This report from UK think tank Nesta explores the reasons behind the challenges faced by shared infrastructure projects across the UK. Nesta has been researching the ways to roll out area-based approaches to clean heat at scale One aspect of our clean heat neighbourhood approach is shared infrastructure technologies, such as networked heat pumps, shared...

This report from UK think tank the Institute of Development Studies warns that surveillance is violating citizens' freedoms and their human right to privacy. This report provides the most comprehensive account to date of smart city surveillance in Africa. Expert researchers draw on their contextual experience of their own countries in detailed reports on Algeria,...

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 Drawing on interviews, surveys and fieldwork with parliamentary staff, the report exposes how outdated...

This report from UK think tank IPPR argues for a shift to a system that asks how we can build more of what already works. The ability to deliver transformative public transport is not constrained by a lack of ideas, public support or local ambition. It is constrained by the way decisions are taken at...

This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government looks at how devolved powers and mayoral influence have been used to improve transport connectivity. Improving transport connectivity is one of the central policy objectives of mayors across England. Mayoral strategic authorities hold a range of responsibilities for transport including producing local transport plans, regulating...

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities focuses on the cities that offer lessons for a government looking to raise living standards everywhere. Cities Outlook, our annual health check of the economic performance of urban Britain, offers a deep dive into the latest economic data on how UK cities are performing against a range...

This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation examines the Government’s Warm Homes Plan. January 2026 saw the eventual release of the Warm Homes Plan, delivering on a flagship election pledge that the Government expects will make up to five million homes cheaper to keep warm. With a healthy £15 billion budget, the Plan...

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...

This report from UK think tank the Growth and Reform Network looks at connecting disadvantaged neighbourhoods to new economic opportunities. Achieving higher levels of economic growth is one of the main objectives of the current government. However, for many neighbourhoods in England, high growth is a distant memory. The areas that most need economic growth...

This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government examines how the abolition of NHS England creates both risks and opportunities. The abolition of NHS England comes with significant opportunities to make the health service’s centre work better within government and in leading the service. It also carries significant risks. The consistent lesson from...

This report from UK think tank Onward explores the removal of foreign national offenders and prison capacity. The report highlights a deepening prison capacity crisis in England and Wales, where adult male prisons are operating at around 98 % occupancy. Around one in eight prisoners is a foreign national offender (FNO) — roughly 10,800 people...

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities explores how transport integration could improve public transport and support economic growth.   Transport is the wiring that allows urban economies to function. But this wiring is faulty in big UK cities outside of London. This presents a problem for a national government wanting to deliver...

This report from UK think tank RUSI explores energy security challenges for the UK as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This paper examines the far-reaching consequences of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on global energy markets and its implications for UK energy security. ​ It highlights the vulnerabilities exposed by shifting energy flows,...

This report from UK think tank Localis centres on how local authorities can navigate investment risks and opportunities within a changing policy landscape. In her 29 January speech outlining the Government’s ‘Plan for Growth’, chancellor Rachel Reeves argued our cities will require focus on the two key areas of infrastructure and investment if they are...

This report from UK think tank Carnegie UK measures collective wellbeing across the UK. At Carnegie UK, we are delighted to present the third edition of our Life in the UK index, a landmark research programme we have now committed to delivering until at least 2030. This year’s findings offer a nuanced picture of collective...

'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...