At Your Service
Dr Sean Phillips, Robert Ede and Dr David LandauGeneral practice has always been the foundation and gateway to the NHS. However the problems are mounting up: a stretched and increasingly burnt-out workforce, no systematic reporting or analysis of activity and demand, fragmentation with secondary care, and confusing and dated contracting and reimbursement mechanisms. The status quo is increasingly unacceptable to both patients and GPs. There is now a consensus that changes are needed, including to the small-scale independent contractor model, to ensure that primary care can thrive in the future.
The case for shareholder-based capitalism
Geoffrey OwenThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether these criticisms of the capitalist system are valid, and whether the proposed reforms are desirable.
The paper looks first at the historical background, showing how the doctrine of shareholder primacy came to the fore in the US and the UK in the 1980s and 1990s, and how that doctrine has come to be challenged by supporters of stakeholder capitalism. A debate is now in progress, on both sides of the Atlantic, pitting defenders of shareholder primacy against a range of pro-stakeholder advocates.
The paper discusses three of the central issues in this debate: what the purpose of companies should be; short-termism; and inequality.
Stopping the Small Boats: a “Plan B”
Policy ExchangeThis report outlines a plan of action to address the Channel crisis. Plan A would be an agreement with France to accept the return of migrants and asylum-seekers attempting to crossing the Channel in small boats. If such an agreement cannot be reached, Plan B would be to remove persons attempting to enter the UK on small boats to a location outside the UK – whether the Channel Islands, Sovereign Bases in Cyprus or Ascension Island – where their asylum claims would be considered. Economic migrants (failed asylum seekers) would be returned to their home country, or to some other state willing to receive them. Genuine refugees would be resettled in a safe state other than the UK. No person entering (or attempting to enter) the UK on a small boat from a safe country would be allowed to settle in the UK, even if a genuine refugee.
The Queen’s Speech and Housing: Will Street Votes solve the Housing Crisis?
Housing has rarely enjoyed as high a political profile as it does today. A combination of the housing crisis, the abandoned planning bill, the government’s flagship levelling-up programme and it being led by one of the highest profile Cabinet Ministers Michael Gove as well as a slew of recent Tory electoral punishments in which housing was thought to have played a central role have all ensured that housing is now a major part of the government’s legislative infrastructure. So it assumed a pivotal role in this week’s Queen’s Speech, ironically delivered for the first time by a Prince of Wales who himself has had a profound impact on the UK’s architecture and urban development landscape over the past forty years.
Losing in London is not just a political problem, it’s an economic one too
The Conservatives look set to have their worst result in London in London since its current boroughs were created in 1964, and it is now the first time the Conservatives have only controlled one council in central London. What had once been a major urban area relatively immune to complete Labour dominance looks set to join Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Newcastle in having little, or no, Conservative representation.
How the Bank of England has failed to control inflation. And what should be done to reform it.
This week sees the Bank of England celebrate 25 years of independence. Quite rightly, the current rise in inflation has raised questions about whether it is time to reassess its remit and governance.
There has been a rise in inflation across western economies. That this is more than a UK issue should not divert attention from where the problem lies.
Policy Exchange appoints Peter Clarke and John Larkin QC as Senior Fellows
Policy Exchange is delighted to announce the appointment of two Senior Fellows, Peter Clarke and John Larkin QC.
Peter Clarke – who will be working on counter-extremism, prison reform and wider criminal justice policy – recently stepped down as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons. He is a retired senior police officer, who served with the Metropolitan Police for more than three decades.
£250,000 Wolfson Economics Prize 2021 seeks hospitals revolution
The 2021 Wolfson Economics Prize, launched today in partnership with Policy Exchange, seeks planning and design ideas that will “radically improve” hospital care in the UK and around the world.
The Prize is evidence of a new focus on the long-term improvement in hospital provision in Britain and globally. The UK Government has already announced £3.7 billion of funding towards new hospitals in England for what it calls the “biggest hospital building programme in a generation”.
Health Accountability
Proposals to strengthen ministerial accountability are long overdue, and will complement the changes underway to consolidate various arm’s length bodies into NHS England, said Robert Ede, Head of Health and Social Care at Policy Exchange, in an article for the Health Service Journal on the significance of this week’s Health and Care White Paper on legislative reform. Read his article re-published on the Policy Exchange website here.
Upcoming Events
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Thursday, 31 March, 2022
12:00 - 13:00
Policy Exchange invites you to a keynote speech Sir Dieter Helm, CBE, Professor of Economic Policy, University of Oxford, Fellow in Economics, New College, Oxford.
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Thursday, 24 February, 2022
12:45 - 14:00
Policy Exchange invites you to an online panel discussion with Dame Laura Lee Chief Executive Maggie’s Professor Stephen Powis National Medical Director NHS England Ab Rogers Founder, Ab Rogers Design Winner of the Wolfson Economics Prize 2021 Phoebe Webster Nature Recovery Ranger, North Bristol NHS Trust and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare Chaired by Isabel (more…)
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Thursday, 10 February, 2022
11:30 - 12:30
Policy Exchange invites you to a panel discussion with Huw Merriman MP, Member of Parliament for Bexhill and Battle, Chair, Transport Select Committee. Meera Vadher, Director, Flint Global, Former Special Advisor to the Transport Secretary. Ben Southwood, Senior Fellow, Policy Exchange.
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