England policy round-up: July and August 2025

The public sector may have been hoping for a quiet summer and a chance to regroup before the autumn, but that has not transpired. Political debate has been dominated by immigration and, in particular, the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers. The summer has seen protests in several locations, sporadic violent disorder, and a legal challenge brought by Epping Forest District Council over the use of a hotel in Epping town (as reported in this BBC News article).

There has also been unwelcome economic news for the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, as she looks ahead to her autumn statement. Economic growth remains slow, and public finances have been assessed by the Office for Budget Responsibility as “relatively vulnerable” in the long term. On 7 August, the Bank of England reduced interest rates by 0.25% to 4%. However, inflation remains higher than expected. As measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), inflation was 3.8% in the 12 months to July 2025, the highest rate since January 2024, driven by rising transport and food and drink costs.

The UK Parliament has been in recess since 22 July, but the summer period has continued to be busy on the policy front, with numerous publications from government departments and think tanks.

Evaluation of the County Lines Programme

County lines is a term used to describe gangs and organised criminal networks involved in ‘exporting’ illegal drugs into one or more ‘importing’ areas within the UK, using violence and exploitation. The County Lines Programme aims to tackle the drug gangs that run county lines in four police force areas: Greater Manchester, Metropolitan, Merseyside, and West Midlands. This independent evaluation aims to assess the programme’s impact on a range of crime types, including serious violence.

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) hotspot response pilot evaluation

In 2023-2024, 10 police force areas were selected to pilot a hotspot patrol response, which involved visible patrols in areas with high levels of ASB. This evaluation explores the implementation, delivery and impact of the pilot. Key findings include:

• Strategic leads were confident that the funding for patrols had led to additional hours being spent on ASB. Stakeholders were confident that patrols would reduce ASB, but the statistical evidence was rather mixed. Further, there was no indication that the public perceived a decrease in ASB during the pilot.
• A neighbourhood policing approach was key to the patrols’ effectiveness. Regular patrols by the same patrollers helped foster community engagement, intelligence gathering, and ASB reporting.
• Patrols should be seen as one part of a broader, holistic, multi-agency approach to address ASB and the underlying risk factors.
• Given the low level of public confidence and trust in agencies’ ability to respond to ASB, patrols should be accompanied by a range of approaches aimed at improving trust and confidence.
• The findings of this evaluation has informed hotspot programmes and further government policy.

Risk and protective factors of anti-social behaviour perpetration

This research, commissioned by the Home Office, examines the factors which put individuals at risk of perpetrating ASB, and factors which deter such behaviour. The research identified seven risk factors that are perceived to influence ASB perpetration. These risk factors – poverty and deprivation, mental health, drugs and alcohol misuse, trauma and childhood adversity, home and family environment, education and schooling and peer pressure – play out differently for different types of ASB and ages of perpetrators.

On a similar topic, a recent LGIU briefing asked how can local authorities help to address the lack of part-time paid work for teenagers and reduce youth crime?

The Funding and Sustainability of Local Government Finance – Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Local authorities are being asked to deliver more than ever before, but they have not been given adequate funding to allow them to do so, and are increasingly reliant on council tax revenues. Residents are seeing a deterioration in the services they rely on, while being asked to pay more and more in taxes. This inquiry looks at the drivers of financial pressures and makes recommendations for wholesale reform of funding for local authorities, including:

• Greater clarity from the government on its plans to reform public services that drive financial pressures (social care, support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and homelessness support) so that they focus on prevention.
• Overhaul or replace the council tax, which is regressive and unfair. In the meantime, give local authorities more local control over council tax revaluation, banding and discounts.
• End ringfencing of funding and replace it with an outcomes-based system of accountability, under which local authorities will be held accountable for achieving against a set of agreed outcomes within their overall budgets.
• Strengthen the funding system by allowing councils to set local taxes such as tourist levies, and placing stronger responsibility on central government to fund the services it requires local authorities to deliver.

Fair Funding Review 2.0: the impacts on council funding across England – IFS

The government’s proposed reforms to English local government funding will lead to big changes in councils’ budgets. While the move to a more rational system is welcome, it will mean a significant redistribution of funding around the country with winners and losers. Furthermore, there are different options for key elements of the system, which would have different financial impacts. This report analyses the potential impact of the proposed reforms across councils, and how this will depend on choices the government makes within the overall system.

LGIU has published a briefing on the key question of what happens to debt when councils reorganise.

Buses connecting communities – Transport Committee

Buses remain the most used form of public transport in England. They connect people to work, education, healthcare and each other. Despite their importance however, the last decade has seen a significant decline in local bus networks, especially outside of cities, leaving many without access to reliable services. This report looks at what is needed to reverse long-term decline and secure the future of England’s bus networks, including more funding for local authorities to grow their bus networks and provide ‘socially necessary’ bus services. The Bus Centre of Excellence should be expanded to provide more targeted support to help local authorities take on the risks and challenges of franchising.

