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Ben Paxton

@drbenpaxton.bsky.social
1.1K followers 273 following 222 posts

Senior Researcher at the @instituteforgov.bsky.social. Views my own.

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Reposted by Ben Paxton
Stuart Hoddinott @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
NEW: Burnham made a strong case for adult social care reform at conference, but pushed the National Care Service into next parliament I argue he should get on with it, use his majority and 2024 mandate and establish the NCS in this parliament 👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/comm...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Andy Burnham should establish the National Care Service this parliament | Institute for Government
There is no reason to delay plans for potentially three years.
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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 27/09/2026
We will then ask: How can Labour build an affordable welfare system that supports sick and disabled people? Our panel features @meghillier.bsky.social, Alan Milburn, @drbenpaxton.bsky.social @katesummers.bsky.social and chair @tompope.bsky.social
An imagine for an IfG event
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Interesting pre-conference interview. Agree on the health and disability benefits system becoming more personalised (e.g by age), but somewhat sceptical about a separate system for young people when many similar issues exist for the ~90% of claimants who are over 24 www.ft.com/content/5337...
ft.com
Britain in ‘good position’, Pat McFadden tells business fearful of tax rises
Work and Pensions secretary admits Labour has asked business to pay more and vows to try to ease pressure on public finances
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Heloise Dunlop @hcdunlop.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Our report has looked at how to reform health and disability benefits in the round - from the political leadership it takes, the join-up necessary for implementation, the gaps in evidence, and how the assessment process and approach to cost control needs to change for success. A lot to dig into...
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
NEW IfG report out today on how government should approach reforming health and disability benefits The big takeaway: the system needs to better match people’s needs to the right support - through assessment reform, political leadership and more... www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Designing better incapacity benefits | Institute for Government
Personalising benefits and support is key to helping disabled people into work.
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Louise Murphy @louisemurphy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
DWP has just published a flurry of new data on how PIP and UC-Health assessments are carried out (face-to-face or via phone, video or paper) and whether this impacts who gets awarded health-related benefits. Five takeaways 🧵
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Thomas Pope @tompope.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
New from me and @jillongovt.bsky.social for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk on how Healey should approach tax in his crucial Autumn budget (a subject he was quiet on in his speech today) Key point: set out a strategy and embrace reform. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
How John Healey should approach tax in his first budget | Institute for Government
The 2026 UK budget is fast approaching.
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Tackling the UK's high NEET rate requires concerted action from across government. But crucially this should centre on a local, joined-up response - not an inflexible national system imposed on areas. As @martha-ford.bsky.social and I wrote in May www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/alan...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Alan Milburn’s NEET diagnosis must lead to local level solutions | Institute for Government
Local leaders are best placed to support a “lost generation” of young people not in education, employment or training.
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Jill Rutter @jillongovt.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
This looks like another one for the #devowatch Team. You cannot both want meaningful devolution and abhor postcode lotteries. Discuss.
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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 10/08/2026
Andy Burnham is right to devolve employment support Strategic authorities are best placed to tailor local support, say @drbenpaxton.bsky.social and @martha-ford.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/andy...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Andy Burnham is right to devolve employment support | Institute for Government
Strategic authorities are best placed to tailor local support.
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Reposted by Ben Paxton
Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 06/08/2026
The government has asked departments to show how they can support its new procurement reforms. @drbenpaxton.bsky.social sets out five ways departments could respond www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/andy...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Five ways departments can help deliver Andy Burnham’s procurement agenda | Institute for Government
The government has asked departments to show how they can support its new procurement reforms.
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Healey and Haigh have asked ministers how they will use procurement as a "strategic lever to deliver innovation and growth in every postcode" (as per @lucyfisher.ft.com). New comment from me on some of the answers departments should give www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/andy...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Five ways departments can help deliver Andy Burnham’s procurement agenda | Institute for Government
The government has asked departments to show how they can support its new procurement reforms.
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
" @drbenpaxton.bsky.social said social value criteria were often flagged as a barrier to entry for smaller suppliers, so making the process easier for them was “a good move.”” giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
UK to strip back procurement rules to focus on job creation, says Louise Haigh
Andy Burnham’s de facto deputy PM says requirements for businesses vying for Whitehall contracts will be streamlined
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Really great it looks like government is going further on devolving employment support. It's a big opportunity to join-up services, tailor support locally, improve engagement and innovate. Flexible funding will be key to this (and should help areas streamline the current patchwork of programmes)
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Stuart Hoddinott @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
This is a genuinely exciting announcement about Burnham's intention for public service reform There are some potentially massive changes to the way that services are funded and operate A few things that jumped out at me 👇 www.gov.uk/government/p...
