The Prime Minister's Delivery Unit (PMDU) (now known as the No 10 Delivery Unit) is a centre of government institution in the United Kingdom, providing support to the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

public service A public service or service of general (economic) interest is any service intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community, whether provided directly by a public sector agency, via public financing available to private busin ...

delivery. It was initially created in June 2001 to monitor progress on and strengthen the British government's capacity to deliver on key campaign priorities of Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

's second-term government: education, health, crime and transport. The Unit reported to the

through the Head of the Civil Service (the

Cabinet Secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...

). The Unit was abolished in 2010 but revived in 2021. In the interim an 'Implementation Unit' was set up in the Cabinet Office, with a similar remit.

History

2001-2010

The Unit was initially headed by the Prime Minister's Chief Adviser on Delivery, who was initially Professor

Sir Michael Barber Sir Michael Bayldon Barber (born 24 November 1955) is a British former civil servant and educationist known for serving as head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit under Tony Blair’s government. He was knighted in 2005 for his contribut ...

. He left in mid-2005 and was replaced by

Ian Watmore Ian Charles Watmore (born 5 July 1958) is a British management consultant and former senior civil servant under three prime ministers, who served from October 2016 to September 2021 as the First Civil Service Commissioner. Early life and busi ...

, the head of the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

Delivery and Transformation Group, in January 2006. Following Ian Watmore's departure in mid-2007, Ray Shostak CBE was appointed to the lead the unit. It worked alongside the

Prime Minister's Strategy Unit The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit (often referred to simply as The Strategy Unit) was a unit based in the UK Cabinet Office between 2002 and 2010 (with its predecessor unit, the Performance and Innovation Unit, dating back to 1999). The Strategy U ...

. The Unit worked in partnership with the

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

, the

and stakeholder departments within the

Government of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

, to assess delivery and provide performance management for the Government's top public priorities. From 2006 to 2010, the Unit was also jointly responsible for monitoring performance across all the indicators in the Public service agreements. The Unit was abolished by the

Coalition Government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

in October 2010, with remaining staff re-allocated to th
Performance and Reform Unit in HM Treasury
Public Service Agreements were also abolished in June 2010. Ray Shostak left the Unit in December 2010 to join Core Assets Group.

, a former chief executive of

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

, was appointed Chief Operating Officer of the Efficiency and Reform Group in June 2010.

2021-present

Prime Minister

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

restored the unit in the summer of 2021 after a review by

, with Emily Lawson as its director.

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth da ...

had proposed disbanding the unit prior to her appointment as prime minister in 2022, and replacing it with a new Economic Unit ("to help Truss and her Chancellor

Kwasi Kwarteng Akwasi Addo Alfred Kwarteng (born 26 May 1975) is a British politician who served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer from September to October 2022 under Liz Truss and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 202 ...

take on the ‘Treasury orthodoxy’ that Truss spent so much of her leadership campaign railing against"); but the unit survived her brief premiership. Lawson departed in August 2023, to be replaced by Alice Matthews.

References

Public bodies and task forces of the United Kingdom government British Prime Minister's Office 2001 establishments in the United Kingdom 2010 disestablishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-gov-stub

History

2001-2010

2021-present

See also

References