Scrutinise Editorial
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Public ideas
A Statutory NHS Diagnostic Waiting Time Guarantee
DevelopThe Darzi Review (2024) found that diagnostic delays are the primary driver of the NHS treatment backlog. This proposal creates a statutory 28-day diagnostic guarantee for cancer and cardiac pathways, following the model of the existing 18-week treatment standard.
0 Contributions · Mar 2026
A Statutory Framework for Remote and Hybrid Criminal Hearings
DevelopThe Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 enabled remote hearings for some proceedings but left criminal courts without a clear framework. The resulting ad hoc approach creates inconsistency, access issues, and unresolved questions about defendants' rights. This proposal creates the missing statutory framework.
0 Contributions · Mar 2026
Machine-Readable Government Contract Data: Completing the Procurement Act 2023
DevelopThe Procurement Act 2023 created a transparency framework for government contracts but the implementation portal publishes data in formats that cannot be systematically analysed. This proposal mandates machine-readable open data formats, transforming the transparency framework from compliance exercise to accountability tool.
0 Contributions · Mar 2026
Mandatory Pre-Legislative Scrutiny for All Government Bills
DevelopThe Institute for Government has documented that bills subjected to pre-legislative scrutiny produce significantly better legislation with fewer amendments and less litigation. Fewer than 15% of government bills currently receive this scrutiny. This proposal makes it the default.
0 Contributions · Mar 2026
Making ARIA Work: Amending the ARIA Act to Deliver Genuine High-Risk Research Tolerance
DevelopThe Advanced Research and Invention Agency was established in 2022 to fund high-risk, high-reward research outside normal government appraisal frameworks. In practice, Treasury and DSIT oversight requirements have replicated the risk-aversion ARIA was designed to escape. This proposal amends the ARIA Act to create genuine operational independence.
0 Contributions · Mar 2026
A Statutory UK Defence Industrial Mobilisation Reserve
DevelopThe Ukraine war has demonstrated that modern warfare requires sustained industrial production at scale. The UK has no statutory mechanism to maintain a mobilisation baseline for defence production. This proposal creates one, without requiring increased defence spending in peacetime.
0 Contributions · Mar 2026
A Statutory UK Pandemic Preparedness Framework
DevelopThe UK's pre-COVID pandemic preparedness framework proved inadequate in 2020. Post-COVID reforms have been incremental. This proposal creates a statutory framework with mandatory stockpile requirements, rehearsal obligations, and parliamentary oversight.
0 Contributions · Mar 2026
Enforcing the FCA's Competitiveness Duty: A Statutory Accountability Framework
DevelopThe Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 added a secondary competitiveness objective to the FCA and PRA, but without any mechanism for Parliament or industry to hold the regulators to account for how they apply it. This proposal creates that mechanism.
0 Contributions · Mar 2026