How can the government move to a preventative approach to public services?
Preventative public services are designed to deal with problems before they develop, or before they become more complicated to manage. Evidence suggests that children in particular benefit from investment whether that\u2019s in the early years, or earlier in their life cycle, helping to prevent problems from determining their outcomes later in life. The Labour Party has put prevention at the centre of its plans for public services, promising a \u2018prevention first revolution\u2019. And the government has identified increased prevention as a key contributor towards improved public sector productivity. However, high demand for acute services means governments have often found it difficult to invest in prevention. \n\nSo what can be done to bring about a change of approach?\n\nThis event brought together a panel of experts to discuss: \n\nWhat are preventative services and how has investment in them changed over time?\nWhat evidence is there that preventative services improve outcomes and deliver savings? \nWhat are the barriers to government taking a preventative approach?\nHow could government funding be shifted towards preventative services? \nWhat can be learnt from previous examples of preventative approaches?\nTo discuss these questions and more, we were joined by an expert panel, including:\n\nStuart Hoddinott, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government\nRt Hon Sir Sajid Javid MP, former Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care\nDonna Molloy, Deputy Chief Executive at Foundations \nLynn Perry MBE, Chief Executive of Barnardo\u2019s\n\nThe event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.\n\nWe would like to thank Barnardo\u2019s for kindly supporting this event.