With little room for manoeuvre to increase spending on struggling public services, the UK government must ensure that every pound is spent well.

However, public service productivity fell both during and after the pandemic. For example, the government’s successful programme to increase the number of police officers by 20,000 has only resulted in a small improvement to charge rates. Some important hospital activity is still below pre-pandemic levels despite substantial spending increases and rising staff numbers. And ONS records show that adult social care productivity more or less stalled for the decade before the pandemic.

So with the fiscal situation unlikely to improve in the immediate future, what can government and frontline services do to improve productivity?

In this first Productivity Pitches event, a new series the Institute for Government is organising jointly with The Productivity Institute, we are delighted to welcome John Glen MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury:

• What are the causes of weak productivity growth in public services?
• How can digital and AI play in improving public service productivity?
• Are there lessons to be learned from the private sector?
• And ahead of the next spending review, what is the Treasury’s view on public service productivity and the savings that can be made?

To discuss these questions and more, John Glen will be in conversation with Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. He will be joined on the panel by Professor Bart van Ark, Managing Director of The Productivity Institute.

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Productivity Pitches is a new quarterly series hosted by the Institute for Government highlighting examples of productivity improvements in public services. These events will look at innovations in everything from technology and IT to management and clinical improvements, allowing those on the frontline to showcase how their innovations are improving service performance and saving money.

Productivity Pitches is produced in partnership with The Productivity Institute.