National School for Government and Public Services: Why collaboration is key to fixing the 'broken state'
Published: 27 January 2026
27 January 2026: Following the UK government announcing last week its intention to set up a new National School for Government and Public Services, Dr Ian C. Elliott sets out how this initiative might help to ‘fix things’ and what it will take to ‘move fast’, highlighting the value of universities and policymakers co-designing it.
27 January 2026: Following the UK government announcing last week its intention to set up a new National School for Government and Public Services, Dr Ian C. Elliott sets out how this initiative might help to ‘fix things’ and what it will take to ‘move fast’, highlighting the value of universities and policymakers co-designing it.
Blog by Dr Ian C. Elliott
Darren Jones MP, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, gave a significant speech on Tuesday 20 January about his plan to rewire Whitehall and to incentivise innovation in the civil service. The tagline was “Move Fast, Fix Things” in pleasant contrast to the “move fast and break things” mantra of Silicon Valley.
A key part of the speech was the announcement of a new National School for Government and Public Services. This is to be welcomed. There has been a need for more investment in the education and development of our public servants for many years. We know that learning and development opportunities across the UK public sector have been cut in recent decades and these cuts have been a barrier to innovation and meaningful change. This has contributed to the sense of their being a broken state. There was an urgency to the Chief Secretary’s call for action with reference to global instability and domestic frustrations. Again, this is to be welcomed.
So how can a National School for Government and Public Services help to fix things and what will it take to move fast?
Fix things
What is needed in order to fix things? There was a big focus on delivery in the speech. But for the UK Government to deliver almost anything it requires a degree of collaboration and partnership working with others. This includes local government, the NHS and business. But it also includes the Scottish Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and the Welsh Government. For example, for the UK Government to achieve its mission of making Britain a clean energy superpower it needs to work with the Scottish Government and energy businesses based in Scotland. The Chief Secretary stressed the importance of strategic thinking. But to develop a more strategic state there is a need to work collaboratively through a relational approach. So collaborative, systems leadership is key to fixing things.
Move fast
But is it possible to move fast when the system is so complex? Well, in some respects there may be some value in taking time to get it right. But, at the same time there is already a lot to build on from the excellent work of the Leadership College for Government, and others within government, who have developed professional standards and many training and development opportunities. There are also excellent universities across the UK with expertise in public policy and public administration that can bring the latest research insights into any professional development programmes.
There is a growing recognition within academia of the value and importance of working with policymakers and public service leaders to learn the lessons from examples of good service delivery. Whilst the perception of a broken state is felt by many, it also continues to be true that many of our public services are demonstrating success. Examples given by the Chief Secretary included the Passport Office and the Vaccine Taskforce. We must identify and learn from successful public policy and service delivery. In doing so there is great value to universities and policymakers working together to co-design the new National School for Government and Public Service that will develop a civil service that is fit for purpose and ready to meet future challenges.
Author
Dr Ian C. Elliott is a Senior Lecturer in Public Administration at the Centre for Public Policy and co-Editor-in-Chief of Public Administration and Development. His research includes the strategic state and mission-led government as well as the teaching of public administration. Ian has extensive experience of advising governments and conducting research on behalf of governments and public bodies including most recently as a member of Scottish Government Reform Advisory Group for the National Performance Framework.
First published: 27 January 2026
Author
Dr Ian C. Elliott is a Senior Lecturer in Public Administration at the Centre for Public Policy and co-Editor-in-Chief of Public Administration and Development. His research includes the strategic state and mission-led government as well as the teaching of public administration. Ian has extensive experience of advising governments and conducting research on behalf of governments and public bodies including most recently as a member of Scottish Government Reform Advisory Group for the National Performance Framework.