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Patrick King

@patrickking.bsky.social
249 followers 126 following 124 posts

Working in AI policy, ex-think tanker. Views my own.

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Reposted by Patrick King
Re:State @re-state.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
On Wednesday we hosted Mayor David Skaith for an 'In Conversation' as part of ongoing 'Meetings with Mayors' series Policy Director, @stkaye.bsky.social, has written a blog with his key takeaways from the event
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Simon Kaye @stkaye.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Best of luck with what's next my friend. It has been a privelege.
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
🚨Personal news🚨 After three and a half brilliant, jam-packed years @reformthinktank.bsky.social, today is my final day I'll still be based in Westminster (more on this to come). But if I could just give a quick shout out to the exceptional people I've worked with 🧵
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
My last ever Reform blog! On the dynamics of when it's best/easiest to enact radical change
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Charlotte Pickles @charliepickles.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Why do we continue to see competitive salaries in the public sector as a problem? There are plenty of reasons to cull quangos, but how much senior staff are paid is not one of them In fact being able to pay a competitive salary is one reasons quangos are created
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
This says much more about the frugality of PM's pay than it does about officials running some of the most important and specialist parts of the State www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
dailymail.co.uk
Figures show at least 350 bosses earn more than the Prime Minister
More than 350 quango bosses received a higher taxpayer-paid salary than the £172,153 Keir Starmer is entitled to.
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
I've been wanting to write about this for a while. A senior official once told @reformthinktank.bsky.social that the future is "policymaking as code". What does that say about the value of policymaking? And the future of the civil service/think tank/charity complex?
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Re:State @re-state.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
How can we make Neighbourhood Boards truly successful? 🏘️ In the blog this week, researcher, @floconway.bsky.social, shares her thoughts...
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Charlotte Pickles @charliepickles.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
V excited for this next week! 🔥 What's it really like working inside Downing Street? What works, what doesn't? How does the machine need to change?
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Re:State @re-state.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
🎉The Blog is out! This week, our Head of Health, @rosiebeacon.bsky.social, writes about the Govt's plans for secondary care and the challenges facing proposed reforms... 🏥🚑
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
The 'prioritise my thing' in Whitehall playbook: 1) The empowered Chair/Chief Exec 2) Unlimited authority - granted direct from PM 3) Single business case + budget 4) Pay *much* more than civil service to get *actual experts*
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Re:State @re-state.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Antimicrobial resistance is a major challenge to the UK’s health security and is already responsible for a significant burden of death, disability and prolonged illness globally. We've submitted evidence to the Public Accounts Committee's inquiry on AMR governance, with insights from our research👇
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Great to see the Evaluation Registry go live. As we argued in Efficiency Mindset, there should be every incentive for depts to develop policies with a strong VfM evidence base. Making past evaluations more transparent & accessible clearly supports this. civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2025/03/31/p...
civilservice.blog.gov.uk
Public Launch of the Evaluation Registry
Today, the Evaluation Task Force – a joint Cabinet Office and HM Treasury team – has launched the Evaluation Registry, a new website on GOV.UK. The Registry brings together all planned, ongoing, and c...
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
We need to boldly commission a public review in how we mean to be bold. Then conduct a consultation on bold measures, put that through several cabinet committees, notably the Committee on Bold Action, and then argue about them in the run up to a fiscal moment. Where we'll discover there's no money
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
@theguardian.com is reporting that “In cases where it is essential quangos are independent from ministerial decision-making, for example those with a regulatory function or that scrutinise government or protect the rule of law, then these will remain unaffected.” t.co/h3OcjAIz09
t.co
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/apr/06/ministers-consider-abolishing-hundreds-of-quangos-sources-say
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Re:State @re-state.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Reform of the State is a precursor to economic growth. As @chriscurtis94.bsky.social says, the risk of keeping the status quo now "significantly outweighs the risk of reform". Our report with @labourgrowth.bsky.social sets out key steps that would allow for a more nimble, effective Whitehall.
