Prime Minister's Strategy Unit
Encyclopedia
The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit (often referred to simply as The Strategy Unit) was an elite unit based in the UK Cabinet Office between 2002 and 2010 (with its predecessor unit dating back to 1999). The Strategy Unit was established by the former Prime Minister Tony Blair
, forming one part of a more streamlined centre of government along with a Delivery Unit (headed by Sir Michael Barber, focused on the delivery of public service targets), a Policy Unit (whose heads included David Miliband
and Andrew Adonis, providing day-to-day policy advice) and a Communications Unit (headed by Alastair Campbell
and later David Hill).
The Strategy Unit operated during the premiership of Prime Ministers Tony Blair
and Gordon Brown
until its functions were transferred to other units in the Cabinet Office
of Prime Minister David Cameron
in November 2010.
The purpose of the Strategy Unit was to provide the UK Prime Minister with in-depth strategy advice and policy analysis on key priorities. According to Tony Blair the Strategy Unit would "look ahead at the way policy would develop, the fresh challenges and new ideas to meet them". In this respect it had many similar responsibilities to the Central Policy Review Staff
which served successive governments between 1973 and 1982.
It had three primary roles:http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmpubadm/123/12305.htm#a3
Over its history the Strategy Unit varied in size, averaging around forty-five staff but at one point reached ninety. Competition to work in the Strategy Unit was fierce and the unit traditionally drew in high flyers from academia, the city, top consultancy firms and think tanks and from the Senior Civil Service. Throughout its history the Strategy Unit worked closely with the No.10 Policy Unit who often commissioned the topics of its strategy reviews. The Unit produced many significant reports which set and drove the direction of the Blair and Brown Governments. Prominent among these were:
The full archive of the over 130 publications from the Strategy Unit can be accessed here http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/publications/archive.aspx. The Strategy Unit also ran a high profile seminar serieshttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/seminars/archive.aspx, with speakers including Martin Wolf
, Paul Krugman
, Sir Gus O'Donnell
, Lord Ian Blair
, and Robert Putnam
.
The Strategy was based in the Admiralty Arch
, part of the Cabinet Office's buildings in Whitehall. The Directors of the Strategy Unit were:
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, forming one part of a more streamlined centre of government along with a Delivery Unit (headed by Sir Michael Barber, focused on the delivery of public service targets), a Policy Unit (whose heads included David Miliband
David Miliband
David Wright Miliband is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for South Shields since 2001, and was the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2007 to 2010. He is the elder son of the late Marxist theorist Ralph Miliband...
and Andrew Adonis, providing day-to-day policy advice) and a Communications Unit (headed by Alastair Campbell
Alastair Campbell
Alastair John Campbell is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Director of Communications and Strategy for Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003, having first started working for Blair in 1994...
and later David Hill).
The Strategy Unit operated during the premiership of Prime Ministers Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
and Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
until its functions were transferred to other units in the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
of Prime Minister David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
in November 2010.
The purpose of the Strategy Unit was to provide the UK Prime Minister with in-depth strategy advice and policy analysis on key priorities. According to Tony Blair the Strategy Unit would "look ahead at the way policy would develop, the fresh challenges and new ideas to meet them". In this respect it had many similar responsibilities to the Central Policy Review Staff
Central Policy Review Staff
The Central Policy Review Staff , nicknamed the "Think-Tank", was an independent unit within the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom tasked with developing long term strategy and co-ordinating policy across government departments...
which served successive governments between 1973 and 1982.
