This report from UK think tank Nesta provides an evidence-based assessment of the technical and clinical digital infrastructure underpinning the UK’s health data assets. The new Health Data Research Service (HDRS) can create the technical infrastructure, operational capacity and governance processes to join these capabilities into a coherent national system. As a once-in-a-generation opportunity to...

This report from UK think tank Nesta provides a comprehensive analysis of public spending on early years support in Wales. Early years spending in Wales spans both devolved and reserved policy, and hence comes from a combination of UK government and Welsh Government or Welsh local authority budgets. Healthcare, funded childcare, and children’s services and...

This report from UK think tank Nesta explores the different options for paying for heat pumps. One of the largest barriers to widespread heat pump adoption is the high upfront cost. Households often pay more for a heat pump than for a replacement boiler, even after the £7,500 grant from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS)....

This report from UK think tank Nesta provides a comprehensive analysis of public spending on early years support in Scotland. Early years spending in Scotland spans both devolved and reserved policy, and hence comes from a combination of UK government and Scottish Government or Scottish local authority budgets. Healthcare, early education and childcare, and children’s services...

This report from UK think tank Nesta explores how to respond to the energy crisis and make it the last one ever. This note proposes a strategic response centred on accelerating energy efficiency measures and speeding up the adoption of electric heating technologies in the home.

This report from UK think tank Nesta explores the reasons behind the challenges faced by shared infrastructure projects across the UK. Nesta has been researching the ways to roll out area-based approaches to clean heat at scale One aspect of our clean heat neighbourhood approach is shared infrastructure technologies, such as networked heat pumps, shared...

This report from UK think tank Nesta highlights the need for innovative public policy and digital interventions, led by institutions like the BBC. As part of Options for the UK – Nesta’s new home for ideas and radical thinking on policy challenges – Tony Curzon Price argues that our current regulatory approach to regulating social...

This report from UK think tank Nesta examines how a clean heat transition could be delivered. This draft plan, developed collaboratively by Nesta and Plymouth City Council, outlines a strategic approach to transitioning over 7,500 properties in Stoke ward from fossil fuels to clean, electrified heat. Local authorities often face a delivery gap between strategic...

This report from UK think tank Nesta presents early insights into the programme's implementation and the experience of participants so far. About the pilot In April 2025, Camden Council began piloting the Family Hubs Pregnancy Grant. This is an offer of £500 to low-income pregnant people. Parents are notified of the grant and given simple...

This report from UK think tank Nesta explores the changing face of food and drink advertising. Obesity is a critical public health challenge in the UK, with two-thirds of adults now living with excess weight, and levels of childhood obesity in the UK among the highest in Europe. In January 2026, the government implemented new statutory restrictions on...