Helen MacNamara joins Future Governance Forum think tank

Former deputy cabinet secretary's appointment “marks the beginning of a new phase” for the FGF
Helen MacNamara after giving evidence to the Covid Inquiry in November 2023. Photo: Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire

Former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara will be the next chair of the Future Governance Forum, it has been announced.

MacNamara, who left government in 2021, will take up her new role at the progressive, non-partisan think tank in October.

Her appointment “marks the beginning of a new phase” of the think tank, which was formed in November 2023, the FGF said in its announcement.

It will spend the next year focusing on three areas: good governance in practice – developing ideas and testing and iterating them by working with government practitioners; forging stronger links with frontline expertise through a “new, influential network of reform-minded politicians, policymakers, leaders and frontline public servants exchanging insights to refine our thinking”; and institutional renewal, considering how the state and its institutions could be “rewired” to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

This will build on the forum’s first year of work, during which it has published research on economic devolution and the transition to power, and how the government might make its mission-driven approach to government work.

MacNamara will work with staff at the FGF team to "promote greater and more effective collaboration between politicians, practitioners and public servants, and to help them address the institutional, financial and delivery challenges facing government across the UK", said the announcement, which praised her "unique insight into the inner workings of Whitehall" from decades of experience in public administration and the senior civil service.

Before becoming deputy cab sec in 2018, MacNamara held a number of SCS roles including director general for housing and planning in the then-Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and director of the Economic and Domestic Secretariat in the Cabinet Office.

Earlier this month, MacNamara highlighted one area that could be ripe for reform, saying that the civil service does not currently learn all it can from public inquiries.

"How can you structure the way the civil service operates to incentivise people to fix the problem, as opposed to make the problem somebody else’s whether that is their future self, or another department, or another team in a department?" she asked.

Her evidence to the Covid Inquiry, as well as internal memos she wrote at the height of the pandemic that have been made public through the inquiry, have shone light on a number issues at the heart of government, including “fights over ownership” between factions in the Cabinet Office and No.10.

Since leaving the civil service, MacNamara has become a member of the UK Governance Project, a party-neutral commission whose members include former ministers and officials, which last year called for updated legislation to prevent ministers from directing civil servants to flout the civil service code.

FGF executive director Nathan Yeowell said MacNamara’s appointment is a “significant milestone” for the think tank.

"Her experience and understanding of the workings of government at the highest level will prove invaluable to our evolving organisation,” he said.

With Helen on board, we’re looking forward to breaking new ground and advancing novel, practical approaches to policymaking and delivery.”

MacNamara, who spent a year and a half working at the Premier League after leaving public service, said: "Making our country better is a team sport. To change the systems and the operating models that are not delivering, everyone who cares and who can help needs to get involved. I am delighted to be joining The Future Governance Forum at such a pivotal time.

“In the short time since it launched last year, FGF has made a significant contribution to thinking about how things can be done differently. Its rigorous, innovative body of work, alongside its proven convening power has already established a strong foundation on which to build. I am looking forward to playing my part as FGF continues its vital work shaping the future of progressive governance in the UK."

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