Announcing the Social Insights Panel: a new FGF project led by Polly Neate
(Picture credit: Honor Elliot)
The government’s launch of both the Civil Society Covenant and phase 2 of the Test, Learn and Grow programme in the last two days needs to be more than a coincidence if the potential of civil society organisations to inform the transformation of public services is to be realised.
Civil society chief executives will recognise what I mean when I say that I’ve attended enough departmental roundtables in Whitehall to last me a lifetime. Ministers and civil servants in their departmental silos, mirrored by the lobbying silos of the charity sector, each saying their bit (sometimes with an allocated two minutes to do so) and then share profuse gratitude to the room for coming. Of course these consultations have their place, but by the time the agendas for those meetings have been set, the real opportunity to shape the cross-cutting missions and strategies that sit above those agendas is long past. The Future Governance Forum (FGF) set out these challenges - and recommendations to tackle them - in Mission Critical 03: Governing in partnership with civil society organisations.
Now is the perfect time to demonstrate a new way for civil society organisations to work with the government, testing out the Covenant in practice, and mobilising civil society to help create the conditions for the Test, Learn and Grow programme to meet the moment and achieve its potential. To step up and rally behind efforts to do things differently in government.
Which is why I’m really excited to be working with The Future Governance Forum, supported by the Henry Smith Foundation, to lead the Social Insights Panel. This brand new programme will draw together the specialist insight and knowledge of leaders in all senses of the word - from community activists to national leaders - on how to drive transformational change on cross-cutting, ‘wicked’ challenges. We will focus specifically on supporting the Test, Learn and Grow programme to benefit from the wisdom and experience of civil society.
The panel will also contribute to building public discourse and therefore the authorising environment required for the government to act based on social justice, trust and progressive change. Its work will look to the future, setting out a clear and aspirational vision that is practical rather than academic or theoretical.
In other words, we will focus on the shared expertise of single-issue organisations coming together to be greater than the sum of their parts, especially when working in collaboration with other sectors to transform policy and practice.
The Social Insights Panel will be an independent group of leaders, all of whom will have previously held roles delivering missions in complex and challenging contexts in civil society (and, in many cases, in other sectors as well) but who are no longer representing a single organisation.
They will listen with open minds to the right people from within civil society to make a tangible difference to the Test, Learn and Grow agenda. They will also arrive at shared positions and speak collectively and individually on complex cross-cutting policy debates and developments. Individually they will all already have credibility with the government and the media. Collectively they will gain a new public platform, benefit from resources to commission insight, and will be able to engage with government and communicate strategically, rather than just reactively.
We are not trying to solve all of the issues that exist in the relationship between government and civil society. But by taking our own test and learn approach, we’re starting somewhere, and are excited to see what might happen.
Whether they are large or small; local or national - civil society organisations exist to challenge and change the systems and practices that hold people back. At their best, civil society organisations do this work collaboratively with the people at the sharp end of system failures. Systems which – at their worst – create the “complex needs” that they spectacularly fail to meet.
There is huge potential for the Civil Society Covenant and the Test, Learn and Grow programme to harness the very best of civil society. FGF’s Social Insights Panel will help ensure that happens.
We look forward to being able to share more details in September. Please reach out to my colleague grace@futuregovernanceforum.co.uk if you would like to hear more.
By Polly Neate.
Polly is a high-profile expert commentator on social issues, as well as a strategic adviser, coach and mentor. Her most recent role was as CEO of the household-name housing and homelessness charity Shelter, and before that she was CEO of Women’s Aid and Executive Director of External Relations at Action for Children. She has substantial first-hand experience of leading teams through rapid and transformational change and strategic challenges, both external and internal.
Polly is also a former award-winning journalist and communicator who has spoken on platforms as diverse as the Oxford Union and the 250,000-strong first Women’s March on London. She was made CBE and Honorary Doctor of Laws (Bristol University) in 2022.
Polly is a FGF Policy Associate.