This is really good - Henry Kippin on how to do good place based policy. Feels like the right mix to me.

We are pleased to be working with the North East, East Midlands, Greater Manchester, West Midlands and West Yorkshire Combined Authorities on this important work. ✍️ Read the launch essay from @stkaye.bsky.social & @alwalker.bsky.social: restate.substack.com/p/where-shou...

Really excited about this! The English devolution agenda is making progress. But this should not represent the limit of ambition - which is why we're launching 'The Devo Next Initiative' today to define and shape the future of devolution policy.

So chuffed to announce this - and to get to work! This new initiative is a chance to define where we want devolution to go next, and where we want the whole agenda to take the country in the decades to come.

This looks like an excellent and much-needed initiative to shape where devolution goes next. open.substack.com/pub/restate/...

"The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act may open a new chapter for local places and people, but it cannot write it." 📣 NEW: Today Re:State is launching The Devo Next Initiative to define and shape the future of devolution policy. re-state.co.uk/devo-next-in...

Dame @meghillier.bsky.social highlights the need for systemic change in how we regulate:

🚨NEW REPORT - The law of rule🚨 Britain’s regulatory system grows by default. Rules are easy to create, rarely reviewed, and almost never removed. This report sets out a package of reforms to achieve “better regulation” by strengthening the system at every stage.

Really big devolution news! England is a major outlier when it comes to how fiscally centralised it is. Allowing Mayoral Strategic Authorities to retain a share of income tax generated in their area would be a major step forward, unlocking more autonomy and direct benefit from local growth.

What's the point of a Local Public Accounts Committee? More bureaucracy, meetings, reports...? See some thoughts on the gaps that a body of this kind could fill at www.lgcplus.com/politics/dev...

I've written this week's @re-state.bsky.social Re:View on the spring statement - which already feels like a long time ago. Have a read!

Why did the People's Vote campaign fail? Could Brexit have been stopped? What lessons can be learned? Join us on 19 March to launch @morganj0nes.bsky.social's new book: "No Second Chances: The Inside Story of the Campaign for a Second Referendum". All welcome! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/no-second-...

This is actually what I most wanted to highlight. I remember hearing a Labour MP argue that politics was ultimately just "a game of competitive storytelling", and then reflecting on just how disturbing the implications for democracy, accountability, and policymaking would be if that were wholly true

David's piece is brilliant in highlighting the stakes involved in the "deliverism" debate - the potential implications for policymaking and democratic accountability are pretty profound (and this often seems underappreciated)

📣 NEW REPORT: 'The State of the State 2026: delivery that matters' in partnership with Deloitte, is out now! 📊 It examines the key issues and opportunities facing public services, drawing on an exclusive Ipsos poll and over 100 interviews with public sector leaders. re-state.co.uk/publications...

Big new @ukandeu.bsky.social report on UK-EU alignment and divergence, which looks at the story so far and what lies ahead. I've written a chapter on the intersection with devolved powers and the implications for UK intergovernmental relations. Have a read!

Big new report out from us today looking at the state of UK-EU alignment and divergence. The key findings are that 1) the UK govt is turning to greater 'alignment' with EU rules as 'Brexit benefits' from divergence have been hard to come by. But 2) alignment is much easier said than done.

There's an interesting question around whether deeper devolution can help alleviate some of this. But also needs to be coupled with better public understanding of who is responsible for what

Hmm. Secondary legislation is, of course, much quicker than primary legislation. It’s also unamendable and frankly subject to less robust scrutiny procedures than primary legislation.

I think it's right that the May local elections will be going ahead, even in areas undergoing local government reorganisation. Democracy cannot be a matter of convenience or cost. mhclgmedia.blog.gov.uk/2026/02/16/u...

New post out: We have a guest post today from the excellent @dsquareddigest.bsky.social. "Build the Rail! Save the snails!" Or how we don't need to sacrifice the environment to speed up our mad planning processes. (Free to read) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...

The Re:View is out! 🎉 This week, Director of Policy and Research, @stkaye.bsky.social unpacks the Government’s latest move in the devolution agenda, as the MHCLG seeks to “fill in the map” of England with a new wave of Strategic Authorities. 👉Read it here: bit.ly/4auVwuB

"Perhaps the next 'grand theory' of public service reform will not come from the centre, but from the periphery." @alwalker.bsky.social writing for @re-state.bsky.social Yes, seems far more likely to me, as long as the centre allows enough flexibility. open.substack.com/pub/restate/...

