Report

In Power 01: Transforming Downing Street

This report from UK think tank the Future Governance Forum recommends the creation of a new Department for the Prime Minister to drive his agenda.

In Power 01: Transforming Downing Street is the culmination of an in-depth investigation by FGF into the centre of government. It recommends that Keir Starmer accelerate his revamp of the Whitehall machine and establish a Department for the Prime Minister to get more from his leadership, inject discipline across Whitehall and connect the government more effectively with the people it serves. FGF’s investigation has been led by its Chair (and former Deputy Cabinet Secretary) Helen MacNamara and its Executive Director (and former Director of campaigning groups Progressive Britain and Labour to Win) Nathan Yeowell, bringing together decades of high-level civil service and political expertise.

The report’s key finding is that the Prime Minister needs to have one cohesive organisation reporting to him: a proper, dedicated Department for the Prime Minister known as ‘Downing Street’. The UK is an international outlier for not having anything like this in place: comparable systems, like those in Australia, Canada and Sweden all have dedicated departments serving their respective prime ministers.

This new department should be built around four specific functions:

Politics and Strategy Group: to incubate fresh thinking about some of the thorniest challenges facing the country and the overarching long-term agenda of the government; and to devise and develop practical strategies to tackle these challenges.

Policy and Delivery Group: to drive and enforce the agenda of the Prime Minister across Whitehall – gripping government business, coordinating activity across departments, monitoring implementation of key policies and trouble-shooting where necessary.

Diplomatic and Security Group: to support the Prime Minister in his personal leadership of international, European and security issues.

Prime Minister’s Office: to act as the authoritative voice of the Prime Minister in Whitehall, with the Private Office operating at its most effective, and clear lanes to optimise for the best Prime Ministerial decision-making.

These four groups would be supported by a cross-cutting Communications Team and Political Office.

The publication of the report comes after the Prime Minister began to make changes to his No.10 operation at the start of September, in line with other key FGF recommendations, including a dedicated Downing Street Minister in the shape of the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, and bringing into No.10 the delivery functions which previously sat in Cabinet Office and integrating them with the Policy Unit.

In Power 01: Transforming Downing Street proposes the practical details – the processes, structures and cultural changes – he needs to implement if those new appointments are to be given the best possible chance of succeeding.