Abstract
This paper reflects on the course of evidence based policy making (EBPM) in the United Kingdom over the last ten years: from the New Labour Government through the Coalition Government to the post 2015 Conservative Governments. A central focus is how the politics of austerity have shaped EBPM. Hayek’s theory of spontaneous ordering is introduced to examine whether EBPM since 2010 has taken a distinct course linked to the wider statecraft of austerity politics, the reduction in the role of the state and the preferencing of market based solutions. The paper finds the state or a ‘made order’ of EBPM to be resilient but under threat not just from austerity but also the rise of post-truth politics.
Highlights
This paper reflects on the course of evidence based policy making (EBPM) in the United Kingdom over the last ten years and in particular the direction it has taken since it was championed by New Labour from 1997-2010
This paper has found that EBPM has taken a series of new turns since 2010
These include phenomena such as local experimentation, attention given to early intervention and prevention, the search for 'cashable savings' and the rollout of What Works Centres in seven policy areas
Summary
This paper reflects on the course of evidence based policy making (EBPM) in the United Kingdom over the last ten years and in particular the direction it has taken since it was championed by New Labour from 1997-2010. These two quotes were used in my 2007 paper on New Labour and Evidence Based Policy Making (Wells, 2007).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
