Who we are
The Common Sense Policy Group comprises academics, policymakers, third sector leaders, community representatives, media figures and people with lived experience. We are all committed to creating a fair, equal and inclusive Britain through developing and influencing redistributive policy that addresses the inequality and exclusion that has come to define our nation. We present consensus on feasible, affordable and overwhelmingly popular evidence-based policies that can form the basis for a programme for progressive Government. Read more…
What we do
Research: We examine the impact of existing systems and what the prospective benefits of alternatives might be.
Policy: We develop evidence-based policy proposals that address key modern challenges and achieve popular support.
Engagement and impact: We create outputs and engage with partners to translate research to real-world goals.
Act Now: A Vision for a Better Future and New Social Contract is a Beveridge-style report published by Manchester University Press (£9.99) in July ahead of the 2024 General Election. It is directly aimed at encouraging parties to support a Beveridge-style programme for government that tackles material inequality to end our era of crisis.
We have become accustomed to conditions that once would have felt life-threatening. Millions of people in work are unable to afford to heat their homes or pay their mortgages and waits for urgent hospital treatment are now often measured in years. Former Chancellor George Osborne was fond of saying that austerity was needed to fix the roof while the sun was shining. Instead, we are left with a national house that is close to being condemned. But it doesn’t have to be like this. In the 1940s, with the country facing the devastation of the Second World War, Lord Beveridge proposed changes to public services that would transform the country for the better. Now facing our own 21st Century crisis, in this report we propose commonsense solutions to key problems in British life. From health and social care to transport and education, we show how we can make public services much better and the economy much more productive. We also show that we can do so without breaking the bank.
We must Act Now.