Public finances
We analyse tax, spending and wider economic policy, looking at how it can most effectively be designed, implemented and where government falls short.
Latest analysis
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General election 2024: Seven things we learned from the smaller parties’ manifestos
The IfG expert team review the Lib Dem, SNP, Green, Reform UK, Plaid and Northern Irish parties’ manifestos
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Capital spending in public services
Crumbling schools, hospitals and prisons need a new capital spending plan to turn performance around.
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General election 2024: 10 things we learned from the Labour manifesto
What is in the Labour manifesto?
Forthcoming and recent events
How can the government rethink its approach to public services capital spending?
Join us to discuss what could be done differently to achieve better outcomes
General election 2024: What are the public finance challenges facing the next government?
How can the next government make progress on delivering its ambitions while maintaining fiscal sustainability?
Does the Treasury wield too much power over government?
Treasury Permanent Secretary James Bowler joined us to discuss the department's role in government.
Inside Briefing LIVE: The general election budget?
Our spring budget 2024 podcast special.
Key explainers
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Current UK fiscal rules
What are the government’s current fiscal rules and is it on track to meet them?
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Fiscal rules in the UK since 1997
Fiscal rules are restrictions on fiscal policy set by a government to constrain its own decisions on spending and taxes.
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Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the UK’s official independent economic and fiscal forecaster.
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Budgets
Governments require parliament’s approval to spend money, as well as to raise revenue in the form of taxes.
Budgets
Before and after major fiscal events we look at the key issues facing the government and assess the main choices it makes, drawing on expertise from across the Institute.
Find out more![Rishi Sunak holding a budget case](/sites/default/files/styles/call_to_action_desktop/public/2022-12/rishi-sunak-holding-budget-case.jpg?h=ed6caaa2&itok=GasMnvnf)
The Treasury
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When to run the next spending review
The next government must hold an urgent spending review before a budget 'cliff edge'.
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Strengthening the UK’s fiscal framework
The UK’s fiscal framework, including a flawed set of rules, incentivises bad policy decisions shaped by short-termism and fictional spending plans.
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Does the Treasury wield too much power over government?
Treasury Permanent Secretary James Bowler joined us to discuss the department's role in government.
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Treasury ‘orthodoxy’
The Treasury wields too much influence across government and dominates strategic thinking at the centre.
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'Orthodoxy' is not the issue: the Treasury’s outsized power creates problems for government
Excessive power, rather than ‘orthodox’ thinking, is the main problem with the Treasury.
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The next government must break its silence on departmental spending on day one
The later the election, the more urgent it will be for the next government to take decisions over spending
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How can government ensure it learns effectively from the past in making public finance decisions?
This event discussed The Way the Money Goes: The Fiscal Constitution and Public Spending in the UK.
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Tackling rising inflation and slowing growth
The economic crisis facing the UK is very different to the 2008 financial crash and the early 1990s recession – which means a very different response
Regional economic policy
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Funding local growth in England
The next government must end "begging bowl culture" of local growth funding.
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‘Levelling up’ from the centre
A new central government approach is needed to reduce regional inequality.
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How the government can make progress on levelling up despite tight budgets
The government must do more than just revert to its levelling up white paper’s policy positions if it wants to address regional inequalities.
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What levelling up policies will drive economic change?
Levelling up will not deliver the changes promised by Boris Johnson unless the next PM’s government is more ambitious in tackling regional inequality.
Our work
Regulation
We look at how government uses regulation to achieve its objectives and how rules can most effectively be designed and implemented through regulators.
Budgets
Before and after major fiscal events we look at the key issues facing the government and assess the choices it makes, drawing on expertise across IfG.
Regional economic policy
We assess the government’s approach to 'levelling up', whether it is well-defined and whether it can succeed where other governments have failed.
Tax policy making
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How is evidence used in tax policy making?
A key tenet of good policy making, including on tax, is use of the best available evidence.
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Overcoming the barriers to tax reform
The UK tax system needs substantial reform, but recent governments have shied away from it because of public resistance.
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How to be a tax-reforming chancellor
The tax system is in desperate need of reform. The new government’s majority gives it an opportunity that none has had for the last decade and a half.
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Better Budgets: making tax policy better
The Government must change the way it makes tax and budget decisions.
Our public finances team
![portrait image of Gemma Tetlow](/sites/default/files/styles/medium_card_desktop/public/2024-01/Gemma-1504x846.jpg?h=dd1b06b1&itok=pkmdrMJ_)
Gemma Tetlow
Chief Economist
Ruling out tax rises undermines Sunak's and Starmer's credibility on public services
![portrait image of Tom Pope](/sites/default/files/styles/medium_card_desktop/public/2024-01/Tom-Pope-1504x846.jpg?h=dd1b06b1&itok=H_8iFFfC)
Thomas Pope
Deputy Chief Economist
Funding local growth in England
![portrait image of Olly Bartrum](/sites/default/files/styles/medium_card_desktop/public/2024-01/olly-1504x846.jpg?h=dd1b06b1&itok=rje_PJaK)
Olly Bartrum
Senior Economist
The parties should focus on substance as well as sales ahead of the election
![portrait image of Rebecca McKee](/sites/default/files/styles/medium_card_desktop/public/2024-01/Rebecca-1504x846.jpg?h=dd1b06b1&itok=Ed7EX-tu)
Rebecca McKee
Senior Researcher
Funding local growth in England
![portrait image of Giles Wilkes](/sites/default/files/styles/medium_card_desktop/public/2024-01/giles%20wilkes%201504x846.jpg?h=dd1b06b1&itok=ZVNy6TT1)
Giles Wilkes
Senior Fellow
Four things we learned from Rachel Reeves’ Mais lecture
![Jeremy Pattison](/sites/default/files/styles/medium_card_desktop/public/2023-10/jeremy-pattison-1504x846px.jpg?h=dd1b06b1&itok=r1k2SmM5)
Jeremy Pattison
Research Assistant