gov.uk
Rewiring the State – Cabinet Statement (HTML)
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Thomas Pope @tompope.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Excellent primer thread ahead of today's devo announcements from Matthew On fiscal devolution, a couple of key things I'm looking out for: 1. Will all/most mayors get the power immediately, or just the most advanced 2. How much flex will mayors have to spend on their own, vs Whitehall's, priorities
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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Cross-party talks are fine-and might be part of a process to sort out social care But Burnham can’t sidestep politics Deciding how to spend billions (or not), & who should win or lose, is the essence of politics From @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/comm...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Burnham can’t take the politics out of social care reform | Institute for Government
The new PM will have to prioritise to make progress on social care during this parliament
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Ben Zaranko @benzaranko.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Sensible policy klaxon 🚨 Currently, if a 16 year old chooses to stay in school/college, their family can keep claiming benefits as before (notably child benefit). If they opt for an apprenticeship, the benefits stop. The system discourages apprenticeships. The DWP just announced a fix 🧵
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Strongly agree with Stuart here. In our work on employment support for people out of work due to ill health, the mayoral strategic authorities that were aligned with NHS ICB boundaries repeatedly said how useful this had been for joining up support www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Designing and delivering employment support | Institute for Government
How can government better support people out of work due to ill health?
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Reposted by Ben Paxton
Stuart Hoddinott @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
NEW BLOG: organisational boundaries in local govt, the NHS and police do not match up That's a problem for Burnham's devo ambitions He should intervene now to create an aligned system that paves the way for future public services devo More 👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/burn...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Burnham’s devolution agenda can lay strong foundations for public service reform | Institute for Government
The new PM needs to align the boundaries of services in local areas.
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
It's good Burnham isn't boxing his government in on tax already. They need a fiscal strategy that confronts the difficult fiscal inheritance, and the tax lock problem left over from Labour's manifesto (which he doesn't necessarily have to inherit) www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/burn...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Andy Burnham needs a new fiscal strategy that deals with the tax lock | Institute for Government
Tough choices on tax and spend await the next prime minister.
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Heloise Dunlop @hcdunlop.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
@jillongovt.bsky.social and I had a report ready to go but were pipped to the post by Burnham’s (predictable) decision to bring digital ID to an end. There were too many questions to answer and little that had been decided, making it an easier (and popular) decision than most will be for Burnham!
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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 20/07/2026
Keir Starmer ducked the scale of the government’s fiscal challenges on entering office. Andy Burnham now has the opportunity to avoid making the same mistake, say @tompope.bsky.social, @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social and @drbenpaxton.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/burn...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Andy Burnham needs a new fiscal strategy that deals with the tax lock | Institute for Government
Tough choices on tax and spend await the next prime minister.
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Reposted by Ben Paxton
Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 16/07/2026
Government must improve fraud prevention before the next crisis @drbenpaxton.bsky.social says while recovering lost money is crucial, ensuring government is better able to avoid fraud in the next crisis is even more important www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/gove...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Government must improve fraud prevention before the next crisis | Institute for Government
Module five of the Covid inquiry shows the need for better procurement and use of data.
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Wonder how Burnham's only spending review experience as a minister (2007 as CST, his first cabinet role) will shape his approach (inc. on timing). Appointed when Brown became PM in June, lots of SR work already done, SR concluded 3 months later in October, then moved to DCMS SoS in Jan 08
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Jill Rutter @jillongovt.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
People want to take functions away from HM Treasury. I want to give it a new one - getting the UK's act together on climate adaptation www.ft.com/content/2789... (£) - much more than an environment issue..
ft.com
The UK is forgetting the dull bit of climate change policy
Adaptation has never been the priority, but this summer’s heat is a message that the Treasury needs to act
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
If Burnham wants to do welfare reform, then No.10 must help navigate the big trade-offs (not just leave this to HMT/DWP). Putting senior people in No.10 who understand just how difficult that is should help (Cooke was a DWP adviser with Purnell 2008-09, then DWP SpAd in 2024 before moving to No.10)
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Amber Dellar @amberdellar.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
NEW REPORT: how to make a success of SEND reform Government needs to get off the sidelines and build a SEND system that makes it easier for schools, councils and health services to work together. Our new report sets out how 🧵
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Joining up SEND | Institute for Government
How to begin fixing SEND by making the system more joined-up.
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Good decision by Burnham (if true). He needs to prioritise improving the centre of govt and economic/fiscal policy making, but splitting the Treasury would be a damaging distraction (set up a bolstered PM dept, have a bold tax strategy and improve the SR instead) www.ft.com/content/61c0...
ft.com
Andy Burnham rules out splitting Treasury to avoid disruption
Likely next prime minister has been rethinking Britain’s economic levers to promote regional growth
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Thomas Pope @tompope.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Latest from me and @hannahkeenan.bsky.social for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk Burnham might be mulling breaking up the Treasury. He’s right to want to reform the centre, but no.10 and cabinet office should be his focus. HMT reorg would be a distraction and would not fix underlying problems
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Shaina Sangha @shaina-sangha.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
TWO new @instituteforgovernment.org.uk reports out today from me, @nehaldavison.bsky.social, @sophiemetcalfe.bsky.social and @emma-conway.bsky.social on early years policy and what's needed to ensure boys from low-income families are not left behind. 🧵 tinyurl.com/99pcyskh tinyurl.com/4bcbyyfz
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Early years policy making: How can government ensure that boys from low-income families are not left behind during delivery? | Institute for Government
The government’s early years target is doing little to incentivise the system to focus on boys from low-income families.
