Project summary

Carnegie UK’s Financing the Future programme began in May 2024. The programme seeks to explore and examine what a collective wellbeing approach to our public finances – the way governments raise and spend public money – could look like across the UK.

To help us understand the policy context, build evidence and insight we delivered a series of discussions and engagements, and commissioned and produced research into some of the key issues, perspectives and emerging practice on this topic.

• With our expert associate Eleanor Ryan, we set out current spend, tax and fiscal policy issues in a policy discussion paper which seeks opinion on the merit, challenges and opportunities associated with exploring what a new social contract between the citizen and state focussed on collective wellbeing could and should look like.
• We hosted four roundtable discussions in Glasgow, Cardiff, Newcastle and Belfast respectively, bringing together experts in academia, business, economics, government, public policy and the third sector to grapple with some of the big fiscal policy challenges we face and issues highlighted in our discussion paper.
• We partnered with The Social Agency to explore public understanding and perceptions of taxation across the UK. This research shows that dominant perceptions of tax and spend – that it is not fair, not delivering, and not something the public can change – are negative and entrenched.
• We identified the need for practical and actionable guidance to support governments seeking to better embed wellbeing approaches in spending and finance. Dr Cressida Gaukroger produced a paper for Carnegie UK which examines global examples, innovative tools, and emerging practices that have the potential to transform public spending.

Conclusions

The financial issues we face as a country are complex and there appears to be limited political appetite to engage openly with the public on this.

However the status quo in relation to our fiscal policy making is neither sustainable nor working  to deliver long-term policy outcomes across the country. A change of approach is needed. One that enables bold ideas and incisive leadership alongside deliberate and sustained efforts to bring people along and engage them meaningfully in grappling with these issues.