David Phillips

This in-person event, in partnership with and hosted by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, will discuss the findings of the IFS-Deaton Review

Scottish Government funding likely to fall in 2027–28, meaning manifesto pledges could force spending cuts or increases to devolved taxes.

The new Plaid Cymru government faces a difficult fiscal outlook – and the need to find common ground with other parties.

What does local government do, why are councils under financial pressure, and how might reform change the future of local services?

A new crop of councillors will face the same challenges – constrained funding, limited revenue-raising powers, and spending pressures and restrictions

Join us at this event as experts discuss the current fiscal landscape and analyse the proposals put forward by Wales’s political parties.

Join us and the University of Edinburgh ahead of the Scottish elections for analysis of fiscal policy and the parties' plans for the next five years.

All parties’ plans would add to the fiscal challenges facing the next Scottish Government – albeit to very different extents

A joint webinar with the Welsh Election Study and the Institute for Fiscal Studies on the Welsh party manifestos and spending plans.

While their visions differ, all parties’ plans would add to the fiscal challenges facing the next Welsh Government – albeit to very different extents

A manifesto pledging a bigger welfare state with or without independence, but which fails to properly confront the fiscal implications of its plans

A look at Welsh funding, tax powers, public services and the hard fiscal trade-offs facing whoever forms the next government.

A manifesto with big tax and bigger spending increases – and a mixed bag of tax reforms.

A focus on improving existing services rather than new entitlements or tax cuts

A manifesto with more support for families with children, but important question marks over how to fund its giveaways.

Scotland has more funding and more powers, but the next Holyrood government still faces tough choices on tax, spending and public services.

A plan for big tax cuts that is costed on paper, but which may not survive contact with reality.

A manifesto with a vision for a bigger state but no detail on how to pay for it.

Scotland's ambitious 10% child poverty target by 2030 looks highly unlikely to be met despite significant devolved spending.

Wales's post-pandemic employment gap with the rest of the UK is widening, putting pressure on living standards and Welsh Government finances.