SERCO INSTITUTE - Key Persons
Ben leads on the Institute's major projects as well as overseeing its day-to-day operation. His focus is on developing innovative solutions to the challenges facing public services and communicating them to policymakers.
With nearly a decade of experience working in research, policy and politics, Ben joined the Institute from the UK Parliament and Welsh Parliament where he was an advisor to a number of senior politicians. Developing manifestos and communications strategies for two UK General Elections, as well as leading on inter-party negotiations during a hung Parliament, Ben has an extensive understanding of the policymaking process. Before working in party politics, Ben was a communications consultant at a top UK public affairs agency, where he assisted public and private sector organisations to run campaigns and become thought leaders at a local, national and international level.
We are a think tank originally established by Serco in 2002 to explore and develop thinking on mechanisms for delivering public services, and in particular around the benefits of contestability and competition; in 2012 the Institute became dormant. However, at a time when there has never been a greater need for public services which deliver high quality and resilience to service users, and which represent value-for-money for taxpayers, we have decided to relaunch and re-vivify the Institute.
While we will of course look at what the private sector can bring to public service provision and we believe in the merits of diversity of provision, our thinking horizon is a much broader one and we look to examine how public services can be improved as a whole.
We seek to garner insight from experts from all sectors and from across the globe to help develop ideas which will underpin the next generation of public service solutions for citizens.
The more perspectives we gather, from academics, technologists, start-ups, outsourcers, procurers, policy makers, or charities, the more likely we are to capture insight that allows for the design and delivery of public services that make society work better.
Job Titles:
- Policy & Communications Associate
Having completed an MA in European History at UCL in 2020, Robert worked as a Research Volunteer for the Constitution Unit, specialising in citizens' assemblies, deliberative democracy and voter information. He joined the Institute in August 2021.
Samuel joined the Institute after working as a Parliamentary Researcher in the House of Lords. During his time in Parliament, he developed a keen interest in developing policy solutions through innovation and research. In particular, he focused on policy related to integrated family support services and the importance of families and relationships to prisoners' rehabilitation. His political interest stems from his degree at King's College London where he studied PPE, with a focus on normative ethics, populism, and global extremism in his final year.