The transport challenge for low-income households – IPPR

Many people living on low incomes in the UK cannot access the building blocks of a good life because of poor transport provision. Transport policy can make a material difference to people’s finances and can provide access to essentials such as work, education and healthcare. The key insight in this report is that car dependence puts a strain on low-income households, because the car is the most costly form of transport, yet many have to own a car due to lack of affordable and practical alternatives. It makes recommendations for improvements in public transport and active travel, and new targets to reduce social exclusion through transport.

Everyday concerns: what people want from transport – IPPR

This research undertaken by IPPR in partnership with More in Common and others, explores public attitudes towards transport through a national survey of adults and five focus groups. Transport is rarely at the front of people’s minds when they cast a vote in general or local elections, but it impacts on everyday lives. The research revealed a good degree of consensus about what good transport looks like and what needs to change: a people-focussed approach to transport; significant public support for local transport improvements; making streets work better for everyone; and reducing transport harms to children.

Fairer is faster: the route to greener and healthier domestic transport – IPPR

Electrifying road transport has put the UK on the path to lower transport emissions for the first time. However, electrification will not address transport inequality in the UK because those who cannot afford a fossil-fuelled car today will not be able to afford an EV. This report argues that the best approach for decarbonising transport is to prioritise fairness: putting the emphasis for behaviour change on those who emit the most; and investing in better, more affordable and healthier transport options to those on the lowest incomes.

Two recent LGIU briefings focus on aspects of transport policy. The first considers how devolution is driving regional transport reform. The second looks at the vexed issue of filling in the potholes.

Onshore wind strategy

The onshore wind strategy sets out over 40 actions, primarily government commitments, to resolve the key blockers to onshore wind in the UK. It aims to boost onshore wind deployment to help meet 2030 clean power targets, and deliver economic benefits for local communities, businesses and the consumer. The strategy will have implications for local planning authorities as it includes changes to the way onshore wind is treated in the planning system.

Solar roadmap

The solar roadmap presents a strategy and plan of action to achieve a significant increase in solar deployment to support the delivery of clean power by 2030. The roadmap details over 70 actions including:

• Streamlining the grid connection process for solar.
• Making the solar supply chain resilient, diverse and sustainable, including support for local and community energy schemes.
• Measures to eradicate modern slavery and forced labour in the supply chain.
• Proposals for mandatory community benefit funds provided by developers, to ensure that local communities benefit from hosting new infrastructure.

Unlocking benefits for people, nature and climate: actions to jointly address climate change and biodiversity loss in England

Climate change and biodiversity loss are among the greatest challenges facing the planet. This report highlights how the UK government is delivering its key commitments on climate and nature in an integrated way, with examples of how it is implementing joined-up solutions to meet commitments on climate change and biodiversity loss across England. The report focuses on priority sectors, including climate and nature integration, delivery of clean energy, supporting a rural economy, improving cleanliness of coastal waters, and mobilising green finance.

UK local authority and regional greenhouse gas emissions statistics, 2005 to 2023

This statistical publication provides the latest estimates of territorial emissions for local authority and protected landscape areas in the UK for 2005 to 2023. The statistics cover emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) within UK borders. The main findings are:

• Between 2005 and 2023, greenhouse gas emissions fell by 46% in the UK as a whole. Emissions decreased in 94% (340) of the 361 local authority areas in the UK. Most of the fall was due to reduced emissions from electricity supply.
• In 2023, 32% of emissions assigned to local authority areas came from the transport sector, 22% from the domestic sector, 15% from industry, 14% from the agriculture sector, and 8% from the commercial sector.
• The scale and sources of emissions vary between local authority areas, mainly due to economic and geographical differences.
• The north east of England was the region with the largest proportional fall in emissions over the period, at 67%, in part due to industrial closures.
• London has the lowest per capital emissions due its urban transport system, population density and lower level of large industrial installations and agricultural land.

UK statistics on waste

This statistical release contains statistics on waste produced at a UK level, including figures for England specifically.

• The provisional UK recycling rate for waste from households (WfH), including incinerator bottom ash metal was 44.6% in 2023, up from 44.1% in 2022.
• The recycling rate for WfH increased in all UK countries in 2023. The rate for England was 44.0% (provisional); compared to 50.2% in Northern Ireland, 42.1% in Scotland, and 57.0% in Wales.
• UK biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill decreased to 5.3 million tonnes in 2023 from 6.3 million tonnes in 2022.
• Provisional figures for 2024 show that between 64.1% and 75.2% of UK packaging waste overall was recycled.
• The UK generated 191.2 million tonnes of total waste in 2020, with England responsible for 85% of this. Construction, demolition and excavation (CD&E) generated 61% of the total UK waste. Commercial and industrial (C&I) waste accounted for 21%, and the remaining 19% was split between ‘households’ and ‘other’ activities.

