By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter A belated happy tenth birthday to the Policy Exchange think tank. Alongside the Centre for Social Justice it has been the most influential centre right think tank of the last decade. Francis Maude – described by PX's current director Neil O'Brien as the organisation's godfather – delivered a lecture on […]
Neil O'Brien is Director of Policy Exchange. Follow him on Twitter. Public spending in Britain rocketed from consuming just over a third of our national income in 2000 to just under half in 2010 – from 36% to 48%. In other words, we are right back to where we were before Mrs Thatcher. The coalition […]
Andrew Laird is a Director of Mutual Ventures, an organisation which supports social enterprise delivery of public services. He is lead author of Policy Exchange's new report – Social Enterprise Schools. The schools system faces a perfect storm of rising demand and reducing resources. There is considerable rising demand (500,000 more primary school places are […]
Ed Holmes is a senior research fellow at Policy Exchange. Ed Milliband’s leadership has arrived at an interesting juncture this week. Liam Byrne – who apart from being Ed’s welfare spokesman moonlights as Labour’s policy review chief – has set tongues wagging in Westminster with his opposition to the Government’s £26,000 benefits cap: “Let's be […]
Dr Simon Less is the head of environment and energy at Policy Exchange. His report, "Greening the economy – not 'green economy'" can be found here. Chris Huhne said at the Renewable UK conference last October: “We're missing a trick unless we start supporting low-carbon manufacturing here in Britain – and … creating the exports that […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Quite a coup for Policy Exchange (PX) today with the news that James O'Shaughnessy will be joining Neil O'Brien's team on a short-term basis to work on a project aimed at establishing school federations. James worked on supply-side policies for education and housing when he was PX's highly-respected Research Director […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter Coverage of 9/11's tenth anniversary will inevitably project images of terror, betrayal and loss. So it's cheering to see Policy Exchange releasing a publication which, while touching on the terrible events of ten years ago, is an uplifting story of patriotism, sacrifice, duty, service and loyalty across any religious […]
Matt Oakley is Head of Enterprise, Growth and Social Policy at Policy Exchange. He contributes this latest entry in our series examining how to lift young people off the conveyor belt to crime. To read all entries – so far covering early intervention, parenting, policing and gang culture, click on this link and scroll down […]
This is the third in a series of articles examining the conveyor belt to crime. Previous contributions have looked at the importance of early intervention and supporting families. Today, Blair Gibbs of Policy Exchange looks at policing. Debate around police tactics during the riots has stoked interest in policing philosophies and the merits or otherwise […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. On our Comment pages today Mark Field MP sets out the two great truths of the economic debate: One: We must carry on with the Osborne deficit reduction programme. When you are in a worldwide debt crisis you have to get your debts under control. Two: The Coalition hasn't […]
Neil O'Brien is Director of Policy Exchange. Andy Burnham made first major policy speech yesterday. While it told us a bit about the sort of issues he cares about, it doesn’t tell us much about Labour’s position on many of the most important issues in education. Amazingly, he failed to reference academies or free schools […]
Piotr Brzezinski is Head of Digital Government at Policy Exchange. Although modern technologies have completely transformed the private sector, much of Whitehall still operates in the Victorian-era, with outdated bureaucratic structures and antediluvian policies. There are some excellent examples of innovative public services, efficient IT procurement and tech-savvy policymaking, but they remain just that: isolated […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. Daniel Finkelstein of The Times and close ally of George Osborne will be replacing Charles Moore as Chairman of the Policy Exchange think tank. Charles Moore is stepping down to focus on his Telegraph columns and his biography of Margaret Thatcher. The official announcement will be made tomorrow. Thursday […]
James Groves is the head of the education unit at Policy Exchange Today’s announcement that secondary schools in England are to be set the more ambitious target of securing five good GCSE passes for at least 50% of their pupils by 2015 is the natural extension of plans made clear in last year’s White Paper […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Today Policy Exchange published its latest report, Inside Job. This report focuses on work schemes in the prison system, and how they could be improved. It finds that there are many shortcomings with the current work regime. The report recommends a normal working week for prisoners, as a better way […]