Making Public Sector Productivity Practical artwork
Productivity Puzzles

Making Public Sector Productivity Practical

  • S1E19
  • 49:37
  • July 20th 2022

Despite showing slow productivity growth over the past decade, the public sector has performed better than the private sector and there is quite a bit of scope for further improvement. This instalment of Productivity Puzzles delves into how and why productivity could grow in the public sector.


This episode is a prelude to the publication of the Making Public Sector Productivity Practical report, which is soon to be released by The Productivity Institute and Capita. You can pre-register to access the report on Capita’s website.


Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by:


  • Paul Abraham, Managing Director & Client Partner at Capita Public Service
  • Stephen Aldridge, Chief Economist and Director of Analysis and Data at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
  • Anna Smart, Systems Thinking/Organisational Design Lead at London Borough of Camden


For more information on the topic:



About Productivity Puzzles:

Productivity Puzzles is sponsored by Capita and brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research body involving nine academic institutions across the UK, eight Regional Productivity Forums throughout the nation, and a national independent Productivity Commission to advise policy makers at all levels of government. It’s funded by the Economic and Social Research Council



Productivity Puzzles

Join Bart van Ark, Professor of Productivity Studies at the University of Manchester, and the managing director of The Productivity Institute as he brings you discussions with leading minds from the UK and abroad about how to improve productivity for almost everything: from health care to car manufacturing, at national and regional levels, for business and for your own personal productivity.


This podcast series investigates why UK productivity is lower than in many other countries and why are there such large differences in productivity across and within the regions and devolved nations. We’ll also get the best insights from research on smart policies and effective business practices to increase productivity and find out how this will drive prosperity, wellbeing and inclusive sustainable growth.


Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research project involving nine academic institutions across the UK, eight regional productivity forums throughout the nation, and a national independent Productivity Commission to advise policy makers at all levels of government. 

Find out more about at www.productivity.ac.uk

The Productivity Institute is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. To find out more, visit: https://esrc.ukri.org/about-us/strategy-and-priorities/productivity/