Olly Harvey-Rich

At his first Budget, the Chancellor faces an uncertain outlook for the economy, and added pressures on public spending from higher inflation.

Departmental spending growth is slowing amid pressures on budgets and new spending ambitions. We assess the Chancellor’s choices at this Budget.

For the first time in over a decade, the NHS broadly stuck to its planned 2025-26 budget – but partly because hospital activity grew more slowly. 

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.

English hospital services are in a relatively poor state - yet still look substantially better on many measures than those in Scotland and Wales

Welsh health and education services are performing worse than before the pandemic and lag behind England

Welsh health and education systems are underperforming – with cuts to spending on some public services likely post-election.

Five years on from COVID, Scotland's public services are still struggling to recover

Scottish public services are struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and cuts to some services loom.

Occupational transitions  have been much more common in regions with higher wages elsewhere in the local labour market.

Movement between occupations is becoming increasingly common for NHS support staff, but much more so in wealthier parts of the country.

Why isn’t the NHS improving faster? We unpack waiting lists, winter pressures, productivity and reform plans - and ask whether real change is coming.

Productivity is rising rapidly in English hospitals, but this has not translated into large falls in waiting times.

We're offering an opportunity to meet current IFS staff and find out more about our summer placement scheme for current university students.

The Chancellor's second Budget will be a tricky one. The fiscal outlook has deteriorated, raising the prospect of spending cuts or further tax rises. 

Cutting administrative budgets could end up cutting the quantity or quality of what the civil service provides.

This event presented new analysis on the current government's plans for improving public sector productivity, with a response from Jeremy Hunt MP.

Government's public sector improvements rely on ambitious improvements in public sector productivity.