King's College London

The School for Government held a major conference on Friday 19 June, bringing together more than 400 government analysts, policy professionals, academics and evaluators, to explore how evaluation can become central to public service reform, helping government test new approaches, learn what works, and deliver more effective services.

Learn Fast, Deliver Better: Innovating and Using Evidence to Reform Public Services was hosted in partnership with the Evaluation Task Force (ETF), based in the Cabinet Office.

Opening the conference, Juliet Chua, Director General for the Economic and Domestic Secretariat (EDS) at the Cabinet Office, highlighted the role of evaluation in supporting effective reform across government.

Levin Wheller, Head of the Evaluation Task Force, outlined the ETF’s mission and new strategy, linking its work to the wider ambition to build a more innovative and learning-focused public sector. He was joined by Jonathan Slater, Visiting Professor at King’s and former Permanent Secretary in the Department for Education, for a fireside discussion exploring how evidence can be used to improve decision-making in different contexts.

Innovation and evidence in action

The conference showcased how government and partners are using evaluation, experimentation and evidence to address complex public sector challenges, with breakout sessions highlighting evaluation projects that use “test and learn” approaches to improve service delivery and inform better decision-making.

King’s was represented in the breakouts by Julia Ellingwood, Research Fellow at the Policy Institute at King’s, who, along with Luke Arundel from the Centre for Homelessness Impact, shared their research findings on the potential for AI chatbots to support homelessness prevention.

The conference also featured a panel discussion chaired by Jen Gold, Executive Director of Research at the Economic and Social Research Council, exploring what is needed to sustain an evidence culture across government. Panellists included Julia Gillard, Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s and former Prime Minister of Australia; Professor Jennifer Rubin, Chair of the School for Government at King’s and former Home Office Chief Scientific Adviser; Conrad Smewing, Director General for Public Spending at HM Treasury; and Catherine Hutchinson, Chief Scientific Adviser and Director of Analysis at the Department for Work and Pensions.

Professor Michael Sanders, Director of the School for Government at King’s, rounded off the day with a keynote sharing insights from behavioural science research on why governments often struggle to learn effectively, and how these barriers can be overcome.

The conference also featured a video message from Minister Satvir Kaur, who highlighted the importance of evaluation in building a stronger learning culture across government and supporting better public services.

The conference concluded with closing remarks from Steffan Jones, Director of the Joint Data and Analysis Directorate (JDAC) at the Cabinet Office, who reinforced the importance of building the habits, tools and culture needed for government to learn and improve.