><p>To discuss these issues, we were joined by an expert panel:</p><ul><li><strong>William Bain</strong>, Head of Trade Policy at the&nbsp;British Chambers of Commerce</li><li><strong>Elly Darkin</strong>, Senior Associate at Global Counsel</li><li><strong>Julian Jessop</strong>, Economics Fellow at the&nbsp;Institute of Economic Affairs</li><li><strong>Ian Wright</strong>, Chief Executive of the&nbsp;Food and Drink Federation.</li></ul><p>The event was chaired by&nbsp;<strong>Joe Marshall</strong>, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government.</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IFGBrexit?src=hashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>#IfGBrexit</strong></a></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>

<p>The pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the way Britain supports its poorest families – and also strengths. What should the government learn from the last 18 months and what opportunities for reform can it seize? The Second World War led to the Beveridge report and the creation of the welfare state and the NHS; can the pandemic also galvanise radical change?</p><p>An adviser to successive governments, most recently as the chair of the government’s Covid-19 rough sleeping taskforce,&nbsp;<strong>Baroness Casey</strong>&nbsp;is now calling for major reform in the way governments tackle hunger, rough sleeping and poverty.</p><p>She was in conversation with&nbsp;<strong>Bronwen Maddox</strong>, Director of the Institute for Government</p><p><em>Baroness Casey has previously run the Rough Sleepers Unit, the Respect Task Force and the Troubled Families Unit. She also chaired this government’s Covid-19 rough sleeping taskforce.</em></p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IFGcasey?src=hashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>#IfGCasey</strong></a></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>

<p>As one of the UK’s top epidemiologists and the head of the influential modelling group at Imperial College London,&nbsp;<strong>Neil Ferguson</strong>&nbsp;has played a critical role in providing advice during the Covid-19 crisis, as well as previous crises including foot and mouth.</p><br><p>In conversation with&nbsp;<strong>Bronwen Maddox</strong>, Director of the Institute for Government, Professor Ferguson discussed the lessons he has learned about advising government, the role of scientific modelling in informing decision making and how scientists should communicate with the public. He also assessed the latest Covid-19 data, and what measures may need to be taken in the weeks and months ahead.</p><br><p><em>Professor Neil Ferguson is head of the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London.</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>

A special panel in the run-up to COP26

<p>The Brexit negotiations demonstrated long-standing weaknesses in parliament’s ability to scrutinise trade negotiations and international treaties – with much of the May government’s time spent managing attempts by parliamentarians to enhance their role. In light of the government’s post-Brexit ambition to conclude new trade deals with countries around the world, this panel examined how parliament currently scrutinises international treaties and what more parliamentarians should do to ensure effective scrutiny.</p><p>To discuss these issues, we were joined by:</p><ul><li><strong>Jill Barrett</strong>, Associate Member 6 Pump Court, International Law Consultant and former Foreign Office legal adviser</li><li><strong>Mark Garnier MP</strong>, Member of the House of Commons International Trade Committee and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Trade, 2016–18</li><li><strong>Professor Holger Hestermeyer</strong>, Professor of International and EU law at King’s College London</li><li><strong>Alex Horne</strong>, Counsel at Hackett and Dabbs LLP and Special Adviser to the House of Lords International Agreements Committee</li></ul><p>The event was chaired by&nbsp;<strong>Maddy Thimont Jack</strong>, Associate Director at the Institute for Government.</p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>

<p>Membership of the EU meant that the UK had not had its own independent trade policy for more than 40 years. In one of her first acts as prime minister, Theresa May established the Department for International Trade to take on this function. This panel looked back at how department was established, how effective it has been in developing the UK’s skills and approach to international trade policy, and what more needs to be done to make the UK the big player in international trade it aspires to be.</p><p>To discuss these issues, we were joined by:</p><ul><li><strong>John Alty</strong>, Interim Permanent Secretary at the Department for International Trade</li><li><strong>Dr&nbsp;Lorand Bartels,&nbsp;</strong>Reader in International Law at the University of Cambridge and Counsel at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP</li><li><strong>Sam Lowe</strong>, Senior Research Fellow at the&nbsp;Centre for European Reform</li><li><strong>Jill Rutter</strong>, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government</li></ul><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ifgtrade&amp;src=typed_query" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>#IfGtrade</strong></a></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>

<p><strong>Sir Jeremy Farrar</strong>&nbsp;has been at the heart of the global fight against Covid-19. As head of one the world’s most influential medical research charities and a leading member of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/sage" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">SAGE</a>, he has played a decisive role as complex decisions were taken to meet the rapidly-evolving threat of the pandemic.</p><p>Sir Jeremy discussed his new book,&nbsp;<em>Spike – The Virus v The People: The Inside Story</em>, with&nbsp;<strong>Bronwen Maddox</strong>, Director of the Institute for Government. The book, co- authored with the&nbsp;<em>Financial Times</em>&nbsp;science columnist, Anjana Ahuja, sets out his reflections on the extraordinary last 18 months and puts forward his ideas on how the world can be better prepared to tackle future threats.</p><p><strong>#IfGFarrar</strong></p><p><em>We would like to thank Wellcome Trust for kindly supporting this event, which follows&nbsp;</em><a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publications/tackling-covid-long-term" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>a joint project on how policy makers should tackle Covid-19 over the long term</em></a><em>.</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>

<p>As part of a new series of events on the future of devolution and the Union, the Institute for Government was delighted to welcome&nbsp;<strong>The Rt Hon Mark Drakeford</strong>, Welsh Labour leader and First Minister of Wales.</p><p>After setting out his vision for devolution and reforming the Union, based on the Welsh government paper,&nbsp;<em>Reforming Our Union: Shared Governance in the UK 2nd Edition</em>, the First Minister was in conversation with&nbsp;<strong>Akash Paun</strong>, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.</p><p>The First Minister discussed the state of relations between Westminster and Cardiff, the scope for changes to the powers and funding of the Welsh government, the case for reform of the House of Lords, and what needs to be done to create a new culture of shared governance between UK and devolved administrations.</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IfGdevo?src=hashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>#IfGDevo</strong></a></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>