The Week 24 January 2025
Director of Policy and Research
It’s been another busy week in the policy world.
The financial struggles of this Government have been well catalogued. This week, we have seen a few more straws added to this particular camel’s back. As the cost of debt grows, so too does our national budget deficit, as figures published this week show. We borrowed £17.8 billion in December, the highest levels since the pandemic, driven by higher spending alongside the near-doubling of the cost of servicing our debts, and despite a £2.3 billion increase in tax revenues. Altogether, the deficit is now running £4.1 billion ahead of the OBR forecast from the time of the Budget.
And the costs keep growing too. A new report from the National Audit Office reveals that the maintenance backlog on Government-owned property adds up to “at least” £49 billion, a bill which can only continue to get bigger unless urgent action is taken. This isn’t just about the money, but the knock-on impact to the quality of the public services that are delivered in the context of all this badly-maintained property.
So what’s the plan? Part of it seems to be that we need the thinking machines to come to our rescue. This week, more detail emerged about the Government’s plans to use AI and technological innovations to reduce costs in public services. This included the reveal of “Humphrey”, a suite of AI-powered tools to support the work of civil servants. (Surely naming it after Bernard, the hyper-competent assistant, would be better than naming it after Humphrey, the manipulative enemy of change?).
Alongside new ways to navigate services, strengthened data sharing between departments, and virtual upgrades to formal documents, the Government believes this plan could be worth £45 billion in productivity savings every year. It will be interesting to see how many efficiencies actually emerge in the years ahead.
For read of the week, I recommend a piece about playgrounds. Yes, I’m being serious.
This blog post from Martin Robbins is well worth a read. It explains how frustrating local decisions can seem like child’s play (see what I did there) from afar, but feel totally intractable in-context when local authorities are under-resourced and communities aren’t mobilised. When a developer has built a brand new playground, but nobody can use it because there’s a dispute over whether the final result reflects the agreement between the developer and the parish council, there’s clearly something wrong. It is the community that loses out in these situations – and, arguably, communities which should be able to take on direct responsibility for these kinds of facilities when the private sector and public authorities grind to a halt.
Before I leave you to your weekend, allow me to turn in the doorway, Columbo-style, to mention one last thing. We’re looking for a talented Head of Development as part of our ambitious plans for the year ahead. Take a look at the job description, and please do share this opportunity with anyone who you think might fit the bill! We’d love to hear from them.