This report looks at the increasing use of WhatsApp and other messaging apps in government, and their associated risks and benefits. These apps are useful but need to be used carefully to ensure the downsides – including a lack of transparency, poor communication and poor...

This paper argues that Boris Johnson should take the steps to establish and enforce the high standards the public expects of the UK government and to help restore trust in public life.

The UK government’s u-turn in the Owen Paterson (MP) case has yet again raised the question of how standards in public life can be upheld. This paper sets out the Institute for Government’s recommendations – drawn from a recent conference and their wider work on...

Repeated controversies over ministerial behaviour and failures in the process of investigating possible breaches of the ministerial code show that the ministerial code, in its current form, is no longer working. This paper offers recommendations on how Boris Johnson should overhaul the ministerial code to...

This report calls for new rules to extend the prohibition on former cabinet ministers lobbying government, new enforcement powers to ensure ministerial rules are followed, and greater transparency surrounding the outside interests of civil servants.