Cabinet office minister Pat McFadden has outlined the next phase of the Government's reform of the civil service in a significant speech at our UCL East campus.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster chose the iconic Marshgate building as the setting for the event, organised by the UCL Policy Lab, which aimed to elaborate on the Prime Minister's 'Plan for Change' speech last week.
In front of a packed audience of journalists and stakeholders, the senior minister explained how the Government wanted to enlist the help of innovators and disruptive thinkers - the type of creative thinking embodied by the start-up sector - to help transform the civil service.
UCL is one of the country's leading universities in the field of innovation and enterprise - there has been £3.2 billion of external investment in UCL start-ups and spinouts since 2018.
Mr McFadden referred to a £100 million innovation fund announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her budget and said ministers will try to recruit start-up workers in the technology industry on six to 12-month "tours of duty" to help deliver Sir Keir's plan.
He said the state needed to become more like a start-up and for the civil service to adopt a different mindset.
He referred to the "test and learn" approach in the start-up sector where you try something new on a small-scale initially and then learn from it and adapt it as you implement it - as opposed to the more traditional approach in policymaking where policies are implemented on a large scale straightaway.
"Suddenly, the most important question isn't, 'How do we get this right the first time?'. It's 'How do we make this better by next Friday?
"That's the test and learn mindset and I'm keen to see where we can deploy it in government. Where we can make the state a little bit more like a start-up," he told the audience.
He announced four pilot sites in Manchester, Sheffield, Essex and Liverpool starting in January where small teams will be made up of policy officials, data and digital staff and staff from local services.
He said the teams would be set two challenges: reducing the cost for local authorities of temporary accommodation services - which he said can be a "huge amount of money" - and increasing the number of disadvantaged families that family support hubs reach.
He said the Government might provide a "route map" for how those problems might be solved, but that "we are not going to dictate how they do it".
"If you are terrified of failure, you will never innovate," he said.
On the call for start-up workers to work for the Government, Mr McFadden admitted they could probably earn more in the private sector, but urged them to "come and solve a problem for the public" and then go on to make their fortunes.
In hosting this speech, UCL continues to emphasise its leadership in shaping positive change in UK public services, innovation and the economy, through both discussion and policy initiatives.
On arriving at UCL East, Mr McFadden was met by Marc Stears, Director of the UCL Policy Lab, and Kirsty Walker, UCL's Vice-President External Engagement.
In his opening remarks introducing Mr McFadden to the audience, Mr Stears said: "We are delighted to host this speech, in this incredible space at UCL East; it's wonderful to have you.
"Here at UCL we stand for excellence. We are truly global in our aspirations and our outreach. We are also truly open to people from all backgrounds, from all parts of our community.
"And it is those two missions - that idea of excellence and openness - that structures today's conversation.
"We're here to talk about how we can rewire a state, how we can improve public services, how we can enhance opportunities for people of all backgrounds."
Our UCL East campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, east London, and was opened in September 2023.
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- Featured image: Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden gives a speech on civil service reform at UCL's East campus. Credit: Andrew Parsons.
