Inlay

New data shows 6.0% of pupils now have an EHCP, up from 5.3% last year. This is the biggest yearly increase in EHCPs since at least 2010 (+12%). And means EHCPs are now more than twice as common as they were 16 years ago.

This only works if you also lift the cap on Local Housing Allowance and build new homes at scale which Councils can use. Otherwise you're just adding pressure to a very limited market and making it impossible for Councils to house people at all.

Yesterday's workforce statistics were celebrated by the DfE, as it claimed to have hit 70% of its 6,500 new teachers pledge. But digging further into the figures, we found it included those who started in September 2024, who would have been recruited months before Labour came into power...

A ‘radical overhaul’ is the wrong move for the youth justice system The government’s white paper risks undermining one of the few public services currently working well www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/comm...

1 in 5 pupils have identified special educational needs But one thing that doesn't get mentioned enough, is that we're still not (quite) at the levels of SEND we had in 2010!

Love this as a prevention case study: - Low cost, even revenue raising in the short term - Improves health outcomes and reduces costly hospital admissions Shows political leadership is key: - Politically costly for Khan to implement - Did it despite cost savings landing outside GLA

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

A new paper published today by @paddy-mcalary.bsky.social and me draws on the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk's archive of interviews with former ministers to set out, in ministers’ own words, their experience of working with the civil service... 🧵 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

📖💰Can paying disadvantaged teenagers keep them in formal education? 📖💰 In England, 30£/week didn't bring long run benefits. Other policies (part-time edu, traineeships...) might better suit some pupils. New blog summary linked below. @theifs.bsky.social @iza.org wol.iza.org/opinions/whe...

Imperial College scientists analysed health records before and after introduction of air pollution reduction zones Low emission and clean air zones attract controversy whenever they are proposed, but there is growing evidence that they work in improving air quality. The Bradford zone was followed by a reduction of about 25% in GP visits for heart and breathing problems and survey data shows that the central London zone was followed by a reduction in the likelihood of a person taking sick leave. Now analysis of health records has found emergency admissions to hospital reduced after the introduction of the T-charge and ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez) in central London. Continue reading...

NEW | Salami-slicing capital budgets for defence is bad fiscal policy making Raiding capital budgets in this way to pay for greater defence capability is the wrong approach, says @drbenpaxton.bsky.social Read our latest comment piece here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/slic...

Exclusive: Labour has been accused of 'taking credit' for teacher recruitment that occurred before it entered government, after claiming it has already met 70 per cent of its landmark target https://schoolsweek.co.uk/labour-taking-credit-for-teachers-recruited-before-it-won-power/