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
It's kind of ironic that John Healey's resignation over allocation of defence spending has come exactly one year to the day after the 2025 spending review announcement, which was *supposed* to confirm departments' budgets up to 2028/29 (and 2029/30 for capital)
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
The central critique in Healey's resignation letter is that Starmer/Treasury have not found a way to meet defence spending pressures in the next few years, and instead have backloaded increases well into the next parliament (defence reaching 2.68% of GDP in 2030, compared to 3% he says is needed)
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Sam Macrory @sammacrory.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Follow Megan for all the latest updates to our excellent ministerial charts (and then read @drbenpaxton.bsky.social's blog from earlier this week on the government's unconvincing efforts to find money to pay to pay for defence) www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/slic...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Salami-slicing capital budgets for defence is bad fiscal policy making | Institute for Government
Raiding capital budgets in this way to pay for greater defence capability is the wrong approach.
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Reform UK are saying they'll raise the VAT registration threshold to £150,000 (from £90k), but worth remembering the UK already has the one of the highest VAT thresholds in the OECD www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Policy changes create winners and losers It’s a truism that losers complain more than winners are grateful But we’re on a ludicrous path if those who lose out from policy decisions demand and then get compensation That’s a recipe for nothing being decided ever
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
It's good government is confronting the long-known-about fiscal implications of its defence commitments. But across-the-board capital cuts would risk undermining the stability of capital investment, which has been a strength of the government's fiscal and economic policy. New comment from me here
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
As a long-time sufferer of the West Coast Main Line's terrible connectivity, have found this analysis showing quite how bad it is strangely validating. And its making me consider switching provider for that extra ~20%. A great bit of public service from Ofcom www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/r...
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Public sector fraud is a huge problem. £12bn of fraud was detected in 2023/24 according to the NAO (+ an extra £41bn 'estimated'). Crises like Covid risk creating extra opportunities for fraud, so it is vital we're set up to stop this happening again in the future. Sign up below for this great event
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Few thoughts on this: a) the DIP has taken ages. Ideally it would have been agreed shortly after/at the SR - delay has costs. But, good plans delayed are better than bad plans rushed b) The DIP's credibility depends on government committing to explain how it will be paid for (come the autumn budget)
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Harriet Shaw @shawharriet.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
1/ I’ve set out why recent local election gains by opposition parties – especially Reform UK – could make it harder for Labour mayors in the North and Midlands to get things done. A quick thread 🧵
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Interesting to hear Andy Burnham on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast being explicitly pro devolving employment support to enable a more local approach. We wrote a report earlier this year about how central government should go about doing this: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Designing and delivering employment support | Institute for Government
How can government better support people out of work due to ill health?
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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 29/05/2026
Alan Milburn’s NEET diagnosis must lead to local level solutions Local leaders are best placed to support a “lost generation” of young people not in education or employment, say @drbenpaxton.bsky.social and @martha-ford.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/alan...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Alan Milburn’s NEET diagnosis must lead to local level solutions | Institute for Government
Local leaders are best placed to support a “lost generation” of young people not in education or employment.
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Great to see two potential Labour leadership contenders in two days talking about ambitions to reform bad bits of the tax system. Keep it coming www.ft.com/content/a743...
ft.com
Andy Burnham says land in the UK is ‘undertaxed’
Potential Labour leadership contender points to ‘big case’ for reforming property levies
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Hannah Keenan @hannahkeenan.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Excellent to see Darren Jones announce "performance based pay progression" for the senior civil service. It hopefully starts to change some bad incentives in the system as it is at the moment...
questions-statements.parliament.uk
Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
Information from UK Parliament on written questions & answers, written statements and daily reports.
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
This kind of pledge is unhelpful. Big spending cuts look unlikely under any Labour leader, so this pledge means spending pressures (e.g. from defence/NHS/ongoing crises) are more likely to be met from distortive tweaks to smaller taxes (creating more complexity) www.ft.com/content/2661...
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Hannah Keenan @hannahkeenan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
If you listened to some chatter about the government major projects portfolio (GMPP) this morning and were a bit non-plussed... The GMPP is a subset of all projects that get extra support & scrutiny from HMT & Cabinet Office. Has been reduced from >200 to ~80 1 - this is not news 2 - this is good!
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
This is just the kind of testing and learning government should be doing to better understand how to support people out of work due to ill health (£) www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
thetimes.com
Sick notes ‘scrapped’ under plans to reduce benefit claimants
Social prescribers will be brought in to help those struggling with their health to stay in work in an attempt to reduce spiralling costs
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Rebecca McKee @rebeccamckee.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
10 things we learned in the King's Speech, from across the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk Lots of interesting insights and analysis from across the - really quite broad - range of plans from the government.
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Ben Paxton @drbenpaxton.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
There's no better way to stay up to date with today's political chaos than following Megan to get your resignation updates in chart-form
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