Commentary & Podcasts

Despite its medicinal and economic potential, regulatory constraints and outdated political views are hindering the impact of CBD. In this blog, Jake Shepherd, SMF Researcher, discusses the emerging CBD market and what the current regulatory landscape means for hemp farmers, consumers, and the industry as a whole.

Multiply – the Government’s new multi-year adult numeracy programme to be launched in the Autumn – aims to address the UK's maths crisis. In this blog, whilst welcoming the additional funding and commitment to levelling up adult education, Linus Pardoe sets out three challenges that the programme needs to be overcome to make the money count.

Salary transparency is on the move, but it’s multi-faceted and not everyone is convinced of its merits. But the evidence is there to support it and, with any luck, the Government pilot announced on International Women’s Day is just the beginning.

Increasing police numbers can reduce crime rates, and yet - as Richard Hyde points out - it is an aspect of policing that isn’t as prominent as it should be. As crime will likely become more complex, Hyde calls on police and policymakers to invest in increasing police numbers, so that we can not only to stay on top of the current high levels of crime, but also reduce them substantially.

Fraud is now the most common crime in England and Wales, costing the UK economy £137bn each year. In this blog, Richard Hyde, Scott Corfe and Bill Anderson-Samways examine the inadequacy of police resource dedicated to tackling the problem, and call on the Government to take a comprehensive “systems approach” to tackling fraud, enacting reforms that can endure over decades.

Despite the health, social, and environmental benefits of high-quality housing developments, delivering healthy and sustainable homes and neighbourhoods remains a challenging task. In this blog, Dr Caglar Koksal outlines how housing developers and local authorities can work together to create healthy, high-quality homes while also addressing long-standing health and housing inequalities.