The Better Government Initiative (BGI) was active from 2007 to 2018. It was formed as a response to widespread concerns about the practical difficulties facing government as it sought to run the country against a background of rapid change. Its work focused on the processes that play an essential part in achieving sound governance. It aimed to canvass the widest possible range of views and to publish concrete recommendations that would be of practical relevance not only to the major parties but to a wider audience of practitioners, academics and commentators who shared the BGI’s concerns and interests.
The Better Government Initiative was set up by Sir Christopher Foster, a former professor of economics and adviser to ministers from the 1970s to the 1990s. The group was wound down at the end of 2018.
The BGI was an informal body with a two-tier structure: a Board of Governors concerned with the broad strategy of the group and matters of propriety and regularity and an Executive Committee who prepared the group’s reports and provided advice to Parliamentary Committees and others with an interest in their work. Administrative and financial support for the work of the BGI was provided by The Constitution Society.