Testing a Different Way to Improve Complex Public Services

Why It Matters

Fragmented accountability has long hampered public‑service reform; NewCo offers a repeatable way to unlock end‑to‑end improvements, accelerating better outcomes for citizens and informing future policy design.

Key Takeaways

• CustomerFirst pilots NewCo model to break fragmented service silos
• NewCo creates bounded space for multidisciplinary teams to test constraints
• Success measured by improved user outcomes, not organizational changes
• Early adoption includes DVLA and other delivery bodies
• Learning will be shared openly to accelerate public sector reform

Pulse Analysis

Public services in the UK face a paradox: while policy mandates end‑to‑end responsibility, the reality is a patchwork of agencies, regulators and third‑party providers. This fragmentation often leads to incremental tweaks that leave the overall citizen experience unchanged, despite substantial investment. The Service Standard and the 2025 Blueprint for Modern Digital Government call for holistic solutions, yet existing delivery models remain siloed around funding streams and functional boundaries. Understanding this gap is essential for any stakeholder seeking to navigate or reform the public sector landscape.

The NewCo model introduced by CustomerFirst seeks to bridge that gap by deliberately creating a bounded space where small, cross‑disciplinary teams can surface and test the constraints that limit service performance. Unlike permanent parallel structures, NewCo is a temporary, outcome‑focused construct that allows teams to experiment within agreed guardrails, identify fixed versus negotiable constraints, and feed evidence back into the existing service architecture. Past examples such as the early GDS multidisciplinary squads, the Universal Credit redesign, and the Infected Blood Compensation Authority illustrate that when authority is concentrated, rapid progress follows. NewCo formalises this emergent practice, making it repeatable across varied governmental contexts.

If successful, NewCo could reshape how complex, federated services are delivered, moving the emphasis from isolated redesigns to systemic, evidence‑driven change. Early pilots with bodies like the DVLA will test whether this approach yields measurable improvements in user outcomes. By committing to open learning, CustomerFirst aims to create a repository of best practices that other departments can adopt, potentially accelerating the modernization agenda across the public sector. The next two years will reveal whether bounded experimentation can become a standard tool for government transformation.