Publications
All Policy Exchange publications are free to download in .pdf format. You can also purchase hard copies of the majority of our reports – check each individual report page for details.
Recent Publications
Local Pay, Local Growth: Reforming pay setting in the public sector
Ed Holmes and Matthew OakleyRebalancing the pay and pensions of public sector workers so that they are in line with that of equivalent workers in the private sector would save £6.3 billion a year in public spending. This money would be better spent on tackling local unemployment and could create at least 288,000 private sector jobs in some of the areas of the country suffering most from the impact of the recession.
Welfare Reform 2.0: Long-term solutions, not short-term savings
Matthew OakleyRead Publication Welfare Reform 2.0 says politicians need to be more honest about how successful JobCentre Plus is at reducing the number of people claiming benefits. While they talk of 75% of all benefit claimants moving off JSA within six months, in fact, less than...
Ending Expensive Social Tenancies: Fairness, higher growth and more homes
Alex MortonSelling expensive social housing as it becomes vacant could create the largest social house building programme since the 1970s. The sales would raise £4.5 billion annually which could be used to build 80,000-170,000 new social homes a year and create 160,000-340,000 jobs a year in the construction industry.
Something in the Air: The forgotten crisis of Britain’s poor air quality
Guy NeweySomething in the Air shows that air pollution is Britain’s invisible environmental problem. It is comparable to obesity and alcohol and second only to smoking as a public health problem, but gets far less attention. Yet some government policies, such as encouraging diesel vehicles in cities, are making the problem even worse.
Executive Compensation: Rewards for success not failure
James BartyAll company directors should be forced to repay bonuses if they underperform. Executive Compensation advocates introducing “clawbacks” to all bonus contracts as the best way to end rewards for failure in the boardroom. Clawback would also be an effective way of ensuring shareholders are able to reduce the outgoing pay of a poor performing director who had decided to resign.
The Big Data Opportunity: Making government faster, smarter and more personal
Chris YiuThe Big Data Opportunity shows that better use of data, technology and analytics could help the government save money by improving efficiency rather than reducing service levels. Applying cutting-edge data and analytics in the UK public sector could generate potential savings of up to £16–£33 billion a year.
Too Much to Lose: Understanding and Supporting Britain’s Older Workers
Matthew TinsleyToo Much to Lose finds that the valuable contribution that older workers – who at 8.3 million make up a quarter of the workforce – make to the economy is often ignored. The report makes recommendations for better helping unemployed older workers back to work, and to support individuals’ opportunities later in life.
Fuelling Transition: Prioritising resources for carbon emissions reduction
Simon Less and Guy NeweyFuelling Transition says the electricity market needs to be allowed to invest in gas as a transition fuel, subject to a long-term EU emissions cap. Extending the EU cap to 2035 would give greater certainty to investors, allowing the market to decide which technology has the most potential to deliver emission reductions at the cheapest cost.
Retail Market Reform and the Future Shape of the Domestic Energy Retail Market
Policy ExchangeOn 29 May Policy Exchange held a roundtable discussion on Retail Market Reform and the future shape of the domestic energy retail market. The discussion included experts from academia, large and small energy suppliers, consumer groups, government and the energy regulator. This publication is a summary of the remarks made at that event.
Nurturing Nature: Policy to protect and improve biodiversity
Simon LessThe planning system is failing to protect some of England’s most threatened wildlife and important habitats. Nurturing Nature finds that mechanisms designed to protect England’s natural environment and compensate for any damage to it are haphazardly applied and woefully monitored.