My first Re:View is out - I look at Kent county council's struggle to find big spending cuts, what it says about the difficult work of public service reform, and whether the next ‘grand theory’ of public management could come from the periphery rather than the centre.

The only way Labour can win the next election is by governing well. That might not be enough, but it’s the bare minimum. The questions to be asking about any potential new PM are “what is their agenda and can they achieve it?” Not “do they currently poll well?” Or “can they handle a media round?”

The government announced today that the pride in place programme is being expanded to a further 40 neighbourhoods. I wrote something last year for @bennettschool.cam.ac.uk on the political appeal of the programme and what it's intended to achieve: www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/blog/unpacki...

NEW REPORT - Capital at risk London is a global capital. But it doesn't have the governance to match. The Mayor is much less powerful than his international counterparts, with too many boroughs which hold too much influence. The city needs reboot. 🔗👇

Re:State is on Substack! Must read first post from @stkaye.bsky.social featuring F. Scott Fitzgerald and the new white paper on police reform. Can the government square "From the local to national: a new model for policing" with the commitments it made in the devolution white paper?

Listen to me talking about my book (out now!) with an excellent panel:

Latest Re:State 'meetings with mayors' is happening today! Sign up to hear Simon Kaye in convo with mayor of the v interesting North East Combined Authority, Kim McGuinness. us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Some job news - excited to share that I've started a new position as a Senior Researcher at @re-state.bsky.social! I'll be working on the fantastic 'Re:Imagining the Local State' programme, and thinking about the future of local government and devolution.

Two good related pieces out today on civic renewal - one from James Plunkett on how to do it (what he calls 'communitarian statecraft'), and the other from Jack Shaw on improving the visible state of the public realm: jackshaw.substack.com/p/a-politics... samf.substack.com/p/power-to-t...

This is why there's a whole chapter in my book about the damage the grid has done to policy making.

wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage

There'll be lots of attention on the campaigns in Scotland and Wales over the next few months, but it's worth also looking ahead to a potential situation in which the UK and devolved governments are all led by different parties, and what this might mean for intergovernmental relations and policy:

As ever, worth reading Joël ‘reality over rhetoric’ Reland.

If you want a more strategic central state you have to devolve a lot more operational power. The more you try to control everything centrally the harder it gets.

In a new blog, @alwalker.bsky.social looks at Labour’s record on intergovernmental relations so far—where there have been improvements, where cracks are showing, and why devolved elections next year could mean a more challenging political environment for devolution. Read: bit.ly/4jbAR2r

For #devolution anoraks/those with a passing interest in how this blessed realm is governed, this is an interesting piece by @bennettschool.cam.ac.uk @alwalker.bsky.social of the current UK Govt’s ‘reset’ of intergovernmental relations & how IGR might be shaped by next year’s devolved elections

Wrapping up for Christmas with a piece looking back at how the UK government has approached devolved relations since Labour took office, and looking ahead to 2026 and the upcoming elections in Scotland and Wales. www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/blog/uk-inte...

Interesting piece on the history of post-war place-based policy (which spells out some clear lessons for the government's pride in place programme)

We're looking for a Professor of Public Policy to join our senior leadership team. They'll play a leading role in teaching on the School's postgraduate courses, & make a significant contribution to its research & research leadership. Apply by 9 February 2026: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/profess...

Great new piece from @akashpaun.bsky.social on the decision to delay next year’s mayoral elections. “even on the government's own terms… then the case for shifting these polls to 2027 is far stronger than delaying them until 2028” www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/mayo...

Can confirm this is an excellent role! You'll be joining a fantastic team at an exciting time and working on some really interesting stuff. Plenty of time to apply over the Christmas break!

If you’re involved in research impact, public engagement (in any form) then you really need to read this from @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social and @michaelkenny.bsky.social at @bennettschool.cam.ac.uk www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Important piece on the challenges facing evidence-informed policy and how researchers and universities should respond (including acknowledging uncertainties and trade-offs, a wider understanding of what counts as evidence, and stronger connections between unis and local communities)

Excellent to see this from The Economist. We are slow walking into a constitutional crisis driven by the electoral system, and very few people are taking it seriously enough yet.

Exciting new MPhil at the Bennett School - applications open!

Really pleased to see a new commitment to place-based budgets today. Further progress towards the implementation of 'Total Place' principles as urged with @jesstud.bsky.social a couple of years ago. www.newlocal.org.uk/publications....