The British state has never been more expensive, but too many services don’t deliver for our people
After years of mission creep and sticking plaster solutions, the state has expanded into ever more areas and lost its sense of purpose. Taxes are set to hit a peacetime record high. And our ageing population presents a huge affordability challenge for services and benefits.
Onward’s Reshaping the State programme will be bold in setting out where the size and shape of the state needs to change, within a renewed social contract. It will ask tough questions about our country’s institutions, public services, personal taxes and benefits. It will identify where they need a deep rethink in a changing world. On public service reform, it will assess how to harness the benefits of technology to deliver lean, efficient, top-quality services that are fit for the 21st century.