Accountability, transparency and smart cross-sector partnerships can steer Starmer through challenges ahead

Challenges loom for the new Labour government on a number of fronts, laid out in stark clarity by a number of recent National Audit Office reports.

In education, the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and those from better off backgrounds is wider than a decade ago. Homelessness is at its highest level in England since records began and is expected to worsen. When it comes to health, one report notes that “the scale of challenge facing the NHS today and foreseeable in the years ahead is unprecedented”. Meaningful solutions to address social outcomes are needed more than ever.

How should those solutions be designed to achieve impact? And, crucially, how can the Government learn the lessons from the election to ensure that their approach wins the trust of voters. While many factors contributed to a Conservative defeat, any government wanting to learn from the results must demonstrate that those in power are being kept responsible for their actions.

The Government Outcomes Lab (GO Lab) has pinpointed some of the key features of successful measures to improve social outcomes, which are the focus of its Social Outcomes Conference 2024.

Cross-sector partnerships

The King’s Speech laid out a suite of bills giving Labour a high bar of promises to deliver - and deliver they must if they are to keep their campaign image of being trustworthy and “the party of service”.

Meaningful change and impactful implementation of Labour’s proposed bills requires government to collaborate with all sectors across society. However, it is not enough for government to want to partner with these different sectors: the how is just as important. Executed poorly, they are as much at risk of running into the ghosts of procurement-scandals-past. The GO Lab 2024 Social Outcomes Conference will zone in on this theme in a number of sessions, from a session on procurement looking at “revolutionary, responsible and responsive relationalism” to another session on cross-sector services in fragile settings. All sessions at the conference will draw on cross-sector partnerships, with a particular emphasis on Social Outcomes Partnerships.

Accountability

GO Lab's research examines some key tools used to support improved accountability: outcomes-based contracting, outcomes measurement, and a strong evaluation of Government programmes. These tools can be a brilliant way to demonstrate accountability through closely attributing taxpayer money to a policy outcome-achieved and more widely increase value for money.

The tools can help in two important ways. They can improve effectiveness by enabling government to clearly track what is being accomplished with public spending to have insight about which services are most impactful. They can also boosts efficiency, as measuring outcomes enables continuous feedback loops of improvement and active performance management, allowing for adaptation of services with minimal wastage.

Conference sessions that pick up these themes include a focus on outcomes-based contracting, spanning sectors including health, environment, marginalised communities, education and sport. We are also running a big picture session, looking beyond “pilotitis” to see how narratives and actions around piloting interventions can help to institutionalise outcomes. We will also be launching GO Lab’s flagship publication that takes stock of the evolution of Social Outcomes Partnerships in the UK.

Transparency and Trust

Transparency and trust are the bedrock of government’s cross-sector partnerships aimed at social change. The statistics tell a clear story, demonstrating just how crucial it is for leaders to restore faith in our institutions, and to develop institutions which are worth putting our faith in. Across the globe, as governments are being placed under the electoral spotlight, they face critical levels of disillusionment with democracy amongst younger generations and, in the UK, a disenfranchisement in the belief of opportunity, as demonstrated powerfully by Chief Data Reporter for the Financial Times, John Burn-Murdoch. Societal flourishing is not possible when the electorate fundamentally do not trust the government and its institutions.

At our conference we ask: how can innovative contracting practices contribute to long-term, trust-based relationships? How can we use data not just to measure impact, but to actively drive improvement and hold partners to standards of transparency and accountability? How can we ensure trust in the public sector?

Sessions touching these themes include how we restore trust in the public sector through outcome-based partnerships, how we put data at the centre of decision-making and the importance of relational contracting.

Looking ahead

The Government Outcomes Lab aims to bring together the world’s leading researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to share cutting-edge insights and practical strategies for building partnerships that not only deliver social good, but do so with integrity and efficacy. Attendees at the Social Outcomes Conference 2024 will have the opportunity to take part in a dynamic dialogue focused on rebuilding our political and social systems on the pillars of accountability, transparency, and trust. An approach led by these principles can build a strong foundation to meaningfully address the social issues at the heart of the new government’s agenda for progress.

Jess Ready is Senior Policy Engagement Officer at the Government Outcomes Lab. You can join the upcoming Social Outcomes Conference 2024 online on the 5-6 September or contact the GO Lab for in-person attendance at golab@bsg.ox.ac.uk. Thanks to a partnership with UK Government, there are free tickets for UK Civil servants.