Digital waste tracking service – update

This updated policy paper sets out the government’s plans for a digital waste tracking service which is intended to cut waste crime and encourage a circular approach to waste. In February 2025 the government announced that the new system would be in place from April 2026. This update provides more detail on:

• The service that will be introduced, including changes to the proposed digital solution so that it better integrates with user’s existing software via an application programme interface (API).
• Who is required to use the digital waste tracking service from October 2026 (broadly those required to hold a permit or licence to receive waste). Household waste recycling centre operators will not need to record household waste received in the waste tracking service; however, the government says it will work with local authorities on the feasibility of recording commercial waste accepted during the initial phase.

National waste crime survey 2025 – Environment Agency (EA)

Waste crime includes dumping or burning waste, illegally shipping waste abroad, deliberately mis-describing waste and operating illegal waste sites. Illegal management of waste damages the environment, causes harm to local communities and undercuts legitimate businesses. The EA runs a national waste crime survey to inform its strategic approach to tackling waste crime. Respondents to the survey are self-selecting, therefore respondents focus on their own experiences of waste crime. Key findings include:

• Waste industry respondents estimated that 20% of all waste may be illegally managed. The financial rewards for waste criminals – and consequences of those who suffer the consequences of waste crime – continue to be high.
• Despite an increase on previous years, only 27% of waste crimes are reported. Few felt that the EA is well resourced to deter waste crime.
• The proportion of respondents who felt there had been an increase in waste crime over the previous 12 months fell with each survey up to 2025. However, for fly tipping, this changed in 2025, where a higher proportion of respondents felt that it had increased.

Carrier bag charge: summary of data in England

Since October 2015, large shops in England have been required by law to charge 5p for all single-use plastic carrier bags. In May 2021, the charge was raised to 10p and extended to all businesses, though reporting requirements apply to large retailers only. This report presents some key findings, as follows:

• In 2024/25, the total number of single-use plastic bags sold by the 102 retailers in England who reported for the period was 437 million, up 7% since 2023/24 (and down 79% since 2016/17). This is equivalent to around 8 single-use plastic bags per person sold by all retailers who reported data for the most recent reporting year. This included 164 million single use bags sold by the main seven retailers in England.
• From 2024/2025, 31% of retailers (who accounted for around 90% of all the bags) voluntarily provided information on how they chose to donate proceeds from the carrier bag charge. In total, these retailers donated £7.7m to good causes, bringing the total figure donated since the charge was introduced to over £225m.

Repair, reuse, recycle: making the circular economy in England work at scale – Fabian Society

Like most developed countries, the UK produces millions of tonnes of unnecessary waste each year. The ‘circular economy’ describes a system where materials are kept in circulation for as long as possible, through reducing initial material use, increasing product durability, and repairing, reusing, or recycling products at the end of their life. Progression to a more circular economy has been stifled by a lack of political prioritisation by successive governments, a lack of clear targets, and a lack of financial incentives. This policy briefing sets out how government policy can upscale the circular economy.

Adapt to thrive: preparing the UK for climate change – Green Alliance

Climate change impacts are already disrupting lives and undermining economic growth across the UK. Despite the challenges of successive heatwaves and flooding, the UK remains woefully unprepared. This report demonstrates that two thirds of current government actions to tackle climate risks are inadequate for the scale of the challenge. It presents a roadmap for urgent action that would support the government’s growth and security agenda while protecting communities. Smart adaptation measures are an “invest to save” opportunity, generating economic activity while protecting communities from escalating climate impacts.

Adapting parks: climate change and local authority greenspace – APSE

Recent experience in the UK and around the globe has shown the impacts of extreme weather on trees, plants and the wider environment. As custodians of greenspaces, local authorities need to address the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. This briefing note sets out practical ideas and case studies on how local authorities can adopt a more naturalised style of horticulture and more environmentally sustainable gardening and greenspace management.

State of the market 2025: allotment services – APSE

Each year, APSE conducts a state of the market survey amongst its members about local authority allotment services. The survey covers management models (such as direct management, committee or hybrid of the two), costs (including subsidies and concessions), number of sites, waiting lists, plot sizes, and measures to support biodiversity. This report presents the findings and draws out trends over time.

Local Civil Society Infrastructure R&D Programme: final reports

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) commissioned research to develop the evidence base on local civil society infrastructure (LCSI) as part of the department’s ongoing work to explore the factors and organisations that contribute to a strong civil society. The research identifies the positive impacts of effective LCSI; the negative impacts of its absence; and the conditions and approaches for building effective LCSI in areas where it is weak or non-existent. LCSI organisations play a vital role as a bridge between the voluntary and community sector and public bodies especially in the context of funding or commissioning.

