Economy and Jobs

GovCamp Cymru 2025: building the future of public services in Wales together

What a brilliant day at GovCamp Cymru! The energy, generosity, and curiosity in every room was infectious, and proof that when you bring together people who care about public services in Wales, good ideas flow fast. We pitched and ran a packed session on ‘A vision for public services in Wales’. Around 40 people joined us to explore what great public service delivery could look like, and what’s holding us back. What we heard: a shared vision.

A better way

If Wales wants to rise to the challenge of improving public services, we have to change how we design and deliver them. That means putting people first, adopting modern and open ways of working, drawing on the best digital practices to build services that are simple, efficient, and designed around real life-needs.

Invest in modern skills and expertise - How we get there

Better public services start with the right people. Modern, user-centred services require skills that still aren’t widespread across the Welsh public sector – especially in user research, service design, content design, delivery management and engineering.

Reinvent funding and delivery mechanisms - How we get there

Transforming how government works also means transforming how it funds and delivers work. Across the Welsh public sector, the default model is still large, time-limited programmes that rely on cumbersome, multi-stage business cases. This process is slow, expensive and based on guesswork. It forces teams to commit upfront to fixed plans rather than testing risky assumptions or responding to real-world feedback.

Transforming public services for a modern Wales

This report outlines a strategy for transforming Welsh public services, not only to meet the urgent demands of the present but to deliver on the vision of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. We can ensure a prosperous, resilient, healthier, and more equal Wales for current and future generations.

Why this matters

Welsh public services haven’t kept up. Technology has transformed how we live, work, and connect with the world. People expect public services to be simple, fast, and user-friendly – just like everything else in their lives. But too often, government services are slow, clunky, and frustrating.