Re:State's research and commentary is regularly featured in the media. You can find press coverage of Re:State's work here.
We are always happy to comment on policy issues relevant to our work. If you would like a quote, an interview, or a background briefing, please email press@test.helloknox.com.
On 1 November 2017, Re:State published a report titled Vive la devolution: devolved public-services commissioning. The report argues for the devolution of over £100 billion of public-services spending, including 95 per cent of the NHS’s budget. 38 large councils across England should control this spending to improve outcomes for citizens.
Media coverage included Civil Service World, Public Finance, Yorkshire Post, The MJ, Oxford Mail, Local Government Chronicle, National Health Executive and Public Sector Executive.
The House of Commons briefing paper on local administrative boundaries also references the report.
Louis Coiffait, Head of Education at Re:State, was featured in an article by TES. Louis Coiffait is head of education at the Reform thinktank, which in February published a report questioning Teach First’s value for money. It is the most expensive of the initial teacher training routes, with Teach First entrants making up 7 per cent of postgraduates training to become secondary teachers, but representing 11 per cent of total training costs. “It was founded in the Blair era when everyone was awash with cash,” says Coiffait. “They’ve managed to navigate the period of austerity up to now very well actually, [but] that pressure around value for money is not going away – if anything it’s increasing.”
Read the full article here.
Maisie Borrows, Researcher at Re:State, spoke on a panel at a Social Market Foundation event on digital identity verification. The event was covered by Perspectives at Glint, a new global currency. A full write-up of the event can be found here.
Andrew Haldenby, Director at Reform, wrote an article for the The Telegraph following the launch of Reform's report Getting into shape: Delivering a workforce for integrated care. Andrew argues that's the Government's recent efforts to lift the pay cap is not going to fix the public sector's recruiting crisis and that these services need a modern workforce, recruited and trained in a very different way to today.
You can read the full article here
Louis Coiffait, Head of Education at Re:State, shared findings from Re:State's upcoming school workforce report at ResearchED's annual conference on Saturday 9 September. He called for the government to replace recruitment bursaries paid up front, with phased retention rewards. He also outlined the benefits of schools groups (both MATs and federations) over stand-alone schools, and the need for a regional - rather than national - approach to the school workforce.
You can read the full article here
Emilie Sundorph, Researcher at Reform, wrote an article for the Times Higher Education titled 'Widening participation: LSE bucks trend as ‘elite’ universities struggle'. This is following the publication of a Reform report earlier this week which assesses university spending on widening participation. The article argues that despite universities putting more money into improving access, the top universities are still struggling to diversify their intakes.
"While universities benefit from autonomy, and should continue to do so, they also have a responsibility to show fee-paying students, and the taxpayers subsidising loans, that funding is being spent to the best effect. Holding institutions to account for making real contributions to social mobility may be a better place to focus than how much their top executives are worth".
You can read the full article here.
On the 5th September, The Guardian newspaper wrote an exclusive article about Reform's recent report Joining the elite: how top universities can enhance social mobility. The article comments on the 'incredibly slow' progress that England's top universities have made in widening access to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, despite having schemes in place that are designed to widen access to their undergraduate courses. The article highlights key findings from the Reform report which has found that whilst English universities overall have increased access for disadvantaged students, this progress is skewed towards lower- and middle-tier universities.
Read the full article here
Louis Coiffait, Head of Education at Re:State appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss whether councils would be able to plan enough school places for the predicted 19% increase in secondary pupils. He argued that although councils and schools had managed the 'population bulge' going through primary well, it would only be possible in secondary if they and (the greater proportion of) academies worked closely together in partnership. You can listen to his interview from 2.07.37.
Alexander Hitchcock, Senior Researcher at Reform, wrote an article for The Yorkshire Post titled Digital technology is smarter policing. He argues that that police in Yorkshire need to embrace technology to combat rising cybercrime.
The full article can be found here
Dr Kate Laycock, Researcher at Re:State, wrote an article for City A.M. titled 'The NHS is bad value for money: Automation, not bureaucracy, will put its broken house in order'. Kate discusses the enormous scope that automation and technology can play in improving productivity and efficiency in the NHS, for example by reducing the administrative burden on back office and front line staff. "The debate on the future of the NHS is too often dominated by calls for extra resources. Instead, the way to keep the service sustainable is to improve productivity. This rests on the workforce and wider public embracing technology. Getting the house in order is not a matter of filling in the cracks with old solutions, rather the house must be modernised to ensure that it is ready for challenges ahead."
Read the full article here
Jim Boyd, Deputy Director at Re:State, appeared on Sky News to discuss rising social care costs and how to meet growing demand. Jim highlights recent research by Re:State that proposes replacing the current ‘pay-as-you-go’ (PAYG) approach to financing later-life care with a prefunded arrangement.
Emilie Sundorph, Researcher at Re:State, wrote an article for Prospect following the publication of Re:State's report, Bobbies on the net: a police workforce for the digital age. Digital crime is on the rise and many officers are "terrified" by this, feeling they lack the knowledge and skills to tackle it. Police forces must do more to foster these skills. Some examples include a digital skills academy, making greater use of secondments and tapping into the expertise of other digital specialists.
"Learning from these approaches to deliver a workforce fit to fight cybercrime should be the priority for the police. Achieving this will not be simple, but it is essential to protect people online."
Read the full article here.
Emilie Sundorph, Researcher at Re:State, has written an article for Policing Insight, following the launch of Re:State's report, Bobbies on the net: a police workforce for the digital age. With digital crime accounting for nearly half of all crime, police officers and staff need the right skills to tackle it. A revolution in police working patterns is required to meet this new world of crime. Hierarchy must be disrupted, a culture of learning established and new inventive practices, pioneered in the private sector, adopted.
"But as criminals move online, police must respond. This is the only way to police this digital world."
Read the full article here.
Alexander Hitchcock, Senior Researcher, wrote an article in The Telegraph following the publication of Re:State's report Bobbies on the net: a police workforce for the digital age. Forty-seven per cent of crime involves a digital element. People are 20 times more likely to be a victim of fraud than robbery, costing businesses £144 billion a year. Police forces need to radically upgrade their crime-fighting capabilities to keep citizens safe including gaining specialist cyber skills, secondments and creating a digital academy.
"Digital technology has changed the face of criminal behaviour. The working patterns of police forces need to follow suit."
Read the full article here.
Re:State published it's latest report Bobbies on the net: a police workforce for the digital age on 23 August 2017. It was covered in The Telegraph, Financial Times, Public Finance, The Sun, The Scotsman, Prospect, The Telegraph, Policing Insight, Computer Weekly, Information Age, New Statesman, Tech World, Info Security, IT pro, UK Authority, Police Oracle, Kable and Public Technology.