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
It's really excellent to see today's announcement on pharmacy, and investment matching rhetoric on the shift to community health provision. We should recognise and reward decision-makers when they break from the status quo & immediate to invest in the long-term & important.
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
In a competitive and uncertain world, economic growth relies on a capable state that can act decisively to create opportunities and unblock barriers to progress Great to partner with @labourgrowth.bsky.social to make the case for Whitehall reform!
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Charlotte Pickles @charliepickles.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Well this is exciting We've joined up with the @labourgrowth.bsky.social to publish 9 steps to rewiring the State Reforming Whitehall is not a technocratic exercise, its essential to building a better Britain. This paper makes the case for turning gov into an enabler of growth
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
A brilliant and rare opportunity to come and work on some of the most interesting Qs of State capacity and resilience! What could be more important or timely? Highly recommend applying, and happy to chat about the role!
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Re:State @re-state.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Missed our Spring Statement debrief event yesterday? Senior Researcher @patrickking.bsky.social has you covered with the key takeaways: reform.uk/comment/lets...
reform.uk
Let's get fiscal - REFORM
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Our statement/budget debriefs are mr fav events in the Reform calendar And this one’s set to be as good as any! I’ll be blogging some key takeaways after. Stayed tuned!
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Petition to bring back serious budget covers
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Re:State @re-state.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
@floconway.bsky.social and @patrickking.bsky.social argue in the MJ that delivering neighbourhood health will mean being radical in devolving power and resources to hyper-local areas👇 www.themj.co.uk/designing-hy...
themj.co.uk
Designing hyper-local prevention-focused services
On entering government, the health secretary declared the NHS broken. Fixing it will mean embedding local leadership at heart of the health system – and particularly...
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
The biggest neighbourhood health wins will come through experimentation not central direction Our report today argues that the design of a neighbourhood health service must put the autonomy of local leaders and providers front and centre My blog, on other key design principles👇
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Now published! t.co/4LrNeOvspk
t.co
https://reform.uk/publications/designing-a-neighbourhood-health-service/
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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Will people in politics invent new phrases rather than using 30 year old impenetrable ones, or are they frit??????
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Had a great time working on this with @floconway.bsky.social and discovering so many incredible examples of primary care innovation already underway Tomorrow we publish 'Designing a Neighbourhood Health Service' - setting out key design principles and lessons to take away
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Re:State @re-state.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Today we are excited to launch our new programme, "Building the preventative state", in partnership with Newton. Our Director @charliepickles.bsky.social and Newton Senior Partner Richard Lum joined up to blog about what we're doing and why it matters. reform.uk/comment/buil...
reform.uk
Building the preventative state - REFORM
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Re:State @re-state.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
The Week is out!🎉 "decisions made about spending and policy shouldn’t be put beyond the remit of elected ministers" This week, Policy Director, @jo3hill.bsky.social reflects on the Government's public service reform announcements
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Florence Conway @floconway.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
A few wks ago I asked whether NHSE is impossible to lead... and I guess Govt agreed...! At @reformthinktank.bsky.social, we have written extensively on the need for greater devolution in the health service to deliver a truly preventative, ppl-centred health system reform.uk/comment/is-t...
reform.uk
Is the NHS impossible to lead? - REFORM
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
A big day in @reformthinktank.bsky.social towers yday as the pipeline from research to visible impact suddenly became very short As ever, announcing is much easier than implementing. So I wanted to re-share the reports that detail our thinking, to help w/ next steps🧵
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
"You said, we did"
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Today's Civil Service reforms could be the most significant in at least a decade We know some of what will be announced: on AI, quangos and performance But what are the other big wins for modernisation?🧵
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
I write in @labourlist.bsky.social on why the PM’s decision to focus on the performance of public bodies should be applauded 👇 t.co/YUsP8ijz48
t.co
https://labourlist.org/2025/03/keir-starmer-speech-crackdown-on-quangos/
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
V. serious signal being sent by a body as big as Homes England being brought into the department. It was one of ~100 public bodies that we argued, in our recent report, doesn't require arm's-length status. See below for the full list.
