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From healthcare to education to local government, the public sector delivers essential services—but how can it stay effective and efficient with tightening budgets and rising demand?
In this episode, we examine the UK government’s push to improve public sector productivity. Rachel Reeves is enlisting private sector leaders to tackle inefficiencies in Whitehall, while Wes Streeting has proposed NHS reforms to boost output. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, President-elect Trump has stirred debate by appointing Elon Musk to a new ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ to slash costs.
Are public services keeping pace with private sector innovations? What’s driving productivity trends in the UK? And how can policies create better outcomes for everyone?
We’re joined by Ben Zaranko, Associate Director at IFS, and Sam Freedman, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government and former senior policy adviser to Michael Gove, to unpack these questions and more.
Host
Paul Johnson
Paul has been the Director of the IFS since 2011. He is also currently visiting professor in the Department of Economics at University College London.
Participants
Ben Zaranko
Ben joined the IFS in 2017 and works across a range of areas, including UK fiscal policy and the productivity of the health and social care system.
Sam Freedman
Sam Freedman is a senior fellow at the Institute for Government and a senior adviser to Ark Schools. He has spent his career working in different policy-focused roles around Westminster, including as an adviser to the leader of the opposition and three years at the Department for Education as a senior policy adviser.
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