iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

‘Doesn’t work’ that should have read. And agree with your fragmentation point

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Different times - I loved my time there and am very proud of it. Method live on but structures less so

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

It’s a brilliant report, surely its time to fix this profound dysfunction at the heart of government. I’ve been banging on about this for a while. Whilst the arguments resonate widely with rest of civil service HMT just doesn’t seem concerned. www.civilservicereformuk.com/single-post/...

civilservicereformuk.com

The 2 great lies about UK spending reviews

As we head into an unusually significant ‘outcome focused’ spending review ministers and senior officials should reflect on two mistruths that have dogged public expenditure controls and the accompany...

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Fair point - but in my defence it was a short blog focusing more on civil service reform. You’ll see all the points that you mentioned and more in the full case story.

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

HMT Currently lying down in a darkened room muttering ‘rational choice’ to themselves as they slide towards oblivion

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

The creation of the Government Digital Service in 2011 was the start of one of the boldest and most impactful reforms of the last 60 years. It is a playbook for high impact reform. My case study is due Nov 2026. My blog says why the story matters and how its exposes civil service dysfunction.

civilservicereformuk.com

A barium meal: what the Government Digital Service’s story reveals about a Civil Service that struggles to reform itself

Source: A GDS story 2013. The first birthday of GOV.UKThe creation of the Government Digital Service in 2011 was the start of one of the boldest and most impactful reforms of the last 60 years. The GD...

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

Despite the ubiquity of top down control by government through performance measurement and management regimes - they rarely work: doomed by their profoundly flawed view of what motivates public servants. My blog shows why they persist and why they fail. I sketch out a better approach.

civilservicereformuk.com

The rise and fail of top-down control

Image created by Freepik 23-8-2025Why government should kick its addiction to failed top-down controlsDespite the ubiquity and longevity of top down control by government through performance measureme...

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

I strongly recommend that fellow reform geeks take a look at this excellent report from Amy Gandon, now working with Demos. She gets under the bonnet of how civil servants really feel about their civil service to explore what it is about Whitehall that scuppers so many reform efforts.

demos.co.uk

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

civilservicereformuk.com

The rise and fail of top-down control

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

Despite the longevity of top down control by government through performance management regimes - they rarely work. My new blog unpicks their flawed foundations. I sketch out a new model. But there are big barriers to making the change we need. www.civilservicereformuk.com/single-post/...

civilservicereformuk.com

The rise and fail of top-down control

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

A very sound and important post from @jillongovt.bsky.social and @tompope.bsky.social. This is shockingly overdue and fits perfectly with Rayner’s devolution agenda. How does the treasuries misconceived control freakery endure when there are so many good people working there?

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

My new blog is one for serious reform geeks - my conceptual model for an episode of civil service reform. The blog outlines the research that led to it. The model will provide the lens for a series of reform case studies. www.civilservicereformuk.com/single-post/...

civilservicereformuk.com

Cracking the code: understanding successful civil service reform

My civilservicereformuk.com research programme is looking differently at civil service reforms to provide insights into the practice of reform that will help ministers and officials succeed in future ...

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

civilservicereformuk.com

Cracking the code: understanding successful civil service reform

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

This is a brilliant piece - if only someone in no10 and the treasury would read and act on it.

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Don’t forget the continuing catastrophe that is thatchers right to buy. Or are you too young!

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Excited Simon?! It’s just so bizarre that successive governments just accept this. HMT and perm secs seem institutionally brainwashed into a fear of devolving and delegating more - when literally the whole of Europe manages it. And you are correct about council tax - it is nothing of the kind.

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Sam Macrory @sammacrory.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

As the numbers are crunched and Rachel Reeves's spending review winners and losers emerge, whatever happened to Labour's vision of "mission-led" government...? Here's @drhannahwhite.bsky.social's on the day verdict for the @theguardian.com ... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

Has Rachel Reeves made the right choices? Our panel responds to the spending review

The chancellor announced spending on health, housing, defence, and infrastructure. But will it be felt by ordinary voters? Polly Toynbee, Kirsty Major, Sahil Dutta, Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, Jonny R...

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Are we witnessing the slow death of the council tax? On the face of it #localgov doesn't do too badly from the spending review, but a lot of that new money is actually the government banking a universal 5% rise in council tax, 2% of which is a straightforward national precept for social care.

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

It’s good you are still in the game Paul. There are such great opportunities - we just need some bold leadership to unleash all the good people and ideas that are out there.

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

I guess you don’t get to the top by flexing your strategic leadership muscles - unlike the many local authority Cex’s and leaders. Me and James page lamented this void in 2012. Building on your arguments for in shaping up. Same story. Gus O’Donnell and Bob kerslake got it, but that’s it so far.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Thanks Simon - it’s just so frustrating! All the pieces to be better are waiting for some vision, courage and preparedness to push back at the treasury.

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

5 Missions were to be the North Star for Starmer. 12 wasted months later they are obscured by cloud. The spending review looks more like Osborne’s 2010 axe than a mission led investment in key milestones. A bold and reformist reset is needed. www.civilservicereformuk.com/single-post/...

civilservicereformuk.com

The avoidable demise of mission led government

Prime Minister Starmer promised that five Missions would be the North Star for his government.Almost 12 months later they are obscured by cloud. And a storm of cabinet disunity is looming.There is a s...

