Reform, renewal and reflection; a month on the Party Conference circuit

This year we attended four of the key UK political parties’ annual conferences, starting with ReformUK in Birmingham on 5 September and ending with the Conservatives in Manchester on 6 October.

As an organisation Public Digital has no political affiliations. Instead we have our positions. One of these is ‘openness is something all organisations should value and practice’. We will always want governments to work better and believe that parts of them have to radically change in order for that to happen.

At both Reform and the Conservatives, we attended as commercial observers. At Labour in Liverpool, we hosted a fringe panel event in partnership with the Future Governance Forum (FGF), on how to turn policy into real change in public services. We welcomed a diverse, expert panel, chaired by our CEO, Ben Terrett CBE, including Josh Simons MP, newly-installed as Cabinet Office Minister; Sheffield City Council leader, Cllr Tom Hunt; FGF Chair and former Deputy Cabinet Secretary, Helen MacNamara; and our own Lara Sampson. You can read Philippa Newis’ report later in this article.

At the Liberal Democrats in Bournemouth we attended the ‘Business Day’, participating in roundtables on the creative industries and how government and business can collaborate to encourage long term growth.

Our aim has been to glean more about the parties’ approaches to issues relevant to our areas of work, such as digital services; public sector reform; international development and local government devolution. There was not much in the way of these subjects from the conference floor on the days we attended, but the numerous fringe events provided plenty of interest, with in-conversation events featuring the likes of Peter Kyle MP; Darren Jones MP; ReformUK Head of Policy Zia Yusuf; Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham, and former West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street. A list of fringe events we attended is provided later.

With at least another three years of conference season to go between now and the next General Election, there was tacit acknowledgement across the board that the big decisions are some way off and that changes of senior personnel are highly likely before 2029. This was an opportunity for leaders to galvanise their supporters; attract a wider audience; or to regroup and rebuild.

Although all notably different in character, all events shared one defining theme: the rise of Reform. The speed with which the party has mobilised support, and attracted members away from the traditional parties - particularly the Conservatives, but also Labour - dominated conversation in every venue, despite the numerous headline policy announcements.

How to deliver change that works: turning policy into delivery

People are the experts of their own lives and when we involve them in the design of their communities and public services we can move the dial on entrenched social issues. At our fringe event, Cllr Tom Hunt spoke powerfully about tackling childhood hunger in Sheffield with the automatic enrollment of eligible children to free school meals. A simple change now being rolled out across local councils is increasing take up, reducing stigma and improving learning outcomes for children.

Quick-fix rhetoric is ill-matched to tackling complexity. Whether solving problems at local or national level, Lara Sampson spoke of collaboration as the nascent new normal; a shift away from solution-led policy from the centre towards test and learn approaches that bring opportunities closer to problems. The design and delivery of public services are evolving together; shifting us away from one-and-done implementation to continuous improvement meeting the needs of people and communities, rather than distant Whitehall KPIs.

In our online lives, we are only ever a short scroll and a couple of clicks away from opinion-generated content that fuels anxiety and kneejerk reactions. Josh Simons MP and Helen McNamara both called for an end to paper shuffling; restoring voter trust in our public services has to be about showing not telling. Working behind closed doors leaves voters wanting; people need to see their local areas invested in, be involved in decision making and feel the impact for themselves. If attention is currency, people need to touch and feel change in places where they live. Labour needs to find a new kind of bravery, one that brings the work of public service reform much closer to people who - regardless of how they voted - want to be seen, heard and understood.

• Breaking Through the Noise: a Criminal Justice System fit for the 21st Century- hosted by The Common Ground Justice Project

• From protest to power: how can Reform’s locally elected leaders govern effectively? Hosted by the Institute for Government

• Is the Country Really Ready for Reform? Hosted by Merlin Strategy with Dr James Orr, University of Cambridge

• Cleaning Up Our Councils, Main Stage panel discussion

• Zia Yusuf in conversation with Michael Gove, The Spectator

• Speech: Nigel Farage MP (Leader)

• Speech: Victoria Collins MP (Science, Innovation and Technology spokesperson)

• Speech: Sarah Olney MP (Business spokesperson)

• Speech: Sir Ed Davey MP (Leader)

• What is the Future for Aid and Development in an Era of Defence and Security (Eleanor Cook Foundation/BB Partners)

• How Can We Fund Public Services? (IPPR and the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation)

• Can we Design a Tax System which Taxes the Wealthy and is Pro-Growth: (Centre for the Analysis of Taxation and Chartered Institute of Taxation)

• In our Neighbourhood - a series of lightning talks by Capacity, Kindred and Ignite Liverpool

• In Conversation with Mayor Kim McGuinness, Mayor of North East England (Centre for Cities and Universities for North East England)

• In Conversation with Peter Kyle MP (Labour Together)

• The State Transformed: AI and the Next Era of Governance with Liz Kendall MP (Tony Blair Institute for Global Change)

• Mainstreaming AI: What UK Business Needs from Government (Institute of Directors)

• In Conversation with Mayor Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester (Centre for Cities)

• In Conversation with Andy Street, former Mayor of the West Midlands (Centre for Cities)

• Epistemic Security: The New Fight to Protect Britain’s Information Supply Chains (Demos)

• Building a Tory Case for NHS Reform (Centre for Policy Studies)