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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

i also do think this is just a very tricky policy area -politicians are understandably nervous about requiring changes to homes, and prefer the appeal of (seeming) quick fixes rather than the slog of winning people round and supporting the development of a sustainable market

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

...but they're not always as interested in seeing that spending through to delivering results. NAO reports are good but i think the political jeopardy isn't always there in this area, because it's lots of small cases (though maybe that's different this time?)

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

a very good question! i do think departmental reorgs/civil service churn will have something to do with it (not just in DESNZ- i bet my HMT successors haven't heard of the schemes i worked on). but also political oversight/interest matters- ministers like the announcement of "we're spending £££s"...

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

It's so frustrating that these same kinds of mistakes keep being made - and I'm sure it's as frustrating for officials inside the department (which has gone from DECC to BEIS to DESNZ over the lifetime of these three schemes)

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

There was also, in 2021, an NAO report into the Green Homes Grant, which found that "the rushed delivery and implementation of the Scheme has significantly reduced
the benefits that might have been achieved, caused frustration for homeowners and installers"

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

This is also a story of failing to learn lessons- ten years ago (!) I worked on an energy efficiency scheme at the Treasury, the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund. That was also ripe for fraud and poor quality work, and the NAO found that the "lack of consistency... could increase the long-term cost"

Adam Bell @adambell.bsky.social · 1d

Two points in this appalling story of Government failure. Firstly, solid wall insulation is by some degree the most expensive form of insulation. This means that these measures are now guaranteed to cost more than they would ever save.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Almost all external insulation fitted under Tory scheme needs repair or replacing, report finds

Homeowners who took advantage of government programmes left with cladding likely to cause damp

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Tim Durrant

Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 1d

As the new Ethics and Integrity Commission launches today, our explainer sets out what the commission looks like and what it will do www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/et...

Ethics and Integrity Commission | Institute for Government

The government has established its new ethics regulator, the Ethics and Integrity Commission.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

An important step for the government's ethics agenda, but only one step - much more to sort out!

Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

Again, various questions about how this will all work - particularly whether those bodies have the resources they need to take on their new responsibilities

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

This is also just one part of a package of changes the government is introducing, including giving responsibility for enforcing the rules on what ministers and senior officials can do after they leave govt to the independent adviser and civil service commission respectively

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

It is still early days - the Commission's website is live, but there's not a lot of information there yet. We'll be looking out for: how well they can signpost to other regulators (they're not investigating individual cases) and whether they have the resources for their new responsibilities

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

The EIC will also convene the various ethics regulators - those who look at ministers, parliament, the civil service and others - to take the temperature of the wider ethical system. They'll use this to write an annual report to the PM

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

...but the EIC will have more responsibilities too, particularly when the Hillsborough Law gets royal assent: that will require all public organisations to have a code of conduct, and the EIC will be responsible for assessing those

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

In terms of what the Commission is actually doing, it's early days - they'll be carrying on a lot of the work of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, in terms of assessing how the standards system generally is working...

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

And read all about the new Commission here:

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/et...

Ethics and Integrity Commission | Institute for Government

The government has established its new ethics regulator, the Ethics and Integrity Commission.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

You can hear the whole interview with Doug on our podcast from earlier this summer:

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/star...

Starmer lays down the rules | Institute for Government

Doug Chalmers joins the team to discuss the government's new ethics and standards plan.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 1d

The new Ethics and Integrity Commission has launched today, with a shiny new website (outside the gov. uk brand!)

We spoke to its chair, Doug Chalmers, earlier in the year about the new body and its work...

eic.independent-commission.uk

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 2d

unclear! i think in reality there would be huge pressure from media and opposition politicians for them to clarify that they had paid it back, but there is no formal mechanism for forcing it

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 2d

This is all part of the launch of the new Ethics and Integrity Commission, which was announced earlier in the year and is going live today - we'll be keeping an eye on it as it gets set up and takes over from the Committee on Standards in Public Life

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 2d

And the code says explicitly that ministers must get permission from the Cabinet Office before asking the PM to launch any statutory inquiry, and on the terms of reference once the inquiry is set up - presumably in a bid to streamline things for the PM, if nothing else...

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 2d

The new code also formally transfers responsibility for oversight of the rules on ministers' post-government jobs to the independent adviser on ministerial interests, as part of the closure of ACOBA

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 2d

We have an updated ministerial code! The new code makes clear that ministers "are expected" to pay back any severance payment if they quickly get a new ministerial job or are found to have broken the rules on post-government jobs

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Ministerial Code

Ministerial Code setting out the standards of conduct expected of ministers and how they discharge their duties.

www.gov.uk

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Reposted by Tim Durrant

Kiran Stacey @kiranstacey.bsky.social · 5d

EXC: Starmer accused of pushing progressives out as No 10 shake up continues.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Starmer accused of pushing out some of last progressive allies in No 10 shake-up

Exclusive: PM reorganising key parts of government to give chief secretary Darren Jones more Whitehall control

www.theguardian.com

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 5d

This is one of my favourite morning reads (come for the insightful political analysis and commentary, stay for the delightful family stories and personal anecdotes, take your pick on the aviation obsession)

Check it out if you haven't already:

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 5d

My newsletter, Lines To Take, is changing.

Here’s what’s next — and why I hope you’ll join me.

✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/this-newsl...

Music was blaring, lights strobing, bodies gyrating. There was glitter everywhere. Welcome to Daybreaker, an early morning dance movement based in 33 cities around the world, where people come to “sweat, dance and connect with ourselves and each other”. It is also how I ended up in a nightclub at seven in the morning, sober and alone, approaching strangers to ask if they were having a good time.

I suppose I should consider myself lucky. My editor at the time had initially (and a little too cheerily, I felt) suggested I go walking with wolves somewhere in the Lake District. Back in 2019, Daybreaker was a noisy example of what seemed like a striking shift in our consumption habits. The so-called “experience economy” was booming then and — following the Covid-19 interruption — has come back with a vengeance

“The history of economic progress,” Joseph Pine II, who helped coin the term “experience economy” told me (and many others, I suspect, given the rhyme), “is paying a fee for what used to be free.”

Can you see where I’m going with this?

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Reposted by Tim Durrant

Hannah White @drhannahwhite.bsky.social · 5d

After attending a marathon five ((FIVE! 😳) party conferences I’ve written about what they told me about how our politicians are thinking about government (tl:dr governing is hard; they want to take back control; and Reform UK was ubiquitous…) www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/five...

Five party conferences reveal different visions for how government should work | Institute for Government

Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems, Reform UK and the Greens all have plans to change how government works.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk

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