Ben Paxton
Senior Researcher
Ben's recent work
All work
Andy Burnham is right to devolve employment support
Strategic authorities are best placed to tailor local support.
Five ways departments can help deliver Andy Burnham’s procurement agenda
The government has asked departments to show how they can support its new procurement reforms.
Andy Burnham needs a new fiscal strategy that deals with the tax lock
Tough choices on tax and spend await the next prime minister.
Government must improve fraud prevention before the next crisis
Module five of the Covid inquiry shows the need for better procurement and use of data.
UK defence spending
Defence spending has grown in political salience in recent years.
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.
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, employment or training.
Ten things we learned from the King’s Speech 2026
What did the King’s Speech tell us about the government’s priorities for the new session?
The “welfare versus defence” framing oversimplifies the difficult trade-offs
Lord Robertson is wrong to suggest welfare cuts alone can pay for defence.
Designing and delivering employment support
How can government better support people out of work due to ill health?