The Better Government Initiative was formed as a response to widespread concerns about the practical difficulties which government today faces as it seeks to run the country against a background of rapid change. The BGI aims to canvass the widest possible range of views, and to publish concrete recommendations which will be of practical interest not only to all three major parties, but also to the public more widely.
The context within which Britain is governed has altered almost beyond recognition. The unavoidable pressures of round the clock press and television leave government less time to take coherent legislative and administrative decislons. Our traditional structures - parliament. government, civil service, even the judiciary - have been substantially transformed and can no longer function as they used to. These changes are objective and largely irreversible. They cannot be attributed to any one government or to any one political style
Meanwhile the public itself has changed: less deferential, living through the media and the web instead of through its participation in the political parties, trade unions, economic and professional bodies which used to articulate common and group interests in the past. Party membership and voter turnout have steadily declined But although people no longer care very much about old-style politics, they do Indeed care about the efficient delivery of the services they expect the state to provide: health, education, security
The BGI held its initial conference in October 2006. In the course of 2006-2007 it produced four reports on aspects of governments which were presented at a conference at the Ditchley Foundation in April 2007. A further conference was held in October 2007. Members of all three main political parties were present. For comments CLICK HERE.

The BGI wecomed the Green Paper on The Governance of Britain, which the Government published in July 2007. Many of the proposals in that report mirror those made by the BGI itself, though the BGI goes into greater detail about matters of process. For comments CLICK HERE.

1. In January 2008, the BGI published "Governing Well". This sets out fifty recommendations for the more effective design and delivery of government policy in Britain. "Governing Well", Click Here

2. Minutes of Parliamentary Seminar, 7 May 2008.  Click Here

3. Evidence to Joint Committee on Constitutional Reform Bill, June 2008. Click  Here

4. Correspondence with the Leader of the House of Commons on post-legislative scrutiny. Click Here

Contact: info@bettergovernmentinitiative.co.uk