This event was part of Government 2026, the IfG's annual conference.

The shadow chancellor delivered a speech, followed by a conversation with Alex Thomas, Executive Director for Impact and Influence at the Institute for Government.

Followed by closing remarks from Dr Hannah White, Director and CEO of the Institute for Government.

We would like to thank Grant Thornton UK LLP for supporting this event.

A keynote speech by Rt Hon Sir Mel Stride MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer / Closing remarks Government 2026

The government is making major changes to the structure of the NHS. NHS England is being abolished, with its functions merged into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). At the same time, the number of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) is set to be reduced, with many expected to merge. Changes proposed by the 10 Year Health Plan, including contracts for single and multi-neighbourhood providers, will also create changes in local delivery structures.

How can the government ensure that the new national structure works effectively? Should any current NHSE functions remain independent of DHSC? How should the reformed DHSC work regionally, and with ICBs, strategic authorities and trusts? How can the government make a success of the emerging ICB structure? How should local delivery structures be reformed?

To discuss these questions and more, we were joined by an expert panel including:

Dr Penelope Dash, Chair of NHS England
Dame Patricia Hewitt, former Secretary of State for Health and author of the Hewitt Review of ICSs
Samantha Jones, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care
Johan Kahlström, President and Managing Director, UK and Ireland at Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK
This event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

We would like to thank Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK for kindly supporting this event.

How can changes to NHS structures help deliver the 10 Year Health Plan?

Trump’s second term has been markedly different from his first and has already brought with it the most radical shift in US foreign policy since the Second World War. 2026 has seen Trump ramping up action and rhetoric on multiple fronts with even greater pressure on UK and European leaders to respond.

What do the next three years hold for relations between the UK, US and EU?  Are current tactics and strategies working for the UK and Europe or do leaders need to change course? Will the prime minister finally be forced to choose between Washington and Brussels?

On the first anniversary of Trump’s 2025 inauguration, the Institute for Government and UK in a Changing Europe were delighted to invite you to a panel to discuss these and other questions, with:

Sir Simon Fraser, Chair of Flint Global, Chair of Chatham House and former Permanent Under-Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 2010-15

Fiona Hill, Chancellor of Durham University, Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution and former Presidential Adviser on Foreign Affairs

Professor Anand Menon, Director of UK in a Changing Europe

This event was chaired by Dr Hannah White, Director and CEO of the Institute for Government.

We would like to thank UK in a Changing Europe for kindly supporting this event.

What does Trump mean for relations between the UK and Europe, and the rest of the world?

Following the publication of Whitehall Monitor 2026, the Institute for Government’s annual data-led analysis of the state of the UK civil service, the IfG was delighted to welcome Rt Hon Darren Jones MP, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, to set out why he thinks the status quo isn’t working and update on the government’s efforts to renew the state. He announced his plans to shake up Whitehall and hardwire innovation into government so that it can keep pace with a changing world and grasp the opportunities of the future. 

The Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister was introduced by Dr Hannah White OBE, Director and CEO of the Institute for Government.

Move fast and fix things: Modernising Whitehall to deliver for Britain

In 2024, Eluned Morgan MS became the sixth first minister of Wales – and the first woman to hold the role – since the dawn of devolution in 1999. She now leads Welsh Labour into the 2026 Senedd election, which will be held under a new electoral system, and at which Labour faces a double challenge from the rise of Plaid Cymru and Reform.

On 22 January, the Institute for Government was delighted to welcome Eluned Morgan to discuss how devolution to Wales has evolved since 1999, her priorities as First Minister, how the Labour governments in Cardiff and Westminster can cooperate on shared goals, and Welsh Labour’s vision for Wales’s constitutional future.

The first minister was in conversation with Akash Paun, Programme Director of Devolution at the Institute for Government, followed by a Q&A with the live and online audience.

In conversation with Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales

On 13 March 2025, Keir Starmer announced the abolition of NHS England, the arm’s-length body responsible for overseeing, planning, funding and delivering the health service – with its functions to be merged back into the Department of Health and Social Care. Work on the transition is underway but key decisions are still to be made.

What are the risks and opportunities associated with abolishing NHS England? How much progress has been made to date? What can be learnt from previous structural changes to the NHS and other parts of government? How can the government get the reform process right?

To answer these questions and more, this webinar from the IfG and the Nuffield Trust brought together an expert panel featuring:

Mark Dayan, Policy Analyst and Head of Public Affairs at the Nuffield Trust
Stuart Hoddinott, Associate Director at the Institute for Government
Sarah Reed, Senior Fellow at the Nuffield Trust

The webinar was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

This webinar was kindly supported by the Nuffield Trust.

How can the government make a success of the abolition of NHS England?

The government’s ambitious local government reorganisation (LGR) programme will replace all county and district councils with a single tier of unitary local government. Local authorities have submitted their preferred geographies to central government – but with reportedly 70 submissions across 21 two-tier areas, there is little consensus on the ideal footprints of future unitary authorities.  

