FEATURED PUBLICATION
Shaping the Debate
This booklet, celebrating the Centre for Policy Studies 50th anniversary, showcases the range and importance of the work done by the CPS over 50 years, and its absolute centrality to the conservative tradition.
Read more
The Value of University
The report, ‘The Value of University’, looks at the economic returns of a range of university courses, and finds huge discrepancies in the amount of taxpayer money being spent on those courses which do not improve the lifetime earnings of the students.
Budget Briefing: The Age of the Trillion-Pound State
In a comprehensive briefing note, the Centre for Policy Studies’ research team set out the most important takeaways from the Budget – including the fact that Boris Johnson is set, by 2025-6, to usher in the age of the trillion-pound British state.
The UK’s International Tax Competitiveness
In an interview ahead of this week’s Global Investment Summit, Boris Johnson claimed that the UK is ‘a colossally attractive place for people to come and invest‘, and promised that it ‘will be even more attractive as a place to invest and do business‘ in future. But new analysis from the Centre for Policy Studies and the US-based… View Article
Regulating the Regulators
Quangos are increasingly powerful. But the accountability of many is increasingly patchy. The scale of the quango-related work now expected of parliamentary committees, along with other distractions, has left far too many important decisions under-scrutinised and remote from those most affected: the electorate and the consumer. The result is a decline in public trust, and… View Article
Getting Results
In the aftermath of Covid, the government must control public spending and draw on private sector investment and innovation A new report by Julie Marson MP shows how Social Impact Bonds, and other outcomes-based approaches, could deliver better services for less money Social Impact Bonds were invented in the UK but have struggled to take off in… View Article
The Case for Freezing Excise Duties
New CPS briefing note urges the Chancellor to avoid raising fuel and alcohol duties or risk aggravating the cost of living crisis Raising excise duties in line with RPI would add 2.4% to the typical price of a tank of petrol, 2.2% to a bottle of wine, 3% to a case of beer, 3.1% to a bottle… View Article
Pricing Pollution Properly
Britain has made impressive progress on decarbonisation – but the most painful part of the process lies ahead The consensus behind Net Zero could fracture if decarbonisation is perceived as unfair, or if it raises costs for consumers excessively Evidence shows that market mechanisms such as carbon pricing have been successful at delivering decarbonisation cost… View Article
Strength in Union
Following the 7th anniversary of the referendum on Scottish Independence, Andrew Bowie MP and the CPS, the country’s leading centre-right think tank, have brought together an all-star cast of Conservatives to highlight what the Union means to them and why they believe its continuation is of benefit to all its people.
Fair Welfare
The welfare state in Britain has become uniquely unpopular. A major three-year research programme, including polling and focus groups by the Centre for Policy Studies and Public First.
Homes for Heroes
New CPS report is calling for changes to help key workers get their foot on the property ladder, and repay them for their efforts during the pandemic.
Is Manchester Greater? A New Analysis of NHS Integration
The CPS argues that Government should prioritise bottom-up integration and collaboration, as well as gathering more evidence from existing pilot schemes, rather than pursuing another top-down reorganisation of the NHS on an insufficient evidence base – especially given the strain the health service is already under due to the pandemic.
Reshaping Spaces: Building Back Better
Even before Covid, 25-40% of retail space was no longer viable or needed. Yet councils are doing little to ensure these vacant properties are being converted or redesignated.
Britain Speaks: The New Language of Politics and Business
Dr Frank Luntz, the world’s leading expert on political language and communication, has spent the summer working with the Centre for Policy Studies on a landmark survey of the British public’s language and values. Dr Luntz, a Visiting Academic Fellow at the think tank, has conducted one of the most extensive polling exercises yet seen, uncovering the public’s sentiments on language… View Article
The Competition and Markets Authority: a reboot for the 2020s
Two thirds of businesses do not know that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) enforces competition law in the UK and two fifths have never heard of it, prejudicing the deterrence on which the effectiveness of competition and consumer protection policy depends, according to former Chairman, Andrew Tyrie. The Board needs to retake control of the… View Article
Briefing Note: Housing and Immigration
In this note, we argue that the Government could use the Planning Bill to incorporate net migration in housing estimates in a more transparent way. This will improve both policy and political debate around housing, not least by highlighting the hypocrisy of those who argue that we should both relax migration controls and build fewer homes…. View Article
Clean Free Trade: Championing free trade, economic growth and the environment
The UK has positioned itself post-Brexit as a champion of both free trade and environmental protection. A major new Centre for Policy Studies paper argues that these goals can and should be mutually reinforcing – that the UK should use its post-Brexit trading freedoms to push for green growth The report recommends: Abolishing all tariffs… View Article
