Chart shows annual heating bills for medium-sized home with an oil boiler (£1,476), an LPG boiler (£1,473) and a heat pump (£784), all at current energy prices. The heat pump is considerably cheaper to run, saving over £650

The UK government has announced £9,000 subsidies for households with oil and LPG boilers to get a heat pump.

This is seriously good deal for rural homes - not only does it lower the upfront cost, a mid-sized home could save over £650 a year by switching from oil to a heat pump at current prices...

How can we make this the UK's last ever energy crisis? ⚡

Episode 4 of the Policy Fix podcast is out now. @jlowen.bsky.social
sits down with @raviguru.bsky.social and @madgabes.bsky.social to untangle the latest energy shock.

🎧 Listen to the full episode: https://bit.ly/3Om0enk

Is it time for a social network built for the public, not profit? 🗣️

In this episode of the Policy Fix podcast, Tony Curzon Price argues we should experiment with online spaces designed to serve people - not just big tech companies shaping the internet today.

🎧: https://bit.ly/3Om0enk

Why are we still waiting for the market to fix social media?🏛️

In episode 3 of the Policy Fix podcast, Nest'as Tony Curzon Price says we need to look beyond banning social media and start building public alternatives that prioritise safety.

🎧: https://bit.ly/3Om0enk

How much would you need to be paid to quit social media?📱

Research shows students would need $200 to leave, but they’d pay for everyone to quit together.

In this ep of the Policy Fix, Tony Curzon Price dissects the study and how we can make platforms safe by design.

🎧: https://bit.ly/3Om0enk

How far is the law falling behind AI? 🤖

The Online Safety Act exists, but it lacks a clear definition of "safety by design". In this ep of the Policy Fix Hannah Perry @demos-uk.bsky.social argues that without one, risky AI features are reaching children unchecked.

🎧: https://bit.ly/3Om0enk

What can we learn from past energy crises for today’s energy challenges?

Last time we spent about £40bn on energy bill support - but we didn't fix our reliance on fossil fuels.

Nesta CEO Ravi Gurumurthy breaks down how to move beyond bailouts to accelerate to a secure, affordable energy system ⤵️

A ‘British Nobel Prize’ As part of Options for the UK - Nesta’s new home for ideas and radical thinking on policy challenges - Nesta’s director of policy and government partnerships Joe Owen outlines how the government can r...

How do we make invention and innovation central to the UK's future?

In the latest Options for the UK essay, Nesta’s Joe Owen proposes a 'British Nobel Prize' - a future-focused challenge award to reignite our culture of invention and solve major societal problems of our time.

How could it work? ⤵️

Nesta and Greggs: working together to support healthier choices We’re partnering with Greggs to explore ways to support healthier choices for their customers by testing and scaling the best ways to improve the healthiness of food sales over time

News 🗞️ We’re partnering with Greggs to explore ways to support healthier choices for their customers.

Our partnership will generate robust, real-world evidence on what works to improve the healthiness of food sales at scale.

Read more about our partnership ⤵️

What should the UK government do if they truly want to harness AI for policymaking? How AI is the trojan horse for investing in the foundations of digital government

AI has enormous potential to transform policymaking - but it won’t work if governments try to layer it on top of broken systems.

If we get the basics right, AI could help policymakers design better, faster, and more effective policy for the public. Here's how ⤵️

Is a social media ban for kids a real solution or a policy distraction? 📱

In this ep of the Policy Fix, Tony Curzon Price explains why we should regulate social media like we regulate cars: safety by design, not a blanket ban.

Watch the full episode ➡️ https://bit.ly/3Om0enk

🎧 Subscribe and share

Online safety isn’t a 'future' problem🚨

In this ep of the Policy Fix, Tony Curzon Price explains why we must treat online safety with the urgency it deserves.

🎧 Listen to Tony & @hannahperry.bsky.social on how to make social media truly safe for children: https://bit.ly/3PK8HRH

Ep 3 of the Policy Fix is out now🎙️

We explore how to move beyond blanket bans to truly make social media safer for children.

Tony Curzon Price and @hannahperry.bsky.social explain why the current system is failing families.

Listen to the full episode🎧: https://bit.ly/3PK8HRH

Test, learn and grow: how the new Warm Homes Agency should develop area-based delivery The Warm Homes Plan sets out the ambition to upgrade millions of home heating systems across the UK – with a greater focus on local, more coordinated delivery of upgrades.

How a test, learn and grow approach can help the UK government deliver on warm homes ⤵️

The Warm Homes Agency should move beyond strategic planning to "learning by doing." By treating local areas as partners to test what works, the government can create the tools needed to upgrade millions of homes.

Five questions to ask before building an AI agent By targeting routine, repeatable work rather than subjective judgment, you can ensure AI agents address real friction points rather than creating new ones

Can agentic AI help solve complex social challenges?

They can be a powerful fit for innovation - like building AI agents for heat pump installers - but it isn't always the right solution.