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Brilliant to see the PM going big on quangos this week. And to have our report cited in The Times splash about his speech. Public bodies are responsible for 60% of day-to-day spending. Fixing how they’re held accountable & overseen by depts is vital for effective delivery👇
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Rosie Beacon @rosiebeacon.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
I also wrote a piece for the @telegraphnews.bsky.social on how the NHS actually works. We've ended up with a half devolved, half centralised NHS which achieves the policy ambitions of neither system. And just streamlining NHSE doesn't fix this identity crisis 👇 www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03...
telegraph.co.uk
NHS England is a farce. To fix the health system, the Government must relinquish control
Our health service currently operates under the worst of both worlds, with both excessive centralisation and too loose a leash
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
V. glad to see government recognising that the complexity of the ALB landscape is a serious barrier to delivery - as we argued in our report Quangocracy, only 2 weeks ago.
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Re:State @re-state.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Senior Researcher @patrickking.bsky.social writes in Conservative Home that, without reform, public bodies are a risk to unified government delivery. conservativehome.com/2025/03/07/p...
conservativehome.com
Patrick King: The Quangocracy has mutated into something that blocks effective government | Conservative Home
Until we cut back the number of public bodies and give Ministerial departments the tools they need to properly grip ‘Whitehall’s wild west’, the hundreds of bodies that already exist could drift furth...
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
The local govt team at @reformthinktank.bsky.social are on a roll of punchy, practical papers to meaningfully devolve power and change the architecture of UK governance. Today's report is another must-read.
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Re:State @re-state.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Mayor Claire Ward of EMCA joined us this morning for 'meetings with mayors' Missed it? You can watch it back here reform.uk/featured/in-... & we have more scheduled, with Richard Parker and Oliver Coppard (& more mayors in the pipeline!) Email events@reform.uk to sign up!
reform.uk
In conversation with Claire Ward - REFORM
Reform was delighted to host Claire Ward, Mayor of the East Midlands, as part of our first 'Meeting with Mayors' series.
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
I argue in the blog this week why the next Spending Review would be remiss not to focus on the value for money secured by public bodies.
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
"It’s clearly unacceptable for sponsorship of bodies which spend billions of pounds to be deprioritised in Whitehall." Great first op-ed by @alicesemark.bsky.social in @civilserviceworld.bsky.social on our report, Quangocracy, published last week! www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article...
civilserviceworld.com
Inadequate oversight of public bodies has resulted in headline-worthy failures of delivery
Public bodies are consistently overlooked when governments try to reform the state
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Civil service reform has a tendency to focus on policy & a proportionately small number employed in SW1. If the PM is serious about rewiring the State, he must also focus on the 60% of day-to-day spending through public bodies. A quick🧵on our report Quangocracy, from last week
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Great thread on where the government should look on civil service reform
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
When we talk about ‘rewiring the State’, this is the big prize that very few governments have thought strategically about or gripped. Delighted to have our report on the future of public bodies out today.
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Very excited for this to be out tomorrow 👀🔥
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Over half of day-to-day spending is through public bodies. If they’re not delivering, government isn’t delivering. Yet new @reformthinktank.bsky.social research shows we often can’t tell either way. I’m in @thetimes.com on the need to improve oversight of public bodies: bit.ly/41jGIu2
thetimes.com
Labour’s ‘quangocracy’ has many spending risks, report warns
More than £350 billion of taxpayers’ money is spent by arm’s-length bodies that ministers are failing to scrutinise properly, the report suggests
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Patrick King @patrickking.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Am I right in thinking that it's not public which Directors General are SROs for the Government's five missions? (Other than the Home Office, which names them on their governance page)
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