UK government Resilience Action Plan

Local partners are the cornerstone for the UK’s approach to crisis management and response. Across England, local resilience forums (LRFs) are critical in ensuring coordinated, place-based risk planning, emergency response and recovery. LRFs bring together key agencies such as emergency services, local authorities and the voluntary sector, to build resilience in partnership with communities. This action plan contains commitments from central government to:

• Ensure that local responders have the tools, capacity, and capability to prevent, plan for, respond to and recover from the full range of risks.
• Work with local leaders to clarify and enhance the role of strategic authorities, and mayors in local resilience, alongside a review of the Civil Contingencies Act to make sure it is fit for purpose.
• Improve local guidance and standards, supported by training and upskilling, working with local partners.
• Improve data sharing, learning systems and digital platforms for secure multi-agency information sharing at local and national tiers.

Lessons for Prevent

Lord Anderson of Ipswich KBE KC was appointed by the Home Office to identify lessons for the Prevent counter-terrorism programme following the murder of Sir David Amess MP by Ali Harbi Ali and the attack in Southport by Axel Muganwa Rudakubana. Both had been referred to Prevent but Prevent failed to stop them being drawn into terrorism. His report acknowledges the vital work done by all who have a role in Prevent in central and local government, the police, professions, voluntary sector and families. It makes 10 recommendations for reform.

The State of Us: community strength and cohesion in the UK – British Future and the Belong Network

This report assesses the levels of social tensions, polarisation, concerns about asylum and immigration, political trust and economic pessimism in the UK a year on from the violent unrest of summer 2024. The authors warn that unrest risks being reignited unless urgent action is taken. They identify some strong foundations, including public confidence in cohesion at neighbourhood level and many examples of impactful work across the UK to empower communities, build shared identities and strengthen relationships between people from different backgrounds. Local authorities are playing a key role delivering cohesion and community development programmes, despite inadequate and insecure national funding. The authors also describe how the civil society, sports, faith and cultural sectors are doing vital work in all parts of the UK. LGIU will be publishing more on community cohesion in the coming weeks.

How to successfully deliver refugee resettlement – IfG

Over the last decade, resettlement programmes have safely and successfully brought hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict and persecution to the UK. These schemes have rapidly mobilised central and local government, public services, the third sector and the general public. This paper draws on discussions with stakeholders, held in summer 2025, to learn lessons of relevance to resettlement programmes now and in the future. The discussions revealed that refugee resettlement requires a combination of stability and flexibility – officials need a strong foundation from which to work but must also adapt to the situation. This paper therefore provides some key principles for designing and delivering resettlement programmes, rather than making specific recommendations.

Tackling violence against women and girls: funding – Home Affairs Committee

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) remains a widespread and escalating problem. Despite repeated government strategies, VAWG still accounted for 20% of all recorded crime in 2022–2023. This inquiry examines the funding of VAWG initiatives nationally and locally, and the challenges faced by small, specialist service providers in navigating a complex and fragmented funding environment. It concludes that the government’s commitment to halving VAWG within a decade is welcome, but achieving this goal will require a coordinated, well-funded and clearly defined approach.

Fire and rescue incident statistics, year ending March 2025

These official statistics focus on incidents and fires attended by fire and rescue services (FRSs) in England, fire-related fatalities, casualties from those fires and response times to those fires. Key findings are:

• FRSs attended 603,942 incidents in the year ending March 2025, an increase of 0.6% on the previous year. Of these incidents, there were 142,494 fires, an increase of 2.5% compared with the previous year but a decrease of 8.1% compared with 10 years ago.
• Of all incidents attended by FRSs, 24% were fires, 41% were fire false alarms and 35% were non-fire incidents.
• There were 271 fire-related fatalities in the year ending March 2025 (an increase of 8% on the previous year); this included 208 fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires (an increase of 14%).
• There were 6,410 non-fatal casualties, an increase of 1% compared with the previous year.
• The average total response time to primary fires was 9 minutes and 6 seconds, an increase of 3 seconds on the previous year; and the average total response time to secondary fire was 9 minutes and 23 seconds, a decrease of 1 second on 2024.

Licensing taskforce report and government response

The industry-led licensing taskforce was set up to review the current licensing system under the Licensing Act 2003. The taskforce provided government with 10 priority recommendations to consider. The government has accepted most of these recommendations, subject to further consultation, including:

• Seeking views on creating a national licensing policy framework to deliver more consistency and transparency across local authorities.
• Considering a licence ‘amnesty’ to modernise and remove outdated conditions from existing licences.
• Exploring longer licensing terms for pavement areas to give businesses greater certainty.
• Reviewing temporary event notice limits to provide more flexibility for operators.
• Strengthening the ‘agent of change’ principle in licensing decisions to protect established venues from the impact of nearby developments.
• Exploring ways to support hospitality and night-time economy zones.