It had three primary roles:http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmpubadm/123/12305.htm#a3
- carrying out strategy reviews and providing policy advice in accordance with the Prime Minister's policy priorities
- supporting government departments in developing effective strategies and policies, and helping them build their strategic capability
- conducting occasional strategic audits, and identifying key challenges for the UK Government
Over its history the Strategy Unit varied in size, averaging around forty-five staff but at one point reached ninety. Competition to work in the Strategy Unit was fierce and the unit traditionally drew in high flyers from academia, the city, top consultancy firms and think tanks and from the Senior Civil Service. Throughout its history the Strategy Unit worked closely with the No.10 Policy Unit who often commissioned the topics of its strategy reviews. The Unit produced many significant reports which set and drove the direction of the Blair and Brown Governments. Prominent among these were:
- Public service reform papers, including the Education Strategy Review http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/strategy/assets/education.pdf, several major reforms to open up public services to more choice and personalisation such as the Schools Reform White Paper http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=Cm+6677& (which extended school choice to parents) and the Health Care Reform Paperhttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/dh.gov.uk/en/publicationsandstatistics/publications/publicationspolicyandguidance/dh_4127453, and strategic direction setting for the overall public service reform programme for example with the UK Government's Approach to Public Service Reform http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/strategy/assets/sj_report.pdf and the Policy Review of Public Serviceshttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/strategy/assets/building.pdf
- Several major policy thinkpieces, including in the fields of behaviour change with Personal Responsibility and Behaviour Changehttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/work_areas/personal_responsibility.aspx and culture changeCulture changeCulture change is a term used in public policy making that emphasises the influence of cultural capital on individual and community behaviour. It places stress on the social and cultural capital determinants of decision making and the manner in which these interact with other factors like the...
with the report Achieving Culture Change: a Policy Frameworkhttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/strategy/assets/achieving_culture_change.pdf, on social mobility and life changes authoring papers including the work of Alan MilburnAlan MilburnAlan Milburn is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Darlington from 1992 until 2010...
's Social Mobility Commissionhttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/227102/fair-access.pdf as well as discussion papers on the topichttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/strategy/assets/socialmobility/gettingon.pdf, on life satisfaction and happiness researchhttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/seminars/life_satisfaction.aspx, and other new and emerging topics such as social capitalSocial capitalSocial capital is a sociological concept, which refers to connections within and between social networks. The concept of social capital highlights the value of social relations and the role of cooperation and confidence to get collective or economic results. The term social capital is frequently...
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/seminars/social_capital.aspx
- Periodic 'Strategic Audits' of the UK in 2003http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/strategy/assets/strategic_audit.pdf, 2005http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/strategy/assets/strategic_audit2.pdf, 2006 http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/strategy/assets/strategic_priorities_uk_2006.pdf, 2007 and 2008 http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/strategy/assets/strategic_challenges.pdf
- A 'Strategy Survival Guide' to support strategic thinking and evidenced-based policymakinghttp://interactive.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/survivalguide/index.htm
The full archive of the over 130 publications from the Strategy Unit can be accessed here http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/publications/archive.aspx. The Strategy Unit also ran a high profile seminar serieshttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100125070726/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/seminars/archive.aspx, with speakers including Martin Wolf
Martin Wolf
Martin Wolf, CBE is a British journalist, widely considered to be one of the world's most influential writers on economics. He is associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times.-Early life:...
, Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman
Paul Robin Krugman is an American economist, professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics, and an op-ed columnist for The New York Times...
, Sir Gus O'Donnell
Gus O'Donnell
Sir Augustine Thomas "Gus" O'Donnell GCB is a British civil servant, who is the current Cabinet Secretary, the highest rank in the British Civil Service. He is consequently, under current practice, Head of the Civil Service, which means he has authority over all civil servants except those who are...
, Lord Ian Blair
Ian Blair
Ian Warwick Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, QPM is a retired British Police officer who held the position of commissioner of police of the metropolis from 2005 to 2008 and was the highest ranking officer within the Metropolitan Police Service.On 2 October 2008 Blair announced that he would...
, and Robert Putnam
Robert Putnam
Robert David Putnam is a political scientist and professor of public policy at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is also visiting professor and director of the Manchester Graduate Summer Programme in Social Change, University of Manchester...
.
The Strategy was based in the Admiralty Arch
Admiralty Arch
Admiralty Arch is a large office building in London which incorporates an archway providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall, which extends to the South-West, and Trafalgar Square to the North-East. It was designed by Sir Aston Webb, constructed by John Mowlem & Co and completed in 1912...
, part of the Cabinet Office's buildings in Whitehall. The Directors of the Strategy Unit were:
- Geoff MulganGeoff MulganGeoff Mulgan is Chief Executive of the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts and Visiting Professor at University College, London, the London School of Economics and the University of Melbourne...
, 2002-2004 - Stephan Aldridge CBOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, 2004-2009 - Gareth Davies, 2009-2010