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Established in 2024, the Quarterly is an independent publication dedicated to championing innovation in public policy and delivery.
We invite civil servants, public sector professionals, and the wider private sector to share their experiences and insights on what has and hasn’t worked. Our goal is to create a ‘safe space’ for honest, constructive, and politically neutral discussions.
To learn more about us, check our story and meet our team.
Keep scrolling to see our editions and articles so far…
Doing things differently with data
Over the last three months the hue and cry around the size of the state, new ways of working, the need for more specialists and buzzwords like ‘performance’ and ‘accountability’ have reached a new crescendo.
Gus O’Donnell and Kathy Hall review what the latest Blavatnik Index has to show us about comparative strengths and weaknesses
Sir Chris Wormald, the new Cabinet Secretary, told Parliament earlier this year that great policymakers are “self-confident enough to pick up the phone for that…
Ian Diamond explains why UK policymakers need to understand the significance of recent trends
The components of population growth have been changing faster than at any time in my 45 years of working on population data. For example, people’s expectations of how long they will live have been…
Ian Diamond explains why UK policymakers need to understand the significance of recent trends
The components of population growth have been changing faster than at any time in my 45 years of working on population data. For example, people’s expectations of how long they will live have been…
James Plunkett reviews Platformland: An anatomy of next-generation public services, by Richard Pope, 2024
Everyone appreciates the power of digital technologies to improve public services. Yet, as the new Government realises, much of that opportunity remains untapped. A closer look at the…
David Halpern, founder of the world’s first behavioural insights unit, says it’s more important than ever that policymakers understand human behaviour
Back in the early days of Tony Blair’s newly created Strategy Unit, I invited Danny Kahneman to join us for a private discussion about his work….
Why the policy profession must embrace AI
Michael Padfield explains the benefits of a range of tools that will drive better strategy, greater democracy and improved delivery Ever wondered if there’s a better way of distilling key information than ploughing through hundreds of…
Doug Gurr, newly appointed interim Chair of the UK’s Competition watchdog and Director of the Natural History Museum, warns that the UK is missing out on the fruits of scientific research
Deep in the bowels of the Natural History Museum (NHM) in South Kensington, London, is a vast hidden…
Issue Two of Heywood Quarterly – Ideas for the New Government – covers a range of topics, from the importance of policy making for the long-term, innovation in Whitehall, and the art of crisis management, to the future of English devolution, the benefits of mutualisation as a form of ownership, and the role of financial watchdogs. Read the individual articles here or click on the PDF to access the full edition
Editor’s Letter
Since the Heywood Quarterly launched in June 2024, the pace of political change across the western world has been frenetic. This year has been the largest democratic exercise in world history, with four billion citizens making their voices heard. Voters in both the United…
In this summary of an extensive discussion in the autumn, Peter McDonald talks to the former Permanent Secretary to the Treasury about responding to crises, working with Ministers, solving problems and other reflections from a multifaceted career
Terry Burns was only just on time for our…
Donald Marshall reviews The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Machines Make Terrible Decisions, and How the World Lost its Mind by Dan Davies
Dan Davies’ book opens with a memorable, and horrifying, story. In 1999 a shipment of 440 squirrels arrived at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport…
How do we encourage innovation in the Public Sector? The introductory issue of Heywood Quarterly, featuring a welcome from Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, includes articles on the top traits of a great civil servant, the future of the policy profession, the importance of AI in government and A Day in the Life of Britain’s Ambassador to Qatar.
Editor’s Letter
Many seasoned Civil Servants – and older readers far beyond the confines of government – will instinctively appreciate why this new publication bears the name of Jeremy Heywood. But given it is now six years since his untimely death, it is best to start by explicitly reminding younger generations about Jeremy’s distinctive contribution to public life.
Simon Case, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, on what it means to serve
I am sure the idea of service, and what it means to serve, resonates with many of my colleagues in the Civil Service. I can think of two instances where this was recently brought into the public consciousness.
Suzanne Heywood on the qualities valued by her late husband Jeremy, Cabinet Secretary from 2012 to 2018.
In late August 2018, Jeremy, Jonny (our eldest son) and I drove down to Whitstable for a long weekend. It was to be our last holiday together – something we suspected at the time but were far…
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