Require all government policy to pass an independent impact assessment before implementation

We require environmental impact assessments before building a car park. We do not require evidence impact assessments before implementing policies that affect millions of lives. This asymmetry is remarkable.

The What Works centres (What Works in Education, the Early Intervention Foundation, etc.) represent good practice, but they are advisory. Government departments can and do ignore them. There is no legal requirement to demonstrate that a proposed policy is likely to achieve its stated aims, or even that it will not make things worse.

Establish a statutory requirement that all major policy proposals undergo an independent evidence review before implementation. Not a veto. An assessment. Published in full. If the evidence suggests the policy will not work, the government can proceed, but it must explain publicly why it is overriding the evidence. This creates accountability without paralysis. The public deserves to know whether a policy is backed by research or by instinct.