"Funding"

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.

Wales can’t afford to fall further behind. This is more than digital reform. It’s how we build a more resilient, responsive Wales — one that works for everyone, for generations to come. The choice is clear. Stay stuck. Or lead the way.

The government has committed to creating a National Care and Support Service over the next decade, with full implementation from 2029. But a rigid, long-term plan risks being overtaken by events. A better way is to accelerate delivery by combining clear political intent with practical, test and learn reform.

Wales faces significant challenges in housing, infrastructure, climate change and public health. Yet the planning system – anchored in local development plans – is struggling to respond. Many local plans are outdated, the process for updating them is long and complex, and both communities and businesses find it hard to engage. Wrexham’s recent high-profile planning dispute illustrates the risks.

Wales has the potential to become a beacon for modern, human-centred public services. But to get there, we must act decisively in three main areas: leadership, skills and funding.

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.

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.

The way we design and deliver public services is broken. For over a decade, we’ve failed to increase our state capacity as Welsh public services have faced growing pressures: rising demand alongside reduced funding. People need and expect more, but public services have failed to keep up….

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.