Reports

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities looks at how cities around the world operate their visitor levies and what England can learn from their experiences. Using examples drawn from a range of countries and cities from major visitor destinations such as Barcelona and Amsterdam to smaller places such as Essen, Germany and...

This report from UK think tank Chatham House makes the case for 'sovereign AI' strategies. The dominance of the US and China in AI development poses a significant conundrum for the rest of the world. For middle powers, the establishment of ‘sovereign AI’ strategies, which allow a country to influence, develop and deploy AI technology...

This report from UK think tank HEPI offers rare real-world guidance from an unusually large and high-stakes merger. City St George’s: HEPI report sets out practical insights and recommendations from a landmark university merger. A new HEPI report, ‘We believe this is the way to do it’: Exploring the City St George’s Merger (HEPI Report...

This report from UK think tank Demos sets out a practical route to detoxify one of the most polarised policy issues of our time – immigration. This paper presents opportunities to upgrade democracy – to address the ‘democratic doom loop’ of mistrust, disengagement and political ineffectiveness – through setting out a practical route to detoxify...

This report from UK think tank the Policy Institute examines public attitudes to net zero and climate policy. The share of the UK public who say the country needs to reduce carbon emissions to net zero sooner than 2050 has nearly halved since 2021, according to a major new study. 29% of the public now...

This report from UK think tank ECFR looks at levels of pessimism in most Europeans about their country and the world's future. One year into the second Trump presidency, a major ECFR poll, including the UK, finds that most Europeans are pessimistic about their countries’ and the world’s future. Many are realistic, as well: majorities and...

This report from UK think tank City-REDI examines what makes place based research partnerships work effectively. This evidence review brings together academic and practice based literature to understand what makes place based research partnerships work effectively. It identifies the outcomes these partnerships can deliver, the infrastructure and systems that support success, the skills and expertise...

This report from UK think tank RUSI examines how advances in AI and LLMs could be exploited to support terrorist financing activity. This research briefing by Jason Blazakis examines how advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) could be exploited to support terrorist financing activity. The report argues that LLMs could act...

This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation paints a portrait of the poorer half of the country's population. The 13 million working-age families across the poorer half of the country are widely courted by politicians. No party can win elections without their votes, and the country cannot succeed without their needs being met....

This report from UK think tank RUSI offers actionable recommendations to enhance Chile's institutional resilience. This paper highlights the critical need for Chile to strengthen its asset-recovery frameworks to combat the growing threat of organised crime and money laundering. It provides an in-depth analysis of the structural challenges hindering Chile's ability to trace, seize and...

This report from UK think tank Demos calls for a declaration on digital rights to protect citizens in the AI age. In this report, we make the case that a demonstrated commitment from the government to preserving human rights in the face of rapid technological change will be critical for protecting citizens in the digital...

This report from UK think tank IPPR examines the government's 'earned settlement' consultation. How long should people have to wait until they can permanently settle in the UK? This is the core question underpinning the Home Office’s ‘earned settlement’ policy, currently out for consultation. While the measures have received surprisingly little attention compared to some...

This report from UK think tank the Adam Smith Institute examines the effects of the new union access regime on SMEs. This report examines the economic impact of the Employment Rights Act 2025 on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The core of the report argues that the Act’s new provisions—which allow trade unions to demand...

This report from UK think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs examines the costs and benefits of flexible working. The costs of flexible working requirements have rarely been properly assessed and could extend to undermining growth, increasing unemployment and the rise in post-Covid withdrawal from the workforce. Employers and employees, negotiating in the ‘particular circumstances...

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...

This report from UK think tank the ECFR looks at the new right’s policy agenda and its communication and mobilisation strategy. Based on interviews with thinkers, political leaders and strategists in a dozen countries, including the UK, the report unpacks the new right’s policy agenda and its communication and mobilisation strategy. Leonard argues that while there are differences between...

This report from UK think tank HEPI calls for structural changes to accelerate improvements towards racial equity in English higher education. A new paper by Dr Katharine Hubbard, Making Metrics Matter: Tackling Racial Inequity in Higher Education (HEPI Debate Paper 43), argues progress towards racial equity in English higher education has been ‘notoriously slow’ and...

This report from UK think tank RUSI examines how European armies can best prepare air manoeuvre forces to maximise their effectiveness. The density and complexity of the emerging battlefield is making it harder for military units to manoeuvre. Air Manoeuvre - the movement of troops by air for advantage - offers a means of rapidly...

This report from UK think tank the Social Market Foundation examines the current policy landscape to assess which reforms are likely to work in practice. England’s SEND system is widely recognised to be in crisis. Government is considering reform but must choose between politically risky structural change and limited tweaks that leave core problems unresolved....

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities looks at the lessons learnt from rules-based planning conducted in Croydon. This briefing analyses data from when the ‘Suburban Design Guide’ (SDG), a successful ‘experiment’ in rules-based planning conducted in Croydon from 2019 to 2022, was in place. It explains the SDG's success in raising housebuilding...

This report from UK think tank RUSI outlines six key priorities for the upcoming National Cyber Action Plan. This paper highlights the urgent need to revamp the UK's cyber strategy to address systemic vulnerabilities that threaten national security and economic growth. With cyber attacks costing UK businesses billions annually and high-profile incidents such as the...

This report from UK think tank the Centre for European Reform discusses whether 2026 will be the year to reset EU-UK relations. The world of 2026 is very different from the world of 2016, when the UK voted for Brexit. Neither the UK nor the EU seems to appreciate the scale of the changes, however....

This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation assesses the UK’s progress toward net zero in the land use and agriculture sector. This report provides an assessment of the UK’s progress toward net zero in the land use and agriculture sector – the only major area where emissions have barely fallen over the past...

This report from UK think tank Re:State explores rebooting London's governance for a new era. London’s governance settlement is now more than 25 years old, designed for the capital as it was a quarter-century ago. While devolution has accelerated across England, London's governance has fossilised. City Hall is underpowered compared to its international peers and...

This report from UK think tank Onward calls for a fundamental rationalisation of passported benefits as the UC rollout nears completion. The Hidden Benefits Bill argues that the true cost of the UK’s working-age welfare system is significantly higher than headline Universal Credit (UC) spending figures suggest, because of a large and growing set of...