Status Critical
Employment status is high stakes. An individual’s employment status determines their rights and protections at work, as well as the requirements employers and engagers can make of their time. Yet identifying whether someone is an employee, ‘worker’ or self-employed is now a major challenge in the UK labour market.
With the Employment Rights Act set to shift the balance of power further towards labour, longstanding questions around employment status are likely to become more important than ever.
Drawing on three focus groups with freelancers, gig economy workers and other self-employed people, Luke Raikes and Morgan Bestwick investigate the specific problems with employment status and set out a roadmap for addressing the most pressing issues facing workers today.
Learning Lessons
13 July 2026
In this report, Joe Dromey and Marcus Johns analyse the drivers of the teacher workforce crisis and the impact that it has on pupils and public finances. The report calls for a teacher recruitment and retention strategy that tackles the drivers of attrition.
Learning Lessons Public Services / Education
Accountability Gap
8 July 2026
Accountability to the UK government dominates all other forms of accountability, consuming local capacity, and creating a chilling effect on local agency. The focus on financial accountability has been too strong, leading to wider considerations like democratic legitimacy and agency being overlooked. In this report, senior researcher Marcus Johns sets out how to create a more balanced system of accountability.
Accountability Gap DevolutionLatest from the Fabian Society
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Local power
13 August 2026
JOE FAGAN: If Scottish Labour is to win again, it needs a project worthy of government
Continue reading Scotland / Communities
House rules
11 August 2026
STEVE SPEAR: Care home residents should be allowed to buy their accommodation to ease pressure on social care
Continue reading Social Care
New foundations
10 August 2026
MICHAEL MARRA: Scottish Labour needs renewal if is to win back Scotland's trust
Continue reading Scotland / Communities
Against the grain
7 August 2026
VITTORIO TREVITT: With far-right populism gaining ground across the globe - Botswana shows that social democracy remains possible
Continue reading International relations / Populism
A new direction
6 August 2026
MONICA LENNON: To reconnect with communities, Scottish Labour must build a movement rooted in democratic socialism
Continue reading Scotland / Communities
Brand new, but retro
5 August 2026
PAUL RICHARDS: Burnham’s plans to decentralise Britain stem from Labour’s deep communitarian roots
Continue reading Communities / DevolutionOur publications
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Building skills
This report examines the workforce and skills crisis facing the sector, with a particular focus on both the construction industry and engineering and building services trades. It sets out key policy recommendations to address the crisis and outlines ...
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Common Endeavour
In this series of essays, Labour MPs from across the ‘broad centre’ of the party set out how Labour can apply its values to the problems we face in the second quarter of the 21st century. The collection centres around four generational challenges: af...
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Uneven ground
In this pamphlet, drawing on British Election Study data, James Prentice examines why Labour has struggled to hold together its 2024 coalition and sets out how a new progressive coalition can be built.
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Pressing Reset
Rejoining the EU is not an immediate prospect. But in an increasingly uncertain world – and with public opinion in favour of greater cooperation – now is the time to revisit our relationship with our European allies. This collection brings together e...
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Care to Share
In this pamphlet, which features a foreword by the former secretary of state for health and social care, Wes Streeting MP, experts and policymakers identify the decisions the government will need to get right to build a National Health Service.
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Housing the future
This report sets out how the next Scottish government should use its powers to deliver a significant increase in housebuilding rates and tackle high housing costs. It analyses the main impacts of the housing emergency, and examines why Scotland hasn’...
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Adopt, innovate, transform
Drawing on survey data and insights from three focus groups, this report examines the challenges civil servants face in shaping the government’s AI agenda. It sets out five priorities to help address these challenges and unlock the full potential of ...
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Anatomy of success
This paper draws on previous lessons from past health service modernisation initiatives. It identifies key decisions the government must get right, if it wants to achieve its health goals over the next decade and deliver world-class care to all.
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Testing Times
The aim of this collection of short essays, edited by Ed Turner, Luke Raikes and Iggy Wood, is to dive into debates about devolution across Europe, often triggered by experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic, to inform the UK as it considers reform in th...
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Beyond numbers
For many years, England has been in the grip of a disastrous housing crisis. Chronically low rates of building have made both renting and buying a home extraordinarily expensive, and millions are suffering as a result.
Quantity, however, is not th...
The people's pools
Published in June 2026, amid record-breaking temperatures, this pamphlet aims to create tangible community assets, strengthen local democracy and “pride in place,” and give Labour a modern equivalent of one of its most iconic historical achievements.
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Nye's lost legacy
Against the backdrop of Sir Charlie Mayfield’s independent investigation into healthy and inclusive work, Sasjkia Otto sets out an ambitious vision for a universal and integrated occupational health system, matched by rights and responsibilities. In ...
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Forward Planning
This report sets out how the government can ensure that owner-occupiers are able to age well in their own home. It identifies the scale of the challenge faced by older owner-occupiers, the barriers to improving housing, and the case for action. The r...
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Standard Issue
The US-Israeli war on Iran has prompted yet another shock to the budgets of British households, with potentially dire consequences for living standards. This is the second such shock in five years; but the cost-of-living crisis has been decades in th...
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Learning Lessons
In this report, Joe Dromey and Marcus Johns analyse the drivers of the teacher workforce crisis and the impact that it has on pupils and public finances. The report calls for a teacher recruitment and retention strategy that tackles the drivers of at...
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