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Su Maddock describes the new innovation hub for Whitehall.

The National School of Government's Sunningdale Institute has established an innovation hub to develop know-how on stimulating and supporting innovation in government and the public services.

The Whitehall Innovation Hub – financed by DIUS, and situated in the National School of Government – aims to help build a new landscape for those who want to reconnect policy and practice through building bridges between innovative players across the system. 

The purpose of the hub is to present central government with a means to reconnect Whitehall with the wider public sector, and reduce the  reliance on ‘compliance', which acts as a  disincentive to innovative behaviour across the  public sector.

The hub aims to act as a focal point for public service innovation in Whitehall – evidence shows that while public services are becoming more receptive to innovative solutions, they need more systematic support from government.

An anchor for public service innovation is people's experience, and new ways of involving people in problem-solving – it involves a radical shift in relationships between professionals, service-users, practitioners and policy-makers. Public innovation is about tackling social problems by involving people.

This means local agencies, social enterprise and local government have a huge part to play in sustaining more innovative practice by becoming more receptive to new ideas from frontline staff and from outside their own organisations.

A big problem for government is that public service innovation is often stifled by institutional practices. This is true of local and central government, although it is Whitehall which is now the weakest link in the public service innovation delivery chain.

Innovation is often seen as an add-on, and something to ignore during periods of economic decline – but it is precisely during times of crises that innovative responses are needed. Public innovation is not a process, nor a product, it is about a more radical rethink about how professionals work with the public and demands open relationships between the service-providers, public and government, ie, a more collaborative state.

The hub has launched a vertical network of those leaders in Whitehall, the regions and local partnerships who want to develop a governance framework more conducive to innovation.

Su Maddock is director, Whitehall Innovation Hub