The Moment for Real Reform: Why the UK Must Act Now
Intergenerational fairness and long-term thinking are the keys to fiscal responsibility, public trust, and national security
There is growing recognition of the urgent need to respond to long-term trends on UK society and government - including demography, defence, decarbonisation, debt and digitalisation - and to better understand the choices and prospects facing future generations. Addressing these challenges requires new approaches that move beyond the short-termism of current political cycles and rebuild public trust, ensuring that proposed changes match the scale of the issues we face.
Why it matters - an existential threat to democracy
Britain is approaching a democratic breaking point. Short-termism is no longer just frustrating — it is becoming an existential threat. In its 2024 report, the Parliamentary Liaison Committee warned that the inability of government to think and act for the long-term risks undermining democracy itself.
Citizens feel it too. Trust in politics is at historic lows, especially among younger generations who see government as incapable of addressing their futures. At the same time, the UK faces intensifying pressures: climate and biodiversity crises, disruptive technologies, demographic change, economic constraints, and the resurgence of authoritarian states.
Traditional policy debates feel outdated, offering only sticking plasters for issues like the cost-of-living crisis, housing, or AI risks. Proposed responses - from lowering the voting age to investing 5% GDP in security - themselves pose significant risks. Without systemic reform, citizens will look outside mainstream parties for solutions, further weakening democratic legitimacy.
Why now - the stars are aligned
For the first time in decades, the stars are aligned. Three constituencies that rarely converge are showing serious interest in reform:
No.10 and the Cabinet Office. Under the strapline “Securing our Future”, both the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office have publicly acknowledged the broken social contract. There is growing appetite for a settlement that strengthens the relationship between citizens and the state.
Parliament. MPs and peers across parties are voicing frustration at short-termism. While their interests range from mental health, youth opportunities, and children’s wellbeing, to resilience, national security, housing, economic growth, environment and democratic renewal, many have independently reached the same conclusion: the system needs structural reform to address short-termism.
The Senior Civil Service. Sponsored by the Head of the Civil Service, the Heywood Fellowship is actively designing a new National Strategy Framework. Proposals include 5-year planning cycles with 15-20 year horizons, linked to fiscal planning public dialogues on future trade-offs, intergenerational impact assessments, and stronger institutional mechanisms for foresight.
These conversations remain fragmented, operating with different frameworks and language. But the recognition of the problem is shared — and that opens the door to systemic solutions.
What’s at stake - a Grand Bargain
The alternative to disruptive breakdown is negotiated reform from within. What is needed is a Grand Bargain — a new settlement between citizens and government, and across Parliament itself.
This could involve:
A coherent, intergenerational National Strategy across security and domestic policy, focusing on housing, jobs, pensions, families, and the environment.
Institutional commitment to embed long-term thinking: through processes, legislation, and reforms that strengthen Parliament’s oversight and the executive’s capacity for foresight.
Mechanisms such as a Parliamentary Committee for the Future (as in Finland), intergenerational budgets, future generations legislation, or regular long-term insights briefings.
This agenda does not demand a large chequebook. What it requires is coherent mobilisation of our existing hard and soft power - to provide security and agency for families, to plan for coming transitions, and to secure the future for today’s children and generations to come.
Lessons from abroad
Other countries demonstrate that this is achievable:
Since 1993, Finland’s Committee for the Future supports all parliamentary committees in considering long-term issues and scrutinises the government around its long-term planning, while also engaging directly with citizens.
New Zealand’s Wellbeing Budget links fiscal planning to intergenerational priorities, shifting spending toward child poverty and mental health.
Canada’s “Fairness for Every Generation” federal budget in 2024, pledging landmark measures—from a $10-a-day child-care scheme to renters’ rights reforms and housing incentives—all explicitly framed as a commitment to intergenerational equity.
España 2050, a foresight-driven strategy sets out nine long-term challenges for Spain - from climate to demographics - and over 200 policy measures, all grounded in extensive data and scientific research.
Since the 1980s, Singapore has steadily built whole-of-government foresight capacity, institutionalised in the Prime Minister’s Office, building resilience and preparedness with positive impacts around covid recovery, financial crises and food security.
Each example shows that making effective decisions today for tomorrow is both practical and politically possible. And the recent UN Declaration on Future Generations, signed by all countries last September, shows that looking out for current and future generations is a growing concern.
The opportunity - acting boldly now
The UK’s political system is at a rare inflection point. These issues have been raised for years — in reports dating back to 2007 — but scale, complexity, and lack of ownership have stalled progress. Delay now risks leaving the system vulnerable to populist forces that could impose chaotic reforms from outside.
The Heywood Fellowship is the first civil service-led attempt in recent history to develop whole-of-government proposals for national strategy. Its scope spans Treasury, foreign and domestic policy, local government, public services, and business. October 2025, when its proposals will be published, offers a natural milestone.
But momentum must be built before then. Civil society, think tanks, academics, youth groups and businesses have been preparing for this agenda, developing models to reconnect citizens, strengthen institutions, and rebuild trust. A vibrant ecosystem is ready. The question is whether government and Parliament will join them. Can we transform recognition of the problem into reforms bold enough for the moment?
What must happen now
The next twelve months may be our only chance to act before external shocks force reform in harsher ways. To seize the moment, policymakers should:
Embed intergenerational fairness at the heart of policymaking. Every stage of the policy cycle — design, implementation, and evaluation — should assess impacts across generations alive today and in the future. This principle would ensure that no single generation bears unfair costs or enjoys disproportionate benefits. Whether through dedicated Future Gens legislation, as seen in other countries, or by mainstreaming the practice across government, the core commitment must be to make intergenerational fairness a routine test of policy.
Pilot and champion institutional reforms. Adopt and activate the reforms recommended by the Heywood Fellowship — from Parliamentary Committee for the Future to twenty-year planning cycles, long-term budgeting and fiscal planning measures. These mechanisms should be piloted, funded, and tested as concrete steps to build strategic capacity.
Empower local solutions and join them up nationally. Many of the answers to long-term challenges lie in local initiatives: integrating solutions to energy and housing, with health and social care responses, and creating sustainable local jobs. National reform must equip local authorities and communities with the tools to innovate, share, and connect these solutions into a broader framework.
Build a cross-party, intergenerational coalition. Urgently weave together a small but influential group of parliamentary champions — across parties and across generations — to lead this agenda and build awareness among informal cross-party parliamentary groups and party conference conversations. They should connect with the vibrant ecosystem already mobilised outside Parliament: academics, businesses, civil society, local authorities, youth groups, and community leaders. Together, they can foster public dialogue on long-term trade-offs, amplify local solutions, rebuild legitimacy, and show that governing for the future is a genuinely shared national endeavour.
Conclusion
We have the urgency. We have the ambition. And, for the first time in a generation, we have the opportunity.
The central question is whether Westminster will seize it — or whether, once again, we let the moment slip away.
To get involved, please contact Cat@soif.org.uk, with thanks to Sir Bernard Jenkian, Lord George Robertson and Lucy Smith