Ian Mulheirn

About Ian Mulheirn

Ian Mulheirn has been director of the Social Market Foundation since 2008. He is a former economic advisor at HM Treasury where he worked on child poverty, savings & investment, welfare to work and higher education funding. Ian is currently a specialist advisor to the House of Commons work and pensions select committee.

Risks of reform reversal, by Ian Mulheirn

6 May 2011 | Ian Mulheirn

It looks increasingly like the momentum of the coalition’s reform agenda has been lost. With flagship health reforms in the midst of their ‘pause for reflection’, other signs also indicate that the coalition’s blitzkrieg of reform has become bogged-down, possibly to go into reverse. Read more...

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Bank reform: taxpayers still on the hook, by Ian Mulheirn

12 April 2011 | Ian Mulheirn

The long awaited interim report from the Independent Commission on Banking is out. Sir John Vickers and his wise band of commissioners have sought to resolve a key structural problem in the banking system that was one of the causes of the crisis: that the investment arms of universal banks were able to take large risks with money borrowed cheaply on the back of state-backed retail deposits from the likes of you and me. When the roof fell in it was the taxpayer, rather than other creditors of the banks, who took the hit. Read more...

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Public enemies or partners in reform, by Ian Mulheirn

29 March 2011 | Ian Mulheirn

David Cameron ruffled more than a few feathers at the Conservative spring conference in Cardiff in March by identifying civil servants as the ‘enemies of enterprise’. For many politicians, bureaucrat bashing is much easier than banker bashing – after all, civil servants are unlikely to move to Geneva as a result of the political opprobrium heaped upon them. Read more...

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Budget’s negative equity noose for first-time buyers, by Ian Mulheirn

23 March 2011 | Ian Mulheirn

The government plans to encourage 10,000 first time buyers onto the housing ladder through its ‘Firstbuy’ programme, announced in today’s Budget. The plans, which are set ro cost the taxpayer £250m, will give first-time buyers on low incomes access to government equity investments to help them onto the housing ladder. But while it might sound like welcome support for would-be home-owners, the measure is bad news for both buyers and taxpayers. Read more...

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A reoffending revolution? by Ian Mulheirn

3 March 2011 | Ian Mulheirn

The Ministry of Justice wheeled out the big guns – both ministerial and official – at a rehabilitation revolution seminar this morning. The MoJ plans to launch six pilot programmes in which organisations will be paid for reducing the re-offending levels of offenders in their care. Today, external stakeholders were invited to discuss the design of the pilot schemes, the proliferation of commissioning options, and the quagmire of measurement issues. Read more...

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Market flat-earthers should heed the evidence, by Ian Mulheirn

25 February 2011 | Ian Mulheirn

With the white paper on public service reform imminent, many on the Left are using the opportunity to discredit the reform agenda begun by Labour. Market-based reforms face massive challenges if they are to succeed in a period with little public money to provide the necessary conditions. But they are the means to achieving better, cheaper services. The government’s broad agenda is right, and it’s time that the market flat-earthers took another look at the evidence. Read more...

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Nice in theory, by Ian Mulheirn

22 February 2011 | Ian Mulheirn

Paving the way for the public service reform white paper, David Cameron is right to argue that reform should put more power into the hands of the citizen. Making competition the norm, and state monopoly the exception, is the best way to guarantee high-quality and cost-effective public services. The prime minister is also right that the burden of proof should rest with the state to justify why it should operate a monopoly, rather than on the proponents of market forces. But this is the easy part of putting reform into practice. Read more...

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The axe man has been, by Ian Mulheirn

20 October 2010 | Ian Mulheirn

Chancellor George Osborne is hoping that his deficit reduction measures lead to a clean cut. But the difficulties of implementing reform will blunt the blade Read more...

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Welfare reforms won’t save money, by Ian Mulheirn

5 October 2010 | Ian Mulheirn

Iain Duncan Smith’s benefit reform proposals have been given the green light. The government is determined to overhaul the tax credit and benefit system to make it simpler and ultimately cheaper. The plans are still sketchy, but it’s worth considering the likelihood that the new system will save money once it’s up and running. There are at least two reasons why the reforms will save money, but there are four reasons why it will cost more money. Read more...

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The beginning of the end for Child Benefit, by Ian Mulheirn

4 October 2010 | Ian Mulheirn

The Chancellor’s announcement today that Child Benefit will be taken away from families with a higher-rate taxpayer in them is a big step in the right direction. This is an example of a fair cut. Read more...

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