About us
In this section you can find out about:
Who we are
The Strategy Unit is the latest in a series of central government strategic bodies dating from the creation of the Central Policy Review Staff in 1971 by the Heath government. This was set up to provide an overall strategy for government, rising above the issues faced by individual ministerial departments. In the 1980s the central strategic function was conducted via the Efficiency Unit, set up under Margaret Thatcher.
The Strategy Unit was set up in 2002. It brought together two bodies, the Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) and the Prime Minister's Forward Strategy Unit (FSU). For a recent review of the role of the Strategy Unit and equivalent bodies in other countries, see the Conference Board of Canada briefing note below
- Building Policy Research Capacity, Conference Board of Canada, December 2007 [PDF 146KB, 10 pages]
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Our objectives
Its key objectives are to:
- To provide a cross-departmental perspective on the major strategic opportunities and challenges facing the UK
- To work with departments in developing effective strategies and building strategic capability across Whitehall; and
- To provide strategic advice and support to the Prime Minister/No 10
The Unit is based in the Cabinet Office but reports to the Prime Minister who takes final decisions about the Unit's work.
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Current work areas
The work of the unit is currently focused on two key themes: public service reform and the future of the economy. There are seven projects:
- Employment - joint work with the Department for Work and Pensions on a White Paper to get the UK back to pre-recession employment levels
- Maternity and Early Years' services - working with the Department of Health and the Department for Children, Schools and Families to develop a vision for 21st century maternity and early years' care
- Preventative NHS strategy - working with the Department of Health and other departments on developing a preventative care for all strategy, as announced in Building Britain's Future
- Police reform - work with the Home Office (HO) on a White Paper aimed at strengthening the accountability, effectiveness and productivity of the police service
- Youth - looking at the changing experience of youth and transitions to adulthood, and implications for policy - including the provision of youth services Value for Money - understanding how best to embed value for money across the public sector
- Foreign policy - strategies for ensuring the most effective deployment of the UK's "soft power" resources
- Social deprivation - an analysis of the nature and extent of social deprivation in the UK and the policy options available to ensure the most effective use of public resources to improve outcomes for the most disadvantaged. This is a joint-project with the Social Exclusion Task Force
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Achievements to date
The Stategy Unit has conducted stategic policy across the full range of domestic and foreign policy agenda, publishing over 120 reports since 2002. It's impact has been felt across Whitehall departments, including:
- Driving the Government's strategic public service reform agenda aimed at promoting choice and contestability in key public services
- Transforming underperforming agencies, including leading the work that led to the abolition of the Child Support Agency
- Working closely with government departments in delivering their key strategic white papers, in particular in the education, policing and health fields
- Publication of major Strategic Audits in 2003, 2005 and 2008 taking stock of the UK's performance, benchmarking this internationally and identifying future challenges and opportunities, which though they may not be especially politically salient today are likely become so over the medium to long term
- Publication of the Strategy Survival Guide, the comprehensive primer for conducting effective strategic projects that has become the "bible" in this area for Whitehall departments and other policy-focused organisations beyond
See details of our publications.
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How we work
The Strategy Unit's work is project-based. Outputs can take various forms:
- confidential advice and analysis for the Prime Minister
- joint work with departments - culminating in a White Paper, Green Paper or other policy statement
- publically announced SU-led strategy reviews
The great majority of Strategy Unit projects have led, or will lead, to published outputs. Some projects result in published reports (including statements of future policy). Some influence the direction of government policy rather than leading directly to published reports. This includes confidential advice to Ministers.
Projects are typically 3-4 months in duration, though the Unit also provides fast-turn around confidential advice and analysis to No 10. Work is typically project based with teams of between 2 and 4 Strategy Unit staff, supplemented by external recruits (e.g. loans from other government departments).
See details on how to go about working for the unit.
Distinctive features
There are a number of distinctive features to the way the Unit works:
- strategic-focus - the Unit has few day to day process responsibilities which means it can focus on the important rather than the urgent.
- analytic rigour - there is a strong emphasis on analysis and evidence, allowing issues to be addressed from first principles
- creativity - there is a premium on creative thinking, ensuring that fresh perspectives are brought to bear on the most intractable public policy issues
- cross-departmentalism - the Unit works closely with other departments and others ensuring holistic, joined-up policy-making
Critical to the success of the Unit is the breadth and flexibility of its recruitment. Uniquely in Whitehall, the Unit works hard to ensure a balance of public and private sector staff, with permanent civil servants (often on loan from other government departments) working alongside fixed term appointments from leading consultancies, other private sector organisations, academic, think-tanks and NGOs. Independent experts are often recruited onto particular project teams for the duration of the project.
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Success measures
In the short term the impact of the Unit can be measured by:
- specific policy proposals, for example recommendations in white papers that would not have been made in the absence of the Unit
- views of major stakeholders on the qualify, efficiency and effectiveness of the Unit
In the longer term success can be measured by:
- the contribution of the Unit to raising the profile of issues, or re-framing the way in which they are considered
- its impact on building strategic capability in central government
- its positive impacts on economic and social outcomes
The Public Administration Select Committee's report on strategic thinking in Whitehall, published on the 6 March 2007, provides an external assessment of aspects of the Unit's work:
"Governing the Future" March 2007
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