Interim overarching evaluation of the Know Your Neighbourhood (KYN) Fund

The KNY fund is a £30m package of funding designed to widen participation in volunteering and tackle loneliness in 27 disadvantaged areas across England. This interim evaluation presents preliminary lessons based on surveys and interviews with beneficiaries, projects and stakeholders:

• Increasing sustained volunteering and reducing chronic loneliness complement each other as target outcomes when designing and delivering interventions.
• Delivery partner support for the application stage was accessible to all KYN Fund applicants, but support was easier to access when applicants had a pre-existing relationship with their delivery partner.
• Longer set-up and application phases could have helped partners extend their reach to a wider variety of projects.
• Projects and partners valued collaboration with each other as they could share learnings about delivery and the evaluation process. Further collaboration between KYN funded projects should be fostered.
• Projects appear to have been effective at reaching people who more frequently experience loneliness, compared with the general population.

The LGIU has produced a global briefing on keeping connected – learning about combatting loneliness in the digital age.

Evaluation of the Contract Readiness Programme (CRP)

The CRP ran between 2022-2025, and was designed to support voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations in England to better compete for public contracts. The programme provided training to charities and social enterprises interested in bidding for public contracts, including local authority and NHS/Integrated Care Board contracts. This evaluation aimed to assess the extent to which the CRP delivered on its aims and help build the evidence base around effective approaches to supporting greater VCSE participation in public sector procurement.

Public money, public purpose – CLES

This good practice guide outlines how those who procure or commission goods and services can go further to maximise public value. It outlines four key decision points in the procurement and commissioning process and illustrates, with case studies, how local authorities and others are achieving public value through procurement. LGIU will be publishing a briefing on procurement in the autumn.

Participation Survey 2024/25 annual publication

The participation survey provides nationally representative estimates of engagement with the arts, heritage, museums & galleries, libraries, tourism, major events, live sports and digital in the last 12 months. It is based on a survey of adults aged 16 and over in England. Key findings for 2024/25 are:

• Overall engagement with the arts and heritage sector decreased compared to the previous year (2023/24), while engagement with museums or galleries remained stable, and engagement with libraries increased.
• 62% of adults took a holiday in England in the previous 12 months, a 2 percentage point decrease on 2023/24 (64%).
• 17% of adults were aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025, while 67% were aware of the UEFA Champions League Final in 2024 and 37% were aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.
• 92% of adults used the internet in England, no significant change from 2023/24. 0.3% of adults did not own a smartphone, laptop, desktop PC, tablet, games console, smart printer or smart TV. 1% of adults did not own a Wi-Fi router, internet hub or smart device. 41% had heard of and already used 5G, an increase on the 28% in 2023/24.

What works to engage library non-users

This research by IPSOS, commissioned by DCMS, investigated why 66% of people in England aged 17 and over do not use public libraries. The main insights are:

• 81% of non-users know their local library’s physical location and 85% find it easy to get there.
• However, 58% are unfamiliar with services beyond physical books, and only 16% are familiar with online services.
• Non-users generally hold positive views of libraries as community assets (83% agree), peaceful (77% agree), and welcoming (71% agree).
• Barriers include opening hours, uncertainty about services beyond books, being able to access similar services elsewhere, and perceptions of libraries as irrelevant or outdated.
• The most popular enablers include comfortable/inviting spaces, extended opening hours, up-to-date book collections, access to free Wi-Fi and IT, and dedicated work/study spaces – each appealing to different demographics.

Restoring trust in our democracy: our strategy for modern and secure elections

This strategy sets out the actions the government will take to simplify, protect and promote democracy, including new legislation to be introduced during this parliament. The changes are intended to help to keep elections secure, build public trust and encourage more people to engage and participate. Key points are:

• Changes to the electoral franchise, for example extending voting to 16-17 year-olds,
• Changes to the registration processes, including creating a system of automated registration.
• Strengthening the political finance framework, campaigning rules and voting processes to take account of digital technology.
• Actions to address the threat posed by harassment, abuse and intimidation.

Report on the May 2025 local elections in England – Electoral Commission

This report concludes that the May 2025 elections went smoothly, with no major problems. Most people who voted felt confident the elections went well but some challenges remained:

• Turnout was low. Low turnout at local elections is common but has declined further over recent decades
• People still had broad concerns about potential threats to elections, including misinformation and disinformation
• Most people knew they had to show ID (90%) and most people who wanted to vote could vote. But only 56% knew that they could get a free voter ID.
• The electoral community need to do more to raise public awareness of the additional equipment and support available in polling stations for voters who need it. Disabled voters were less likely to say that voting is easy or private, compared to people without a disability.
• The timetable for postponing some of the scheduled elections caused problems for elections teams.

