Why did the French Budget fail to pass? podcast<p>France’s failed budget highlights fundamental challenges with public debt, slow growth, and the need for significant reforms.</p>12 December 2024
How can we make government more productive? podcast<div class="flex-shrink-0 flex flex-col relative items-end"><div><div class="pt-0"><div class="gizmo-bot-avatar flex h-8 w-8 items-center justify-center overflow-hidden rounded-full"><div class="relative p-1 rounded-sm flex items-center justify-center bg-token-main-surface-primary text-token-text-primary h-8 w-8"><svg class="icon-md" width="41" height="41" viewBox="0 0 41 41" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" role="img"><text x="-9999" y="-9999"></text><path d="M37.5324 16.8707C37.9808 15.5241 38.1363 14.0974 37.9886 12.6859C37.8409 11.2744 37.3934 9.91076 36.676 8.68622C35.6126 6.83404 33.9882 5.3676 32.0373 4.4985C30.0864 3.62941 27.9098 3.40259 25.8215 3.85078C24.8796 2.7893 23.7219 1.94125 22.4257 1.36341C21.1295 0.785575 19.7249 0.491269 18.3058 0.500197C16.1708 0.495044 14.0893 1.16803 12.3614 2.42214C10.6335 3.67624 9.34853 5.44666 8.6917 7.47815C7.30085 7.76286 5.98686 8.3414 4.8377 9.17505C3.68854 10.0087 2.73073 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12.1667 35.5464 13.6095 35.3055 15.0128ZM14.2424 21.9419L10.8752 19.9981C10.8576 19.9893 10.8423 19.9763 10.8309 19.9602C10.8195 19.9441 10.8122 19.9254 10.8098 19.9058V10.6071C10.8107 9.18295 11.2173 7.78848 11.9819 6.58696C12.7466 5.38544 13.8377 4.42659 15.1275 3.82264C16.4173 3.21869 17.8524 2.99464 19.2649 3.1767C20.6775 3.35876 22.0089 3.93941 23.1034 4.85067C23.0427 4.88379 22.937 4.94215 22.8668 4.98473L14.9024 9.58517C14.7025 9.69878 14.5366 9.86356 14.4215 10.0626C14.3065 10.2616 14.2466 10.4877 14.2479 10.7175L14.2424 21.9419ZM16.071 17.9991L20.4018 15.4978L24.7325 17.9975V22.9985L20.4018 25.4983L16.071 22.9985V17.9991Z" fill="currentColor"></path></svg></div></div></div></div></div><div class="group/conversation-turn relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn"><div class="flex-col gap-1 md:gap-3"><div class="flex max-w-full flex-col flex-grow"><div class="min-h-8 text-message flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 whitespace-normal break-words [.text-message+&]:mt-5" data-message-author-role="assistant" data-message-id="1583144b-b0e6-447e-84af-e4d9e5215ef5" dir="auto" data-message-model-slug="gpt-4o"><div class="flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[3px]"><div class="markdown prose w-full break-words dark:prose-invert dark"><p>How can the public sector do more with less? We explore productivity trends, government reform and lessons from private sector innovation.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div>3 December 2024
Inheritance tax rises and the Budget: who's affected? podcast<p>We discuss how inheritance tax actually changed in the Budget, who will be affected and whether it was a good idea.</p>15 November 2024
Ethnicity gaps in pension participation event 23 January 2025 <p>IFS researchers will present new findings exploring ethnic gaps in pension participation rates following the rollout of automatic enrollment.</p>
Call for papers: IFS-GHE Workshop on Health Economics in LMICs 2025 conference 16 May 2025 <p><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(37, 61, 64);display:inline !important;float:none;font-family:"DM Serif Text", serif;font-size:20px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Submissions are open until 15th February for the IFS-GHE Workshop on Health Economics in LMIC 2025</span></p>
Call for papers: Thrive scientific conference conference 24 June 2025 <p><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(37, 61, 64);display:inline !important;float:none;font-family:"DM Serif Text", serif;font-size:20px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Submissions are open until 31st January for the Thrive scientific conference: Scaling early childhood development programmes and policies in LMIC.</span></p>
Jobs landing page<p>At IFS, we recruit and train top-quality economists and professional support staff. We aim to foster a respectful and inclusive working environment.</p>20 July 2022
Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy The Research Centre at the heart of IFS is the CPP.
The 2025–26 English Local Government Finance Settlement explained Comment English councils’ core spending power set to increase 3.8% in real terms next year, but increases will vary hugely across the country. 18 December 2024
Spending on special educational needs in England: something has to change Report Spending on special educational needs (SEND) is becoming unsustainable due to the rise in high needs. Reform to SEND funding and provision is needed. 10 December 2024
Reforming local government funding in England: the issues and options Report A new, up-to-date system for allocating funding between councils is vital, and reforms must align with the broader vision for local government. 9 December 2024
Local Government Finance Policy Statement: an initial response Comment The government has today published a policy statement outlining its plans for local government funding in England. 28 November 2024
Resource windfalls, public expenditures and local economies Working Paper We show that the redistribution of natural resource tax revenues to non-extractive municipalities stimulates economic activity in local economies. 18 November 2024
Immediate reflections on the budget: local government Presentation David Phillips gave this presentation to the CIPFA local government treasurers’ retreat confirmation. 31 October 2024
Adult social care in England: what next? Report We set out the major challenges facing the adult social care system in England and explore potential future developments for the sector. 10 October 2024
Even if Reeves manages to avoid making cuts, councils will still need a laser-like focus on efficiency Comment David Phillips says that even if chancellor Rachel Reeves manages to avoid making cuts, councils will still need a laser-like focus on efficiency 10 October 2024
Council funding: past, future and implications for social policy Presentation David Phillips gave this presentation on local government finances to the House of Commons Library Social Policy training day in October 2024. 9 October 2024
Property taxes: ripe for reform or a poisoned chalice? Presentation David Phillips gave this presentation at the IRRV annual conference in October 2024. 8 October 2024
Council funding: what’s happened and what’s next? Presentation David Phillips gave this presentation on local government finances to Office for Local Government (OfLoG) staff in September 2024. 18 September 2024
Council funding: what’s happened and what’s next? Presentation David Phillips gave this presentation on local government finances at a Pixel Financial Management conference in September 2024. 12 September 2024
Devolution may be sexier, but updating the local government finance system is vital Comment Any plans for devolution need to be accompanied by updates to English councils’ hideously outdated funding allocations. 3 September 2024
Council funding: what’s happened and what’s next? Presentation David Phillips gave this presentation on local government finances at an LGIU conference in July 2024. 17 July 2024
What is the outlook for English councils’ funding? Report Cuts to some council services are likely unless spending pressures abate, even with big increases in council tax and especially in more deprived areas 21 June 2024
Election Special: Has 'levelling up' worked? Podcast We discuss 'levelling up' and local government and see how much progress has been made. We also analyse the SNP and Plaid Cymru manifestos. 21 June 2024
The State of the Nation: economic, fiscal and funding outlook Presentation David Phillips gave this presentation at the Society of Country Treasurers’ Conference in June 2024. 13 June 2024
The economic, fiscal and funding outlook Presentation David Phillips gave this presentation to the LGA policy network in June 2024. 13 June 2024
How have English councils’ funding and spending changed? 2010 to 2024 Report Increases in council funding over the last parliament have not reversed big cuts made during the 2010s, with spending on many services still down 40%. 7 June 2024
Cash and real-terms core council funding and funding per person (2010–11 = 100) Data Item Cash and real-terms core council funding and funding per person (2010–11 = 100) 7 June 2024