Reports
The Chancellor’s Trilemma
This report from UK think tank the National Institute of Economic and Social Research analyses the UK economic outlook in the summer of 2025. The Government is on track to miss its ‘stability rule’ by £41.2bn in the fiscal year 2029-30 due to higher-than-expected public sector borrowing, the reversal of cuts to welfare, and weaker-than-expected...
Civic society and volunteering
This report from UK think tank PBE explores the economic contribution of civic society. Civil society and volunteering are widely recognised as important generators of social value. From food banks to cancer research, local sports teams or youth clubs, it’s clear that civil society provides vital services, makes our communities stronger and boosts our wellbeing....
Why the Indo-Pacific should be a higher priority for the UK
This report from UK think tank Chatham House argues in favour of using Britain’s alliances and networks for greater impact. Although UK foreign policy has for some time acknowledged the Indo-Pacific’s importance to Britain’s long-term interests, the government has yet to articulate and instrumentalize a sufficiently coherent approach to the region. Worries over European security,...
Russia’s struggle to modernize its military industry
This report from UK think tank Chatham House examines how sanctions, war and ‘innovation stagnation’ are weakening Moscow’s capabilities. The weight of international sanctions and the demands of war have exposed and intensified existing shortcomings in Russia’s military-industrial base. Russia is currently struggling to build genuinely new and technologically advanced systems. Instead, it is relying...
Understanding and improving sanctions today
This report from UK think tank Chatham House explores why and how many sanctions fail, and what to do about it. Sanctions are a key instrument of foreign policy and economic statecraft, applied with increasing frequency by the US, the UK and the EU. Given the growing prevalence of these tools, there are mounting concerns...
Checking out
This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities identifies four key reasons why high street vacancy rates vary so much from city to city and how to improve their fortunes. Centre for Cities looks at the variation in performance across high streets in the centres of the UK's largest cties and towns to understand...
Caught in a trap?
This report from UK think tank PBE explores low wellbeing in the UK today. What comprises a decent life? It’s a hard question to definitively answer, with any individual’s response likely to differ from their neighbour’s (and even from their own answer five years in the future). Money is, of course, an important factor, and...
How many homes does the UK need?
This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies reveals that the UK has a shortage of 6.5 million homes when compared to similar European countries. Decades of lacklustre housebuilding and recent record migration have left the UK with a shortfall of more than 6.5 million homes, according to new research from the...
Costs and benefits of improved leave for fathers in the first year: Too good to ignore
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Policy Research recommends reforms to the UK’s current parental leave policies. The policy brief, written by Dr Joanna Clifton-Sprigg, Dr Alistair Hunt, Lily Zelezetskii and James Bailey, evaluates a reform to UK paternity leave, and finds that expanding paternity leave to six weeks (taken flexibly in...
Organised vehicle theft in the UK
This report from UK think tank RUSI provides an analysis of vehicle theft in the UK, including trends, responses and challenges. In the 20 years before 2013, the number of vehicle thefts in the UK declined. This trend has since reversed. Data from the UK Home Office indicates that incidences of vehicle theft have risen...
The Living Standards Outlook 2025
This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation looks at how incomes have fared over the decade so far and what may lie ahead. This is our seventh annual Living Standards Outlook. It looks at how incomes have fared over the decade so far and what may lie ahead given current economic forecasts and...
In the loop: stories of businesses delivering the circular economy
This report from UK think tank Green Alliance looks at what circular business looks like on the ground. Circular business models are already delivering transformative results across the UK, cutting waste, creating jobs and building resilience in sectors from retail to heavy industry. But, what does circular business really look like on the ground? This...
Flying start: establishing the UK as a leader in zero emission aviation
This report from UK think tank Green Alliance examines the challenges facing aviation and explores how hydrogen powered aircraft can transform the sector. Aviation is set to become an increasingly dominant source of UK emissions, growing from 8% today to 59% by 2050 as other sectors decarbonise. The UK’s world-leading aerospace sector, worth £11 billion...
How strategic authorities can develop effective local economic plans: Making devolution work
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government explores how local economic strategies can be powerful drivers of prosperity and growth. As the government continues progress on the ‘devolution revolution’, it is more important than ever for strategic authorities to use their devolved powers in a coherent and strategic way. This report sets...
A healthy State?
This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation puts the 2025 Spending Review into context. June 11th saw the Chancellor reveal the results of the first ‘zero-based’ review since 2008, the first stand-alone Spending Review since 2019, and the first three-year plan since 2021. It was the Government’s chance to say what its priorities...