Review of the 2024 general election – PACAC

This committee report agrees with the Electoral Commission’s assessment that the 2024 general election was well run but notes that the Commission has consistently raised concerns about the potential for things to go wrong. Echoing the Electoral Commission, the committee calls on the government to simplify and consolidate electoral law; streamline the registration system; and make other changes to ensure everyone who wants to vote can vote. It also recommends that the government establish an independent review of the Electoral Commission’s powers, with a view to giving it the powers necessary to ensure free and fair elections in a climate of misinformation and disinformation.

Upgrading Democracy: a new deal to repair the broken relationship between citizen and state – Demos

This paper sets out the challenge of the escalating global democratic emergency and how this is threatening the political landscape in Britain. It makes the case to upgrade democracy by rebuilding the relationship between state and citizen, to win back trust and sustain a democratic future.

Trusting Place: improving the lives of local people through place-based approaches

With devolution, local reorganisation, integrated settlements and place-based budgets being implemented, there is a golden opportunity to shift the relationship between central government and places across England. This report sets out the main elements and prerequisites for a new ‘place-based’ approach to public services. It sets out 22 recommendations for local government, central government and the Local Government Association. The system must shift towards place-based, people-focused, and collaborative ways of working. Local leaders and public servants must be empowered to do what is right for their communities.

Citizens’ Assemblies: less accurate than tossing a coin? – Policy Exchange

This report analyses previous data from jurisdictions that have held citizens’ assemblies to assess their accuracy and relevance in reflecting and understanding public attitudes. The report argues there are fundamental defects in how citizens’ assemblies work, including the composition of the participants and the group dynamics that occur within them. When a citizens’ assembly is followed by a popular vote, the citizens’ assembly is a poor predictor of the result and is systematically biased toward progressive outcomes. The report argues that contentious issues involving conflicts of rights are best dealt with by elected parliaments because only they have the legitimacy to do so.

Towns Fund evaluation: emerging findings from the process and intervention-level impact evaluations

This evaluation report presents interim process and impact findings from seven case studies as part of the evaluation of the towns fund, which includes both town deals and the Future High Streets Fund. The projects featured are Hereford City Zipper (West Midlands); Kidsgrove sports centre (West Midlands); Loftus community hub (North East), the Advanced Construction and Engineering Centre in Norwich (East of England), Northallerton Town Square (Yorkshire and the Humber), the Clean Energy Education Hub in Redcar (North East) and Yeovil High Street (South West). It highlights emerging findings into what worked well and less well, focusing on the design, planning, delivery, structure and monitoring of the towns fund. It also looks at early effects on outcomes like pride in place, wellbeing, employment, physical connectivity, and the local economy.

Levelling Up Fund process evaluation: phase 1

This report presents findings from the first phase of the levelling up fund process evaluation. It explores how funding was awarded and how projects have been mobilised and delivered across rounds 1 to 3. The report aims to support learning for current and future funding programmes. It includes lessons on application processes, delivery challenges, and local capacity. A second phase of evaluation will follow.

Local Growth Fund and Getting Building Fund: process evaluation and place-based case studies

Two reports have been published on the Local Growth Fund (LGF) and Getting Building Fund (GBF). The first report presents the findings of a process evaluation of the design, delivery and governance of the two funds. The second report details the findings from three place-based case studies, the purpose of which was to explore design and delivery of the funds in three places, with a particular focus on the role of the ‘single pot’ (a key feature of both the LGF and GBF) and on the barriers and enablers to achieving impact. The chosen areas were West Yorkshire, Cheshire and Warrington, and Greater Cambridge and Greater Peterborough.

Evaluation of the Social Enterprise Boost Fund

The Social Enterprise Boost Fund provides up to £5.1m of funding and capacity building to kickstart and accelerate social enterprise activity in four disadvantaged areas of England: Sunderland/South Tyneside, County Durham, Sandwell and Wolverhampton, and Thanet. The Boost Fund started in March 2023 and was scheduled to end in March 2025; however, it has been extended for a further year. This independent evaluation covered delivery until March 2025. It found that the fund:

• Improved the skills, knowledge, confidence and resilience of social entrepreneurs.
• Supported the creation of new social enterprises and boosted early-stage social enterprises.
• Strengthened local networks and partnerships that support social enterprises.
• Increased social enterprises’ perceived ability to support their target communities.
• Demonstrated ‘what works’ and provided value for money.

Employer skills survey: 2024

These official statistics provide labour market information on the skills challenges faced by employers, based on a large-scale telephone survey of employers across the UK. The main points are:

• 17% of employers in the UK had a vacancy at the time of the survey, a decrease from 2022 (23%) and 2017 (20%). Vacancies as a proportion of all employment has also decreased, from 5% in 2022 to 3% in 2024. This is the first time in the survey series that the incidence and density of vacancies have decreased from the previous survey.
• Overall, 6% of employers had a skill-shortage vacancy; down from 10% in 2022, and the same as in 2017.
• 12% of employers had at least one member of staff who was not fully proficient at their job (a skills gap), lower than in 2022 (15%), but similar to 2017 (13%).
• 59% of employers had provided training for their staff in the last 12 months, a slight decrease from 60% in 2022 and from 66% in 2017. 48% of all employers provided on-the-job training, and 40% provided off-the-job training.

