Reports
Swiss role model? What the UK can learn from how Switzerland rebuilt public trust in its asylum system
This report from UK think tank the Social Market Foundation looks at the Swiss asylum reforms and key takeaways for the UK. The UK is suffering a downward spiral, with collapsing public confidence in the government’s ability to deliver an effective asylum system. This report investigates reforms to the Swiss asylum system designed to address...
Essays about the future: Scotland
This report from UK think tank Carnegie UK considers what kind of a country we want Scotland to be two decades from now. Moments of democratic choice provide an important opportunity to pause, look beyond immediate pressures, and reflect on the kind of future we want to build. Ahead of this year’s election, Carnegie UK...
Adopt, innovate, transform
This report from UK think tank the Fabian Society explores how civil servants can help deliver a smarter state with AI. As artificial intelligence plays an increasingly prominent role in our lives, the government is rightly using its potential to rewire the state. The long-term efficacy and sustainability of our public services will rely on...
Concept to culture: A maturity model for wellbeing policy
This report from UK think tank Carnegie UK explores what a maturity model for embedding wellbeing approaches in public policy might look like. In recent years there has been a global shift in public policy, moving from traditional economic and output-based measures of government performance towards a more holistic focus on measures of wellbeing. Governments...
Future wellbeing policy: Lessons from Wales and beyond
This report from UK think tank Carnegie UK reflects on the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act since it was enshrined in law just over ten years ago. In January 2026, the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) together with Carnegie UK, the Centre for Welsh Politics and Society/WISERD, and the Co-production Network for Wales convened...
Dialling up democracy in the 21st century: Pathways for renewal
This report from UK think tank City-REDI explores how democratic innovation can help renew trust and legitimacy in the UK’s democratic system This policy working paper explores how democratic innovation can help renew trust, participation, and legitimacy in the UK’s democratic system. Building on earlier LPIP Hub work on social value and community-centred innovation, it...
Higher ground
This report from UK think tank Bright Blue proposes eight new policies for the government to adopt to increase abundance and certainty in the housing and energy markets. This report examines the trends in, and private and public impacts of, stagnant living standards in the UK over the past few decades. It then offers distinctive...
Understatement of the year
This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation puts the Spring Forecast in context. This briefing note sets out how a mix of benign fiscal developments and concerning economic trends leaves the Government on track to meet its fiscal rules following the 2026 Spring Forecast, but with little resilience to shocks. The OBR’s numbers...
Skills matter in place-based green industrial policy: Lessons from the closure of MG Rover, 2002 – 2005
This report from UK think tank City-REDI explores lessons from the closure of MG Rover 2002 - 2005. In this LPIP Hub report, Ed Atkins examines how the experiences of workers following the closure of MG Rover in Longbridge, Birmingham, offer lessons for green industrial policy today. He shows how proactive, place-based and skills-centred interventions...
Democracy on default settings
This report from UK think tank Demos examines the hidden infrastructure of UK democracy: MPs’ offices. Democracy on Default Settings, by Hannah O’Rourke from Campaign Lab and Edward Saperia from Newspeak House, examines the hidden infrastructure of UK democracy: MPs’ offices. Drawing on interviews, surveys and fieldwork with parliamentary staff, the report exposes how outdated...
How the centre of government can design better growth policy
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government Labour sets out how the government can be better equipped to take tough choices on growth. The government needs to sharpen up its strategy for raising the rate of growth, led by a stronger more economically capable No.10. This report, in partnership with Imperial College...
Power Failure: A new theory of power
This report from UK think tank the Future Governance Forum rethinks how power operates in the British state. British politics feels stuck. In recent years, both Conservative and Labour governments have found themselves increasingly hamstrung by a web of problematic concentrations and dispersals of power, thwarting their attempts to make people’s lives better. Left feeling...
Whitehall Monitor 2026
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government assesses the government's progress and judges whether it is heading in the right direction. Labour came into power in 2024 with big ambitions for state reform. Mission-driven government would break open Whitehall, transforming the civil service into a collaborative, innovative, dynamic workforce, operating in partnership...
How can the government ensure inquiries are set up to succeed?
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government explores how inquiries are established and managed and how these processes can be improved. Public inquiries have become a central feature of the UK’s response to crises, with a record 27 public inquiries currently underway. In 2025 alone the UK government announced seven new inquiries...
The Green Book and getting more investment into the regions
This report from UK think tank the Future Governance Forum calls on the Government to change the way that its Green Book is used. A new report by The Future Governance Forum, ‘The Green Book and getting more investment into the regions’, has called on the Government to change the way that its Green Book...
Related Events
14 April 2026
Location: Online
Think tank: Institute for Government
A state rewired? Civil service digital transformation, data, and artificial intelligence
This event hosted by UK think tank the Institute for Government is the second of a three-part series exploring their annual report on the civil service. The second Whitehall Monitor webinar – in our three-part series exploring the IfG’s annual flagship report on civil service – takes a closer look at what hopes the government is pinning on digital...
20 April 2026
Location: Online / Institute for Government, 2 Carlton Gardens, London SW1Y 5AA
Think tank: Institute for Government
In conversation with Rt Hon James Murray MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury: How will the government boost public service productivity?
This event hosted by UK think tank the Institute for Government discusses how the government will boost public service productivity. Improving productivity is at the heart of the government’s plans for public services, underpins the ‘strategic and agile state’ and is a critical enabler for many of its ambitions for the future. The Chief Secretary...
21 April 2026
Location: Online
Think tank: Institute for Government
A state rewired? Civil service leadership, diversity and morale
This event hosted by UK think tank the Institute for Government is the third of a three-part series exploring their annual report on the civil service. The third Whitehall Monitor webinar – the final in a three-part series exploring the IfG’s annual flagship report on the civil service – takes a deeper look at the people who make up...
23 April 2026
Location: Online
Think tank: Centre for Cities
How planning policies have shaped urban densities over time and lessons for today
This event hosted by UK think tank Centre for Cities discusses how national and local planning policies in Britain have shaped the density of urban housing development. Last year, Centre for Cities published research investigating how density in UK cities compares to counterparts in France and Japan, revealing priority areas for delivering denser housing. This new...
5 May 2026
Location: University of Bath campus (Room 3.5, The Chancellors' Building), Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY
Think tank: Institute for Policy Research
Glen O’Hara: How the Blair governments reshaped the country
This event hosted by UK think tank the Institute for Policy Research discusses what we can learn from New Labour's time in power. Between 1997 and 2007, New Labour sought to reshape Britain into a more cohesive and forward-thinking society. The decade saw the rise of socially liberal attitudes and flourishing public services under a...
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...