The government is falling short on delivering the public’s priorities and has developed an “addiction to making announcements,” according to the prime minister’s chief secretary.
Darren Jones told MPs that Labour needs to prioritize effective implementation over generating new policy initiatives solely to populate the daily media “grid.”
Sir Keir Starmer appointed Jones to the newly-created role of chief secretary in September, tasking him with enforcing policy delivery across government as part of a recent reshuffle of his Downing Street operation.
Jones, who also leads the Cabinet Office, informed MPs that the central government apparatus is not functioning optimally and “it needs to change.”
“We need to ensure the entire machinery of government is focused on the public’s priorities,” he stated before the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
When questioned about the public’s priorities, the Labour MP responded: “People want to feel better off at the end of this parliament than at the start of it.”
He further noted that improvements to public services, particularly the NHS, are also paramount, and that the public “want to feel pride in their country, whether that’s in relation to communities or security of our borders.”
He asserted that ministers and civil servants responsible for achieving these objectives must act with greater expediency and reduce their emphasis on strategy and reviews.
“We are not focused enough on outcomes,” he told the committee.
He also suggested that the government is failing to adequately communicate its accomplishments, with excessive attention paid to the “grid” – the daily schedule of new initiatives for announcement to broadcast media and newspapers.
“The system has become addicted to announcements.”
“Just because there is a grid doesn’t mean we have to announce something else on a Tuesday just because it’s a Tuesday,” he told the committee.
The government is already actively utilizing social media for its messaging, evidenced by the launch of Keir Starmer’s TikTok channel, among other initiatives.
Jones hinted at a renewed effort in the new year to “become more creative and more interesting” on social platforms, shifting away from “just giving a press release to a newspaper in Westminster.”
“We are completely losing the war at the moment in the new media landscape, to be able to prove to people that it is government intervention that is making a positive difference in their lives,” he said.
The government has recently faced a series of challenging episodes, including reports of a leadership challenge plot involving Health Secretary Wes Streeting – claims Streeting has firmly denied.
The lead-up to last month’s Budget was also marked by several leaks and briefings.
Jones stated he was “not responsible” for the actions of every government department but affirmed his commitment to enforcing a crackdown on unauthorized briefings, as indicated by Sir Keir Starmer on Monday.
“Can I stop politicians or political advisers chatting? No,” he told the committee.
“Would I encourage them to do it less? Yes.”
He added that Sir Keir’s resolve to prevent leaks was “clear” and “if anyone decides to go against that there will be consequences for it.”
Jones has also been tasked with implementing the government’s plans for digital ID.
He told the committee he did not know how much the scheme would cost because the final scope of it – and how it would be delivered – had not been decided.
He cast doubt on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s estimate that digital ID scheme would cost £1.8bn – but said the final figure would be announced next year following a public consultation.
He insisted it would be a “genuine consultation” – taking into account both the technical specifications of any scheme and broader concerns about security and privacy.
But he refused to be drawn on what would happen if the consultation exercise found that the public did not want the scheme at all.
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