A UK government food strategy for England, considering the wider UK food system

The government says it wants to drive a generational change in our relationship to food and the impact that the food system has on our environment, economy and society. This strategy considers the UK food system as a whole and sets out a high-level vision shaped by over 400 voices from across the food system – farmers, businesses, citizens and experts. It presents 10 priority outcomes to build a food system that grows the economy, protects the environment, and celebrates the best of British food and culture.

Local Innovation Partnerships Fund – UKRI

The Local Innovation Partnerships Fund (LIPF) aims to unlock regional economic growth. UKRI has launched a new £500m programme. At least £30m of funding is earmarked to each of the seven established mayoral strategic authorities in England. Other places can bid for up to £20m each, which will be awarded on a competitive basis. LIPF invites applications from ‘triple helix’ partnerships between civic leadership institutions, businesses and universities. Through co-creation with UKRI, these organisations will deliver a portfolio of activities that support high-potential innovation clusters within their region.

Checking out: the varying performance of high streets across the country – Centre for Cities

This report identifies four key reasons why high street vacancy rates vary so much from city to city. These are: size of the catchment, influenced by the proximity of rival consumption centres; average incomes in the catchment, influenced by the performance of the wider local economy; the location of the economy, whether it is suburban or city centre; and visitor spending, bearing in mind that relatively few cities can realistically attract significant visitors. Fundamentally, the report argues that a struggling high street is the outcome of a struggling economy, not the other way round, so policy interventions to save the high street should not start with the high street itself but the wider economy and where it is located in a city.

Guarantee of potential – Localis

This report argues that the goal of tackling worklessness requires locally driven reform. With over nine million economically inactive working-age adults, the challenges include long-term illness, regional inequality and fragmented support services. Centralised, siloed approaches have proven inadequate. Instead, the report argues that local authorities must now lead the response, empowered through the Get Britain Working white paper and recent spending review. With devolved funding, alignment of employment and health and skills services, and strategic commissioning, councils can build coherent place-based systems that make good work accessible and help residents achieve their potential, thereby fostering economic inclusion and national renewal.

Wasted Youth and Midlife Mission – CSJ

The CSJ has published two reports on the labour market disadvantages of young and middle-aged people. The Wasted Youth report describes how the number of payrolled employees under 25 years old has plummeted in the last five years. Rising employment costs, artificial intelligence (AI), and welfare dysfunction now pose a triple threat to young people taking their first steps into work. One in eight 16-to-24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training (NEET) today, with profound implications for long-term life chances. The report sets out a plan for change. The second report, Midlife Mission, focuses on how to get the growing number of economically inactive over-50s back into the labour market. It calls for a new national 50+ employment strategy with specific targets and interventions aimed at the 50-65 age group.

Levying up: how to make the growth and skills levy work – Fabian Society

A decade ago, the Conservative government announced the introduction of the apprenticeship levy. This sought to increase the number of apprenticeships, meet the skills needs of employers, and support progression and social mobility. According to the authors of this report, it has failed on all counts. The Labour government has committed to reforming the levy into a ‘growth and skills levy’, giving employers more flexibility. However, with the apprenticeship budget overspent last year, ministers face difficult policy choices. The report makes recommendations for the reform of the levy designed to both unleash growth and to unlock opportunity.

Administrative Paralysis: the Marketisation of Local Authority Audits and the Breakdown of Accountability – Audit Reform Lab, Sheffield University

This report presents an assessment of the breakdown in England’s local authority audit system following the abolition of the Audit Commission and its replacement with a privatised audit market. Drawing on data for over 300 councils from 2018 to 2024, the report finds a significant deterioration in audit timeliness, rising costs, and market concentration among a small number of private audit firms. The performance of English local authority audits was notably weaker compared to the different systems in Scotland and Wales. The authors support the proposed centralised Local Audit Office (LAO) but strongly recommend that it develops sufficient internal capacity to provide a public sector alternative to private sector audit provision.

Levelling down: the distributional consequences of public pay caps – IFS

Between 2010 and 2017, nominal wage growth in the UK public sector was capped at 1% for all workers earning above £21,000 – the median annual salary in 2010. This working paper examines the distributional consequences of this policy. The cap resulted in an 80% reduction in the public–private sector wage premium. Since public workers are disproportionately female and concentrated in the north of Britain, the policy substantially increased both the gender pay gap and the north-south divide. Over the same period, the public sector experienced relative declines in the share of degree-educated workers, prime-age workers (aged 26-55) and high-skilled managers, further suppressing wage growth.