We’ve developed a five-question framework to determine when building an agent truly makes sense.

Partnerships with the food industry are critical to enable us to design, test and scale potential solutions to rising obesity levels.

We’ve partnered with Deliveroo and Maki & Ramen to develop and test small changes to menus that can help people make healthier choices https://bit.ly/4uRIxMW

We have a new home for ideas and radical thinking on policy challenges - Options for the UK.

The latest essay, from @timleunig.bsky.social, tackles the housing crisis and proposes bricks and mortar solutions to help the UK government meet its housing target. https://bit.ly/4bJWJP7

Why does the government keep policy & delivery in separate boxes? And could this be the reason why so many good policy designs fail to reach the real world?

On the Policy Fix podcast, @jlowen.bsky.social explores how to break down the government silos.

🎥 Listen: https://bit.ly/4shTzt9

Can government only deliver by breaking its own rules?

On the latest ep of the Policy Fix podcast @jillongovt.bsky.social and @andrewgreenway.bsky.social explore whether government has built the necessary "muscle" to be genuinely responsive.

🎥 Watch here: bit.ly/4shTzt9

What does the pandemic tell us about the true capacity of the UK state? ☕

@jillongovt.bsky.social and @andrewgreenway.bsky.social join the Policy Fix to explore why the "crisis energy" of the furlough scheme is so hard to harness for long-term policy.

🎥 Watch here: https://bit.ly/4shTzt9

🤳 Have smartphones raised the bar for government services?

In ep 2 of the Policy Fix, Andrew Greenway explains how tech in our pockets changed our expectations of the state.

🎧 Listen to @jillongovt.bsky.social and @andrewgreenway.bsky.social on how to fix government: https://bit.ly/4shTzt9

Ep 2 of the Policy Fix is out now. 🎙️

Successive governments have promised to fix the British state, but most have left it worse.

Nesta’s Joe Owen joins @jillongovt.bsky.social and @andrewgreenway.bsky.social to tackle the "delivery problem" haunting Whitehall.

🎧: https://bit.ly/3NGoeRJ

A navy blue square graphic featuring a quote. In the top right corner is the logo for "OPTIONS by Nesta" with a row of multi-colored chevrons. The main text of the image reads: “A blanket social media ban doesn’t distinguish between a child being groomed on Instagram and a child finding life-enhancing peer support on a moderated forum. It treats all online social connection as equally toxic.” Below the quote, it is attributed to: Tony Curzon Price Policy adviser, Nesta In the bottom right corner, there is a decorative triangular pattern of multi-colored stripes.

💡Next up, what’s the alternative to banning social media for under-16s?

In this blog Nesta’s Tony Curzon Prize considers how an interventionist approach could build safe, enriching digital spaces for young people.

Instead of blocking access, what if we built better? 📖 bit.ly/3PnJFHK

How can governments regulate social media for the public good? Tony Curzon Price argues that our current regulatory approach to regulating social media is broken

We have a new home for ideas and radical thinking on policy challenges - Options for the UK.

Our first piece asks one of the urgent questions facing governments: how might we better regulate social media for the public good?

Nesta’s Tony Curzon Price argues that our current approach is broken ⤵️

Are politicians underestimating the public on tax reform? 💸

In this ep of the Policy Fix @timleunig.bsky.social & @helenmiller.bsky.social @theifs.bsky.social argue the real barrier is political confidence.

Subscribe & share.

Watch the full episode ➡️ https://bit.ly/46RJkTJ

The window for reform doesn’t stay open forever. ⏳

In this ep of the Policy Fix, economists @timleunig.bsky.social & @helenmiller.bsky.social explore the "fierce urgency" of UK tax reform.

Subscribe and share with someone who needs the inside track on policy. 📈

Watch ➡️ https://bit.ly/46RJkTJ

Does the UK tax system need a total overhaul? 💸

On the latest episode of The Policy Fix podcast, @timleunig.bsky.social & @helenmiller.bsky.social @theifs.bsky.social argue we need a consistent vision.

Watch the full episode to explore what real tax reform looks like. ➡️ https://bit.ly/46RJkTJ

🎉 The Policy Fix is LIVE.

Nesta’s new podcast digs into the UK’s biggest policy problems & how we can fix them.

🎧 Ep 1 out now - how to fix the UK tax system with @timleunig.bsky.social & @theifs.bsky.social @helenmiller.bsky.social

Watch the full ep ➡️ https://bit.ly/46RJkTJ

Our new report estimates that only 1% of total food and drink advertising spend may be affected by the government’s new restrictions, after expected shifts to exempt formats and channels.

We’ve estimated that closing several loopholes could bring ad spend covered up to ~33%.

Read the full report ⤵️

Introducing the Policy Fix - the new podcast from Nesta 🎙️

We're bringing together some of Britain's smartest minds to tackle the biggest problems in policy and how the UK is governed.

👉 Subscribe now to be notified when the first episode goes live: www.youtube.com/@Nesta_UK