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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 08/05/2025

Interested in learning and development? Want to make government more effective? We are looking for a Learning and Development Officer to join our @ifgacademy.bsky.social team. Applications will close on Sunday 11 May at 11:59pm - find out more www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/about-us/car...

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Agreed - shared services are notoriously strong on big £ business cases - whilst failing to deliver. They ignore cost of the dysfunctional (but necessary) organisational response to poor services and botched implementation. This is exposed by great research by Thomas Elston from Blavatnik School.

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

The clarity and transparency of the argument in this excellent blog are the antithesis of the two great lies that surround successive spending review that I explore in my recent blog. www.civilservicereformuk.com/single-post/...

civilservicereformuk.com

It is time to confront the 2 great lies of UK spending reviews

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Smart Thinking @smartthinking.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Not one but TWO new senior research roles have opened up @carnegieuk.bsky.social Are you a proven researcher who wants to work at the interface between data, research, public policy and practice? Research and Insight: buff.ly/40wnmml Data and Insight: buff.ly/40xXHK7

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Yasmin Ibison @yasminibison.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

As govt doubles down on turbocharging w/ AI narrative, it feels relevant to reshare some work I commissioned at @jrf-uk.bsky.social asking experts 'To what extent can AI improve public policymaking?' This response from @gavinfreeguard.bsky.social is a personal fave! www.jrf.org.uk/ai-for-publi...

jrf.org.uk

Definitions, digital, and distance: on AI and policymaking

Human decisions will drive the deployment of technology in policymaking, for good and ill. Better policymaking should make lives better for humans, which is why we should listen to them.

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Research from Elston and MacCarthaigh provides serious food for thought for treasury ministers who would fall for the easy politics of centralised input controls like shared services. Spoiler alert: few cashable savings, generate hidden costs and disempower managers from improving efficiency.

doi.org

Sharing services, saving money? Five risks to cost-saving when organizations share services

Shared services are a popular reform for governments under financial pressure. The hope is to reduce overheads and increase efficiency by providing support services like HR, finance and procurement...

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Carnegie UK @carnegieuk.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Join the team! 📢 We’re excited to be recruiting two new roles to join our policy team, focusing on research and data. 🔵 Senior Researcher (Research and Insight) 🔵 Senior Researcher (Data and Insight) Find out more and apply: carnegieuk.org/work-with-us/

carnegieuk.org

Work With Us - Carnegie UK

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Such sad news. A brilliant career He made massive, and successful efforts to bridge the gap between academia and Whitehall through the ESRC public services programme, nurturing the careers of a generation of public service reform researchers in the process. A lovely, thoughtful and humble man.

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

Ministers and officials need to confront the two lies that dog spending reviews: effiencies are rarely that, instead they lead to blunt cuts with unconsidered consequences; the Treasury's self-identity as a strategic performance budgeter is shattered by their increased use of input controls

civilservicereformuk.com

It is time to confront the 2 great lies of UK spending reviews

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

civilservicereformuk.com

It is time to confront the 2 great lies of UK spending reviews

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Tom Calver @tomcalver.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

And the NHS actually spends less on things we consider “waste”, like admin and managers, than many other nations. The NHS may indeed be inefficient — but it is not “bloated”. Rather, it is inefficient because it is run too lean. More in my column 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/1130...

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

So wrong - and another tedious task that Santa frankly does not the have resources for

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

Devolution has some work to do. Stark picture of re-centralisation and defunding of local public service - taking out a third of local government jobs since Osborne’s spiteful axe in 2010.

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

In this reform smackdown @jdportes.bsky.social wins on two counts: HMT should be able to do finance and growth simultaneously; 60 years of wasteful structural battles achieved less than next step reform’s delegation of finance controls. Yes to beefing up no10 ability to challenge HMT constructively.

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Jennifer Williams @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Excl: Government will move to scrap district councils in its devolution white paper on Monday, sparking the biggest local government reorganisation in 50 years on.ft.com/3VBH0ui

on.ft.com

District councils face scrapping in major overhaul of English local government

[FREE TO READ] Devolution white paper aims to create larger authorities and more elected mayors

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Chris Stark @chrisstark.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Our brand new Clean Power 2030 Action Plan is published today. We’ve produced this at lightning pace - it’s packed with new steps towards clean power. We’re moving quickly and making big decisions to open the path to 2030. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Clean Power 2030 Action Plan

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/675bfaa4cfbf84c3b2bcf986/clean-power-2030-action-plan.pdf

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Peter Thomas @peterdt847.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Pat McFadden’s speech today signals a big change in how central government sees its role. The implications of the implied system leadership role puts them on course for bold (and contested) reforms. They must understand why previous efforts failed and confront the barriers head on. My blog post

civilservicereformuk.com

The plan for change – measures, milestones and public service reform

Key speeches by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster have signalled that the government has serious ambitions for civil service and public service reform.On 5th December The...

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Dave Rogers @daverog.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Wondered what 'test and learn' means? I've written this to unpack and explain it public.digital/pd-insights/...

public.digital

Just what is 'Test and Learn'?public digitalpublic digital

A blog explaining the concept of Test and Learn in organisational change

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