Work to build PM’s Delivery Unit ‘will start right away’
Johnson drafts in former British Virgin Islands governor Gus Jaspert as interim head
Gus Jaspert shows then foreign secretary Boris Johnson the devastation wrought on the British Virgin Islands by 2017 s Hurricane Irma Credit: Twitter
23 Apr 2021
Downing Street has said work to create the new Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit will commence right away with former British Virgin Islands governor Gus Jaspert acting as interim head until permanent chief Dr Emily Lawson is available.
Prime minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman this week announced that the unit was being created to provide “the strongest possible approach” to support the successful delivery of the government’s agenda, based on the recommendations of a review by Sir Michael Barber.
PM to set up No.10 unit to strengthen policy delivery
Blair-style team will be headed up by coronavirus vaccination lead Emily Lawson
Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/PA Images
22 Apr 2021
Boris Johnson is creating a new delivery unit in 10 Downing Street to ramp up policy implementation, following the recommendations of a review by Sir Michael Barber.
The team – which has throwbacks to the delivery unit set up by Tony Blair two decades ago – will replace Downing Street’s current implementation unit and be led by NHS chief commercial officer Dr Emily Watson, who is also the health service’s vaccine-deployment lead.
Last modified on Wed 21 Apr 2021 14.55 EDT
The prime minister is reviving a Tony Blair-era initiative in announcing the creation of a delivery unit to take charge of pushing through his policy agenda after more than a year dominated by dealing with Covid-19.
The unit will be run by Dr Emily Lawson, who led the operational delivery of the NHS coronavirus vaccination programme, for which the government has been keen to claim maximum credit, having faced heavy criticism for its handling of other aspects of the pandemic.
Lawson will take the post on secondment from the NHS in the summer, by which time most adults in the UK are expected to have had a jab. She will lead a small team made up of existing civil servants and people with key skills such as auditors and data scientists.
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