Reports

Politics or principle? Making sense of the Government’s White Paper on immigration, and how should business respond
This report from UK think tank the Social Market Foundation sets out six key takeaways for how business should think about proactively engaging with the proposals. Given the Government’s statements on how it views business’ use of overseas workers, the White Paper provided an opportunity for the Government to put its money where its mouth...

Reducing school absence: innovation lessons from the last Labour government
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government explores how Labour can learn from its experience of tackling complex problems when it was last in government. The last Labour government’s success in tackling complex policy problems like school absence provides a blueprint for Keir Starmer’s government. This report, written by Moira Wallace, former...

General practice across England: Performance Tracker Local
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government argues that the government needs to urgently address the crisis in the GP partner workforce. This report, the second in a new IfG series – funded by the Nuffield Foundation – on public service performance at the local level, shows that patient satisfaction is higher...

Why government should introduce an annual migration plan
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government outlines how government could strengthen the process for developing immigration policy to better achieve its overall objectives. The government’s work to set out its plan for immigration in a white paper is an opportunity to more strategically reassess how migration policies are developed. In 2019,...

Local, actually: establishing hyperlocal governance in England
This report from UK think tank Reform sets out policy ideas for a new kind of hyperlocal governance: a universal, capable, and empowered tier of Neighbourhood Councils. A wave of local government reorganisation and regional devolution is sweeping across England, fundamentally changing the face of the local State. And as this happens, the gap at...

Reform of Stormont
This report from UK think tank The Constitution Unit sets out possible reforms to the ways in which Northern Ireland’s devolved government works. Over a quarter of a century since the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland is rightly celebrated around the world as offering a model for how to build...

2030 and beyond: Great British Energy’s role in the green transition
This report from UK think tank IPPR offers an implementation strategy for GBE’s success. The UK government created Great British Energy to help deliver secure, clean and affordable electricity. Achieving this requires bold, but focused, actions, without burdening GBE with conflicting objectives. In this report, we offer an implementation strategy for GBE’s success. We outline...

Who is losing learning? Finding solutions to the school engagement crisis
This report from UK think tank IPPR sets out 10 recommendations which, if delivered, would see a measurable improvement in school inclusion. An alarming number of children are missing out on the social and educational benefits of school. A crisis of lost learning is sweeping across schools in England. Children cannot learn if they are...

The Constitutional landscape
This report from UK think tank the Constitution Unit provides a concise overview of the current situation and possible reforms in 31 areas. The Labour government came to power in 2024 proposing constitutional reforms in a number of areas. This followed a decade which often saw debates about constitutional topics arise. Some of the government's...

How the government can support better decision making in mayoral combined authorities
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government looks at making England’s ‘devolution revolution’ a reality. By May, over half of England’s population will live in an area covered by a metro mayor. The mayoral combined authorities (MCAs) they lead have already shown their capacity to take on responsibility for key local economic...

Inside England and Wales’s prisons crisis: Performance Tracker Local
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government looks at what is driving the differing performance of prisons around the country. More work and education and increasing access to open prisons could turn around over a decade of strikingly poor prison performance in England and Wales. This report, the first in a new...

Social impact investment as a policy tool
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Policy Research looks at the potential value of impact investment in achieving their policy goals. Both before and since the 2024 UK general election, politicians have been talking about the potential value of impact investment in achieving their policy goals. Despite this interest, and an increasing...

Fostering domestic innovations in Wales: Lessons from around the world
This report from UK think tank the Institute of Welsh Affairs examines democratic innovations across the world and how they could be implemented in a Welsh context. Our new report, Fostering Democratic Innovations in Wales, produced in collaboration with Aberystwyth University and the Centre for Welsh Politics and Society, examines democratic innovations put into practice...

How can areas successfully reorganise local government and implement devolution at the same time?
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government looks at how local leaders and central government can successfully navigate the challenges of ‘dual delivery’. The government has launched an ambitious programme of local government reorganisation that will bring remaining two-tier areas in line with the unitary authority system that operates across most English...

Supercharging Philanthropy
This report from UK think tank the Centre for Social Justice looks at how government and givers can unleash a new wave of philanthropic funding. This report calls on Government to increase its match-funding activity and we have identified £3.87 billion – a funding pot drawn from existing Government spend across this Parliament utilising unclaimed...
Related Articles
What is important when thinking about digital government services?
Digital government services must be made truly accessible to reduce inequalities By Josh Abel (Fabian Society) The pandemic has brought the digital divide to the forefront of public policy debate. During lockdown, far too many children were unable to learn from home because they could not access the internet and millions of households faced social isolation because they were...