Reports

CPP’s Local Economy Tracker 2023
This report from UK think tank The Centre for Progressive Policy explores how people feel about the economic opportunities where they live. CPP’s annual Local Economy Tracker explores how people feel about the economic opportunities where they live, what they think needs to change and which political parties and tiers of government they trust the...


Making markets in practice
This report from UK think tank IPPR argues that there is an urgency for policymakers to implement a green industrial strategy. With Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPs and Science Act and the EU’s Green Industrial Plan, industrial policy is back in vogue. Yet after years of neglect in favour of hands-off, agnostic policymaking, governments...


Putting intensive farming out to pasture
This report from UK think tank the Social Market Foundation looks at whether alternative proteins can reduce farmed animal suffering. The market for meat alternatives has grown rapidly over the last decade, yet they still only account for 1% of the global meat market. This SMF report, the third and final instalment of a series,...


Funding fair growth
This report from UK think tank the Centre for Progressive Policy sets out how a future government could drive transformative change. CPP’s Funding fair growth report reveals the stark cost of maintaining public services at current levels over the next parliament and sets out how a future government could drive transformative change. Our analysis shows...


Supply change
This report from UK think tank the Social Market Foundation explores the economic and environmental benefits of making the UK’s heat pump supply chain more robust. The UK’s heat pump supply chain is still in its infancy and remains much weaker than in mainland Europe or Asia. This SMF report explores the economic and environmental...


From missed chances to green advances: the case for a green industrial strategy
This report from UK think tank IPPR looks at the case for a green industrial strategy. The transition to net zero is the economic opportunity of the 21st century. But claims of UK leadership in capturing the economic benefits of the transition to a green economy are wide of the mark. While the UK has...


Fairer winds: workers’ rights in the age of transition
This report by UK think tank IPPR looks at how the UK can learn from the successes and failures of fair transition policies in the US and EU. Countries around the world are starting to build just transition principles into state-led green industrial strategies. Advanced economies, including the US and the EU’s member states, are...


Delivering Levelling Up? How secure work can reduce regional inequality
This report from UK think tank the Work Foundation looks at how secure work can reduce regional inequality. This new report reveals the regions with the highest and lowest levels of ‘severely insecure’ work (employment that is involuntarily temporary or part-time, or when multiple forms of insecurity come together, such as casual or zero-hours contracts,...


Parallel lives
This report from UK think tank IPPR looks at regionally rebalancing wealth, power and opportunity. Our economy and democracy are not yet designed to help all places thrive. Reducing regional inequality, or levelling up, remains imperative for both improving the fairness of society and the efficiency of our economy. If the UK was more regionally...


Powering up the UK battery industry
This report from UK think tank Green Alliance canvasses industry leaders to understand the challenges and opportunities facing the market. As the UK’s car manufacturing sector gears up to produce electric vehicles, attention is turning to the battery supply chains needed for the car industry to thrive. We surveyed and spoke to industry leaders to...


Towns vitality roadmap
This report from UK think tank the Social Market Foundation looks at a new policy framework for the UK’s towns. Towns are the backbone of our economy, the heart of our communities, and the engine of job creation. Yet they often face significant challenges, including funding allocation, skills challenges, infrastructure issues and digital adoption. In...


‘Levelling up’ from the centre
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government looks at six tests for a government serious about reducing regional inequalities. Central government is not set up to deliver this government’s promise – or Labour’s plans – to reduce regional inequality. This report sets out how central government has undermined past attempts to reduce...


Innovation hotspots: Clustering the New Economy
This report from UK think tank the Centre for Cities looks at the UK’s 344 innovation hotspots and their potential to address the UK’s sluggish productivity growth. The UK is home to 344 innovative hotspots, with clustered New Economy firms accounting for approximately £18.5 billion and 200,000 jobs to the national economy. Although the clustered...


A brighter future for UK steel
This report from UK think tank Green Alliance looks at the UK steel industry, which is going through a critical transition. The UK steel industry is going through a critical transition. It is seeking government support to help it reduce its emissions and improve its competitiveness. This shift is partly driven by global steel markets...


Appetite for change
This report from UK think tank Green Alliance looks at why the UK should lead the emerging alternative proteins market. The global alternative proteins industry is expanding rapidly. Reducing meat consumption in favour of alternative sources of protein can have substantial benefits for the climate and the natural environment. It can cut the carbon emissions...
Related Articles
How can the UK’s industrial strategy support the ‘levelling up’ agenda?
'Levelling up' has become one of the big agenda items for this government but how can it be helped by industrial strategy? Use the Spending Review and R&D Place Strategy to increase support for business innovation in lagging regions By James Blagden (Onward) In recent decades the UK’s regions have diverged so much that we...