Reports
Struggling against the tide
This report from UK think tank Pro Bono Economics looks at children's services spending from 2011 - 2023. Council spending on children’s services has now reached a tipping point. For the first time, more was spent on residential care placements than early intervention services. This poses a major challenge for central and local governments, as...
Treatment for the charity sector’s unhealthy status quo
This report from UK think tank Pro Bono Economics looks at the charity sector's unhealthy status quo. Recent riots have put the instability of the UK’s communities in the spotlight. And as night follows day, they have also highlighted the communities’ strengths: the people who freely give their time and money to respond to need,...
Mission critical
This report from UK think tank Green Alliance proposes five steps to greater energy security through demand reduction and circularity. Energy security is an increasing concern for governments across the world, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But decarbonising power, transport and home heating will reduce reliance on imports of oil and gas and help to...
Target practice
This report from UK think tank Onward looks at supply side solutions to deliver stable prices and overcome economic stagnation. "Inflation makes us all poorer", Rishi Sunak repeatedly highlighted as the UK was hit by sky-high inflation in the wake of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Conservative Government achieved its aim to...
Running out of road
This report from UK think tank the Social Market Foundation looks at navigating the route to decarbonised business fleets. Electric vehicles are at the forefront of the green transition, improving air quality and promoting cleaner, safer roads, but much of the policy discussion focuses on consumer uptake. This report looks at electric vehicle adoption among...
Learning lessons
This report from UK think tank the Adam Smith Institute looks at the UK's history of bad planning policy. With a new administration in power, and planning reform firmly on the agenda, Sam Watling writes about what we can learn from the long history of Britain’s planning policy. Since 1947, and the passage of the...
The crisis in prisons
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government will look at how to start fixing the problems at the heart of the criminal justice system. Prisons are in a profound state of crisis. The Prison Governors’ Association warned last week that prisons in England and Wales are just days away from running out...
Clean power by 2030: How could a Labour government achieve its mission for power sector decarbonisation?
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government will examine how Keir Starmer can knock down the 10 biggest barriers to Labour's 2030 clean power plan. If elected a Labour government will face 10 major barriers to hitting its 2030 clean power target – and needs a plan for week one, month one...
Capital spending in public services: fixing how the government invests in the NHS, schools and prisons
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government reveals the impact of the UK’s historically low – and badly spent – capital budgets. Crumbling buildings, creaking IT and a lack of equipment will continue to seriously hamper public service performance unless the next government takes a new approach to capital spending. This report,...
Delivering a general practice estate that is fit for purpose
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government says that the next government must urgently modernise old and cramped NHS GP buildings. GPs and the rest of the general practice workforce are working in buildings that are often too cramped, too old and too inflexible for a modern health service – with a...
A second wind: maximising the economic opportunity for UK wind manufacturing
This report from UK think tank IPPR argues for a green industrial strategy for the wind sector that should focus on expanding the UK’s wind manufacturing. In terms of offshore wind capacity, the UK is second in the world only to China. Yet in the next seven years, the UK must install triple the amount...
Ukraine’s wartime recovery and the role of civil society: Chatham House survey of Ukrainian CSOs – 2024 update.
This report from UK think tank Chatham House examines how government, citizens and donors can work together to embed trust in reconstruction. Over the past decade, Ukraine has shown that successful cooperation between state and citizens can deliver highly effective structural reforms. Building on this record, the country’s government and international partners now need to...
Funding local growth in England
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government sets out how the next government can simplify the funding landscape for all local and combined authorities. Central government’s over-reliance on competitive bidding to fund local and combined authorities is not working for anyone and inhibits local growth. This report sets out how the next...
A bus revolution: driving up prosperity across the regions
This report from UK think tank Green Alliance outlines a costed 5 year plan to better, greener buses. Buses remain the most used form of transport across the country and provide customers with a low cost and green option for travel. But recent years have seen passenger decline and routes being cut across the country....
Moving together: a people-focussed pathway to fairer and greener transport
This report from UK think tank IPPR argues that the path to net zero has to be about the real-world impact. All decarbonisation pathways must be designed with people, and the principles of a just and fair transition, as their starting point.IPPR has been working to explore what a fair transition to net zero transport...
Related Events
17 September 2024
Location: Online
Think tank: Centre for Cities
What can the UK learn from planning reforms abroad?
This event hosted by UK think tank Centre for Cities discusses what the UK can learn from places with zoning-based planning systems. The new Labour government has placed housing delivery at the heart of its economic growth strategy, with plans to set out new mandatory housing targets for every council in England. This starts with...
19 September 2024
Location: Online / Resolution Foundation, 2 Queen Anne's Gate , London SW1H 9AA
Think tank: Resolution Foundation
A build-up economic strategy
This event hosted by UK think tank the Resolution Foundation will discuss how much growth the Government’s reforms could deliver. The past 15 years of economic stagnation has caused families’ living standards to flatline, and the new Government is right to put ‘kickstarting’ growth at the heart of its agenda. Already, Ministers have set out...
10 October 2024
Location: Assembly Room at The Exchange, 3 Centenary Square, Birmingham B1 2DR
Think tank: City-REDI
The West Midlands Regional Economic Development Institute (WMREDI) Celebration Event
This event hosted by UK think tank City-REDI is a culmination of the key achievements and learning from the WMREDI collaboration. Breakfast: 8.30am - 9.00am. Celebration Event: 9.00 - 10.30am. Networking Opportunity: 10.30 - 11.00am. The WMREDI Celebration Event is a culmination of the key achievements and learning from the WMREDI collaboration. The WMREDI programme was...
10 October 2024
Location: Online
Think tank: Localis
Heart of the matter: capacity, devolution and mission-led government
This event hosted by UK think tank Localis discusses their research into the future direction of place based public service reform. 'Heart of the matter – getting to grips with whole place transformation' is a research project which has sought, through extensive dialogue with public service directors and placemakers, and independent place research, to ascertain...
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...