The civil service is central to government in the United Kingdom. But it lacks a clear identity, defined responsibilities and a system of oversight and accountability. This report proposes a new statutory role for the civil service to reflect its permanence, values and objectives, and how it should be run and held to account.

Successive governments have struggled to tackle many of the biggest policy problems the country faces. This report examines the causes of persistent failures and sets out recommendations as to how government – both ministers and officials – could change to make policy better.

In this report, the authors propose policies designed to better live with COVID-19, to help build back better, and to help prepare for the future.

Smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol use are leading risk factors driving the UK’s high burden of preventable ill health and premature mortality. This report summarises recent trends for each of these risk factors and reviews national-level policies introduced or proposed by government in England between 2016 and 2021 to address them.

The authors of this report argue that gas extraction in the North Sea is uneconomic and that energy policy should focus on investing in renewable technologies.