Performance Tracker
Our flagship report assesses the comparative problems faced by critical public services such as the NHS, schools and the police.
Performance Tracker 2023
The government’s spending plans from April 2025 onwards will likely mean that all services other than children’s social care could be performing worse in 2027/28 than on the eve of the pandemic.
Read the report
Read previous editions of Performance Tracker
Performance Tracker 2022/23: Spring update
Public services won’t have returned to pre-pandemic performance by the next election.
Performance Tracker 2022
Public services won’t have returned to pre-pandemic performance by the next election.
Performance Tracker 2021
The pandemic has created huge backlogs in public services – failing to address these backlogs now will push up costs in future.
Performance Tracker 2020
The coronavirus crisis has resulted in backlogs across public services, including at record levels in the criminal courts.
Performance Tracker 2019
Performance Tracker 2019 projects the demand and spending on nine public services for the next five years.
Performance Tracker: Autumn 2017
Our analysis reveals the key decision points that the Chancellor faces in the run-up to his first Autumn Budget.
Performance Tracker: Spring 2017
Until recently the Government managed to maintain the quality of public services while controlling spending. But this approach has now run out of stea
Recent events
How can public sector strikes be solved more effectively?
Mike Clancy, Baroness Finn and Kate Nowicki joined us to explore the impact of recent industrial disputes on public service performance.
How can the government improve public service productivity?
The first of our Productivity Pitches, a new event series organised jointly with The Productivity Institute.
The autumn statement 2023: pressures on public services
Baroness Morris and Stephen Bush joined us to discuss the state of public services ahead of the upcoming general election.
Why does the UK underinvest in public service infrastructure – and how can the problem be fixed?
Lord O'Donnell, former Cabinet Secretary, joined us to discuss why the UK has set relatively low capital budgets.
Recent comments
Rishi Sunak’s higher defence spending announcement does not add up
The prime minister should not be allowed to abdicate decisions about how to pay for his spending pledges.
The government's Sentencing Bill won’t fix its prison problems
Increasing sentences is empty rhetoric given our packed prisons.
Three things we learned from Rishi Sunak’s Liaison Committee appearance
How did the prime minister fare at his grilling by a committee of parliament’s senior MPs?
Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget 2024 did little to address long-term problems in public services
With the dust settled on the budget, Nick Davies looks at what it means for public services.
Key explainers
Local government funding in England
How local government is funded in England and how it has changed since 2010.
Local government section 114 (bankruptcy) notices
What is a section 114 notice, and why have councils been issuing more of them recently?
Police accountability
Several recent high-profile scandals have brought into focus the need for strengthened police accountability.
Related reading
The NHS productivity puzzle
The NHS crisis will only be solved with capital investment, increasing management capacity and staff retention – not just more doctors and nurses.
'Austerity' in public services: lessons from the 2010s
Jeremy Hunt is right to delay his fiscal statement – but should not rush into a new austerity programme.
Performance Tracker team
Nick Davies
Programme Director
Stuart Hoddinott
Senior Researcher
Philip Nye
Data Scientist
Thomas Pope
Deputy Chief Economist
Cassia Rowland
Senior Researcher
Darwin Kim
Research Assistant