On Leadership: how to communicate with the electorate and earn trust – TBI

The latest think piece in the series on leadership focuses on communications and how to reverse the low levels of trust in politicians. It argues that good communications start at the top, with the leader. The strongest foundations are built when leaders speak like normal people, are honest about challenges, focus on delivery that’s visible and relatable and are able to translate the complexity of policy design into the tangible benefits for citizens. The key pieces of advice for leaders are:

• Delivery and communications are inseparable and must work together.
• Take time to understand your audience and ask for better data if necessary.
• Bring communications colleagues in from the start.

Go big or go home: governing England’s polycentric regions – Re:State

England’s devolution project is expanding fast. New strategic authorities are being rolled out nationwide, aimed at boosting local growth and reforming public services. This report argues that the next phase risks failing rural and less population-dense regions because the subregional bodies are too small and fragmented to succeed. It sets out a plan to introduce a new tier of regional government: provinces of around three million population, with directly elected governors. The report describes a phased roadmap for building these new institutions, a new provincial development fund and a governance model that works for polycentric economies.

Understanding technology adoption among UK SMEs

This research project for the Department for Business and Trade explored how and why small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopt basic productivity-enhancing digital technologies, and the barriers they face to technological adoption, such as cost, time capacity and resources.

What works to support disadvantaged groups towards employment?

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to conduct a systematic evidence review to better understand what works to support people from disadvantaged backgrounds to move towards and into employment. The review focused on four groups: care leavers, ex-offenders, people experiencing homelessness, and people with substance misuse issues.

Work aspirations and support needs of health and disability customers: final findings report

A key objective for the DWP is supporting individuals with health conditions into work where appropriate. This report explores customers’ employment aspirations, the barriers they face, and the support they feel they need. The main findings are:

• 27% of customers felt they might be able to work in future if their health improved; customers with mental health conditions were more likely to feel this way.
• 5% of customers felt they could work right away with the right job or support.
• 49% of customers felt they would never be able to work/work again. 62% of these people were aged 50+, and 66% felt their health would get worse in the future.
• There was an apparent link between health and disability benefits and challenges in the healthcare system: two in five customers were on a waiting list for treatment, and half who were out of work felt their ability to work was dependent on receiving treatment.
• A quarter (25%) of customers felt they could not work, but when asked if they could work from home said they could. However, customers were worried about social isolation and tended to see homeworking as a stepping stone to in-person work.
• A key challenge is the relationship between customers and the DWP; many customers are concerned that the DWP would make them look for unsuitable work. 50% were worried they would not get their benefits back if they tried working.

Jobcentres – PAC

Work coaches in Jobcentres play a critical role in working with benefit claimants to identify their needs and provide support. This committee inquiry looks at the issues and challenges facing Jobcentres as the government embarks on significant changes to the system of employment support, which are likely to increase the demand on Jobcentres. The changes include a new integrated jobs and careers service, which will be available to anyone who wants help, and providing more support to help claimants of health and disability benefits get into work. While the committee welcomes the reforms in principle, it warns that the department will need sufficient resources to implement the changes effectively, and this has been lacking to date.

Pensioner Poverty: challenges and mitigations – Work and Pensions Committee

After a decline in pensioner poverty in the 2000s, the number of pensioners in relative low-income started to rise again from 2010. This has been exacerbated by increases in the cost of living since 2021. This inquiry looked at what should be done to tackle pensioner poverty. It makes recommendations to widen access to the Winter Fuel Payment (and help with energy bills more broadly); improving take-up of pension credit; and the scope of the government’s review of state pension adequacy. It commends examples of local authorities, third sector and community organisations working together to help older people ‘age well’; however, not all areas do this. The committee calls for a national cross-government strategy for older people, with a framework to hold different partners to account in delivering the outcomes.

Where Inequality Lives: the State of Gendered Poverty and Financial Resilience – Women’s Budget Group

Gender inequality makes it harder for women to stay out of poverty. Women tend to take on more caring responsibilities, often preventing them from participating in the paid labour market. When employed, they are more likely than men to be in low-paid jobs, work part-time and be in insecure employment. As a result, women tend to have lower earnings and savings, reducing their financial resilience and making them more vulnerable to economic shocks. This report makes recommendations on policies to help provide women with routes out of poverty.

Arts, culture and sports round-up: May 2025

Devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR): the essentials

Early childhood education round-up: 2024 

England policy round up: June 2025

Health, public health and social care round-up: May and June 2025

Housing and planning round-up: July 2025

LGIU Response: Fair Funding Review 2.0 

Northern Ireland Programme for Government – Insights for local government

Parliamentary update: July 2025

Scotland Programme for Government 2025/26 — Insights for local government

Young people and youth services round-up: May 2025