Government is consulting the public and stakeholders, but ultimately it will fall to ministers to make these decisions – requiring potentially contentious judgements. Some local authorities favour fewer, larger geographies that offer greater efficiencies, others smaller councils that keep decision making closer to local communities. Final decisions will create winners and losers, and some outgoing authorities may resist the outcome.  

So how will these decisions shape the success of incoming unitary authorities? What weighting should ministers give to competing LGR criteria? How can ministers balance consistency of decisions with the need to tailor decisions for local areas? How can the government do this transparently?

To answer these questions and more, this IfG event – the first in a new Making a Success of Local Government Reorganisation series – brought together an expert panel, including:  

Councillor Kay Mason Billig, Leader of Norfolk County Council
Joanne Brown, Partner, Public Sector Audit at Grant Thornton UK LLP 
Dr Matthew Fright, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government.
Councillor Bella Sankey, Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council (joining remotely)

This event was chaired by Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

The Institute for Government would like to thank Grant Thornton UK LLP for their support of this event, the first in a series on how to make a success of local government reorganisation (LGR).

How should ministers decide the size and shape of new unitary authorities?

This event took place two months before the people of Wales cast their votes in the seventh election to Senedd Cymru (the Welsh parliament) since it was established in 1999. The polls suggest that Plaid is on track to overturn Labour’s century-long dominance of Welsh politics to become the largest party in the Senedd for the first time, opening the path to Rhun ap Iorwerth becoming Wales’s next first minister.

Watch our event recording to hear the Plaid leader deliver a short speech on how he would govern as first minister, followed by a conversation with Akash Paun, Programme Director for Devolution at the Institute for Government, and a Q&A with the live and online audience.

In conversation with Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, Leader of Plaid Cymru

The IfG DevoLab is dedicated to exploring the innovations enabled by devolution, learning from the results, and sharing the lessons so that places can take better decisions about how to use devolved powers and budgets.  

On 25 February, in Manchester, we held our fourth IfG DevoLab event, where three speakers set out how the powers and profile of mayors are being used to increase the supply of affordable homes within their regions.

The three case studies presented at IfG DevoLab #4 were:

‘Increasing the supply of affordable homes in the West of England’, by Stephen Peacock, Chief Executive of the West of England Combined Authority
‘From housing growth to good growth - experiences delivering housing growth in Greater Manchester’, by Andrew McIntosh, Director of Sustainable Growth & Infrastructure at Greater Manchester Combined Authority  
‘Supporting regions to increase the supply of affordable homes’, by Jackie Rigby, Assistant Director - Place, Partnerships and Capacity at Homes England

The three speakers were joined by Ben Denton, Head of Strategic Growth – Affordable Housing at L&G, for a broader discussion of the benefits of devolution and mayoral leadership for this agenda, how mayors can support the government make progress toward its challenging house-building targets, and how further devolution could help accelerate the supply of affordable homes.  

This event was chaired by Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

Insights from this discussion will inform a published policy briefing containing the three case studies and a synthesis of key lessons.

The Institute for Government would like to thank L&G for its support of this event and for its wider support of the IfG DevoLab series. 



IfG DevoLab #4: How can mayors increase the supply of affordable homes?

With just a few weeks remaining before May’s Scottish parliament election, Malcolm Offord, Leader of Reform UK in Scotland, joined us to discuss the state of devolution, Scotland’s economy and public services, and the future of Scotland.

With Reform UK predicted to win a sizeable number of seats in Scotland for the first time, this webinar saw Malcolm Offord set out his policies and plans for Scotland, and discussed how Reform UK would govern if in a position of power at Holyrood. He was in conversation with Institute for Government Programme Director Akash Paun, and answered questions submitted by the online audience.

This event is part of a series the Institute for Government is holding with political leaders from Scotland and Wales.

In conversation with Malcolm Offord, Lord Offord of Garvel, Leader of Reform UK Scotland

The UK’s exit from the European Union has prompted many calls for the UK government to change the way it organises foreign policy, development aid, trade and security.

Some argue that reform would help by giving a “single” foreign policy, would allocate money more in line with the UK’s interests – and would trim the number of ministers sitting at the cabinet table. Others retort that the UK has gone to great lengths to separate the goals of its foreign, aid and trade policies and mergers of departments would deliberately conflate those goals again.

Our panel discussed whether the current arrangement supports foreign policy objectives, whether changes should be made and whether the UK can learn anything from other countries.

Our panel included:

Crispin Blunt MP, former chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee
Dr Leslie Vinjamuri, director of the US and the Americas Programme, Chatham House
Sophia Gaston, director of the British Foreign Policy Group
The event was chaired by Bronwen Maddox, director of the Institute for Government.

There was an opportunity for audience questions.

Should the UK reform the international departments of government after Brexit?

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Should the UK reform the international departments of government after Brexit?

Institute for Government

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