Nick Davies
Programme Director
Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget 2024 did little to address long-term problems in public services
With the dust settled on the budget, Nick Davies looks at what it means for public services.
Six lessons government should learn from the Post Office scandal
The handling of the Post Office scandal has wider lessons for government.
Performance Tracker 2023: Cross-service analysis
Public services are under considerable strain, with years of tight funding, staffing problems and underinvestment in capital all taking their toll.
How to approach insourcing and outsourcing
Key questions you should ask when making decisions on government outsourcing and insourcing.
Reunification of probation services
MoJ's preparations for the reunification of services and their transition back into the department.
All work
Performance Tracker 2022/23: Spring update
Public services won’t have returned to pre-pandemic performance by the next election.
Performance Tracker 2022/23: Spring update - Neighbourhood services
Neighbourhood services – food safety, libraries, road maintenance, and waste collection – entered the pandemic with reduced or changed amenities.
Performance Tracker 2022/23: Spring update - Hospitals
The NHS is still struggling with the effects of the pandemic, while factors outside of Covid continue to put hospitals under intense pressure.
Performance Tracker 2022/23: Spring update - General practice
General practice is attempting to cope with a huge surge in demand, putting pressure on an overstretched workforce.
Performance Tracker 2022/23: Spring update - Adult social care
The government provided additional funding for adult social care in the autumn statement but the workforce crisis is worse than ever.
Performance Tracker 2022/23: Spring update - Children's social care
Referrals have returned to pre-pandemic levels while the the number of children remaining in care has increased pressure on the system.
Performance Tracker 2022/23: Spring update - Schools
The government is providing more funding to schools, but teacher training recruitment is at crisis level.
Performance Tracker 2022/23: Spring update - Criminal courts
The backlog of cases that started during the pandemic will affects courts for years to come.
Performance Tracker 2022/23: Spring update - Prisons
The prison workforce is insufficient to safely staff all prisons, with some prisoners still being kept locked in their cells for most of the day.
Performance Tracker 2022/23: Spring update - Police
The nature of police work changed during the height of the pandemic, but is now returning to previous patterns – while some challenges grow.