Mission-led government is magical thinking without reform warns report

The UK government’s mission-based policy approach should learn lessons from the mixed success of reforms in public administration in Scotland and Wales, a new paper from Carnegie UK suggests.

The essay – written by Carnegie UK chief executive and former director general at the Scottish Government Sarah Davidson – has been published on the day before the UK Government will reveal further detail about its mission-led approach.

According to the paper “…a proclaimed shift to mission-led government is simply magical thinking” without a range of administrative, cultural and financial changes at Whitehall. The essay says that political leadership for this agenda is critical but not sufficient and must be accompanied by a range of additional reforms.

The essay titled Mission-led government: a radical re-wiring of Whitehall, or another failure to (re)launch? also argues that the UK Government could learn from the adoption of so-called “wellbeing frameworks” in countries such Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Sarah Davidson, chief executive of Carnegie UK, said: “The UK Government’s mission-led approach could help the country systematically address the biggest challenges of our time. This is important because traditional models of government delivery have proven under-powered in the face of problems such as entrenched regional inequality and poorly performing public services.

“But these missions can’t be accomplished through force of will alone. They must be accompanied with big changes to how Whitehall works and how the central government machine works with partners.

“Officials and politicians looking to close the implementation gap should examine the successes and failures of their counterparts elsewhere in the UK.”

The report has been written in association with the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Public Policy. Sarah Davidson will discuss her arguments on the next episode of their Spotlight podcast.

Kezia Dugdale, associate director at the centre, said: “This new paper is required reading for anyone with an interest in the UK Government’s missions agenda. It draws on Sarah’s two decades of experience at the heart of the civil service and combines it with Carnegie UK’s expertise in wellbeing public policy.”

Carnegie UK is a public policy foundation focussed on improving people’s wellbeing. The foundation argues that improving people’s lives should be the overarching aim of government.