Institute for Government events, from Whitehall data to devolution.
The Institute for Government's events feed carries webinars and chaired conversations on civil service data, AI in government, devolution in Scotland and Wales, and the redrawing of local councils. The recordings keep the room in: panel exchanges, audience questions and thanks to partners.
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IfG Events is where the Institute for Government publishes the audio of its events, and the recordings arrive with the event still attached. Chairs welcome the room and the online audience, thank partner organisations, invite questions and apologise to those they could not reach. Inside that framing, the substance is dense. One thread is the civil service read through data. Hannah Keenan, an Associate Director at the Institute, introduces webinars built on Whitehall Monitor 2026, the Institute's annual data-driven report on the state of the civil service, under the banner 'A state rewired?'. In 'A state rewired? Civil service size, shape, and turnover', a speaker describes people leaving because nobody made their next opportunity clear, even while departments keep hiring. The companion session on digital transformation, data and artificial intelligence makes a sharper claim: AI treated as an IT experiment tends to stay one. The remedy offered is ownership by senior operational leaders, a named business owner for each use case, clarity about where human judgement sits, and a starting point in what a service is failing to deliver rather than in what the technology can do. The second thread is devolution, chaired in these episodes by Akash Pound, the Institute's Programme Director for Devolution. Ahead of the devolved elections, he holds a series of conversations with party leaders in Scotland and Wales. Malcolm Offord, Lord Offord of Garvel, Leader of Reform UK Scotland, uses public spending as a share of GDP to argue that devolved Scotland reaches for money whenever a problem appears. Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, Leader of Plaid Cymru, is asked about readiness for government, a plan for the first 100 days, and what he has learned from Labour's example. Pound opens that event with a greeting in Welsh and an apology for his accent. Devolution here also means mayors and councils. 'IfG DevoLab #4: How can mayors increase the supply of affordable homes?' was held at Manchester Art Gallery in partnership with Legal & General, and includes a national agency's account of its strategic place partnerships. 'How should ministers decide the size and shape of new unitary authorities?' puts four panellists, with support from Grant Thornton, on a question the chair calls contentious. One panellist argues that without a transparent decision framework, reorganisation will struggle to land and be hard to judge afterwards. The register throughout is measured and courteous, and arguments are built from figures, frameworks and delivery experience. It rewards a listener who wants to hear government decisions argued over in detail, and the large feed leaves room to follow one thread at a time.
Made for: Suits a listener who follows UK government closely and wants the working detail of civil service reform, devolved politics and local government restructuring, heard through chaired events rather than commentary.
What sets it apart: Rather than a hosted discussion show, it carries the Institute for Government's own event recordings: webinars on its Whitehall Monitor data and chaired sessions where party leaders and panellists take the Institute's questions and the audience's, with the room left in.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded discussion of how government can make AI useful, accountable and capable of scaling.
Rewiring the state comes through as a practical delivery problem, not just a technology agenda. The discussion, chaired by Hannah Keenan with Eloise Dunlop, Jack Whirlidge and Becky Noble, links digital transformation, data and artificial intelligence to the civil service's…
A clear, grounded look at how Whitehall's workforce changed in 2025, and why moving through it can feel harder.
"A state rewired?" looks at how the civil service changed in 2025, opening the Institute for Government's three-part Whitehall Monitor 2026 series with a close look at what rewiring the state means in practice.
A focused review of Malcolm Offord's case for changing devolution, spending and public responsibility.
Devolution's 25-year mark frames a pointed conversation on what Scotland's Parliament has delivered and what Malcolm Offord would change. Akash Pound, the Institute for Government's Programme Director for Devolution, presses the Reform UK leader in Scotland on spending, growth,…
A grounded review of how devolved institutions coordinate funding and delivery to increase affordable-home supply.
This PlayNext review treats affordable housing as a working test of devolution, focused on whether mayors, combined authorities, Homes England, and private-sector partners can turn shared intent into more homes people can afford.
A grounded discussion of whether Plaid Cymru is ready to turn devolution into a workable programme for government.
Plaid Cymru's readiness for government sits at the centre of this episode, as the conversation looks at how the party would handle an expanded Senedd and the powers Wales already has through devolution.
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Jonah Goldberg's literate, dry-witted arguments about politics and ideas.
["IfG Events' Whitehall Monitor 2026 webinar argues that Darren Jones's 'digital state' ambition still depends on leadership, because only seven of 17 central departments have a digital leader on the executive committee.", "Eloise Dunlop says GDS has moved into DSIT with about 930 civil servants, and the department was already about 44% policy officials before the move.", "She also says the digital and data profession has grown about 152% since 2016, but the civil service still missed the previous government's 6% target and only about 20% of senior civil servants say they are digitally upskilled.", "Becky Noble and Jack Whirlidge say AI pilots, the AI Playbook, and tools from the Government Communication Service matter less than the evidence problem: the Department for Business and Trade found no robust link between time savings and productivity, and the NAO said 62% of organizations struggle with data quality."]
Whitehall Monitor 2026 says the civil service reached 520,860 full-time equivalent staff in quarter four 2025, after steady growth since 2016 and only two quarterly contractions.
Akash Pound of the Institute for Government hosts Malcolm Offord, Lord Offord of Garvel, in an IfG Events conversation ahead of Scotland’s devolved elections in less than two months.
IfG DevoLab #4 at Manchester Art Gallery asks how mayors can increase the supply of affordable homes, with Akash Pound citing the government's £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme and a target of around 300,000 homes over a decade.
At the Institute for Government, Akash Pound introduced Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, Plaid Cymru leader and Senedd member for Ynys Mon, ahead of an election for the expanded 96-member Welsh Parliament in just over two months.
IfG Events examines how ministers should choose the size and boundaries of new unitary authorities across England's remaining two-tier areas.
Nick Davies hosts Mark Dyon, Sarah Reid, and Stuart Hodnot on Keir Starmer’s 13 March announcement to abolish NHS England and merge its functions into DHSC.
Eluned Morgan, First Minister of Wales, argues that Welsh devolution should enter a new phase focused on practical delivery, financial fairness, and stronger cooperation with Westminster.
At a What3Words event, Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, argues that Britain needs a digital transformation of public services rather than continued cuts or incremental reform.
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A discussion with Baroness Louise Casey about her career in social policy and her new role as the government's lead non-executive director.
Chief Secretary Darren Jones discusses his new roles focused on improving government performance and delivering on the Prime Minister's priorities.