{"podcast":{"title":"IfG Events","slug":"ifg-events-864374","podcast_index_feed_id":864374,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/PMO2793223125","website_url":"https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/986836ea-3272-11ec-8af8-8f1a01cf74d1/image/ifg-events-square-FINAL.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Podmasters","episode_count":399,"summary":"The Labour government has a huge majority in parliament – but Keir Starmer’s administration is also facing an incredibly complex set of policy challenges. So how can the prime minister and his team turn around public service performance? What can chancellor Rachel Reeves do to get the economy growing again? What will mission-driven government actually mean in practice? Who should be making the key decisions in Westminster – and beyond? And what will the appointment of a new cabinet secretary mean for the future direction of the civil service? From reforming how the centre of government works to the battle for the future of the civil service, from making a success of levelling up to achieve net zero goals, IfG EVENTS stimulate fresh thinking and share ideas about how government works – and how it could work better.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-26T22:19:30.228549+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ifg-events-864374"},"episode":{"title":"In conversation with Rt Hon James Murray MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury: How will the government boost public service productivity?","slug":"in-conversation-with-rt-hon-james-murray-mp-chief-secretary-to-the-treasury-how-will-the-government-boost-public-service-productivity","published_at":"2026-04-20T15:09:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ifg-events-864374/in-conversation-with-rt-hon-james-murray-mp-chief-secretary-to-the-treasury-how-will-the-government-boost-public-service-productivity","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ifg-events-864374","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR5404001840.mp3","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR5404001840.mp3","summary":"Improving productivity is at the heart of the government’s plans for public services, underpins the ‘strategic and agile state’ and is a critical enabler for many of its ambitions for the future. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has been drawing on experience from the public and private sector to make sure the 2027 spending review consolidates and furthers the government’s productivity drive. This builds on the work already underway within the government through the Office for Value for Money and its departmental target of 2% productivity, efficiencies and savings. But what has the government achieved so far? How is HM Treasury supporting productivity improvements across government and monitoring departmental efficiency plans? What is the Chief Secretary doing to push this agenda on? To explore these questions and to discuss his priorities and approach, the Institute for Government was pleased to be hosting Rt Hon James Murray MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Professor Andy Westwood, Policy Director at The Productivity Institute made opening remarks. James Murray was then in conversation with Dr Hannah White, Director and CEO of the Institute for Government. This event was kindly supported by The Productivity Institute (TPI). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices","meta_description":"Improving productivity is at the heart of the government’s plans for public services, underpins the ‘strategic and agile state’ and is a critical enabler…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3519,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ifg-events-864374/episodes/in-conversation-with-rt-hon-james-murray-mp-chief-secretary-to-the-treasury-how-will-the-government-boost-public-service-productivity/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ifg-events-864374/in-conversation-with-rt-hon-james-murray-mp-chief-secretary-to-the-treasury-how-will-the-government-boost-public-service-productivity.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}