Policy Lab

Policy Lab provides an experimental environment for testing and evaluating new ways to make policy. In our ten-year history we have created space for designers.

About

Our mission is to radically improve policy making through design, innovation and people-centred approaches.

We bring multidisciplinary expertise to help teams understand the present, imagine the future and design ways to achieve the policy impact they intend. We were set up in 2014 as part of the Civil Service Reform plan to make policy making more open and continue to work in support of government reform to create A Modern Civil Service.

Our methods are grounded in evidence, participation and experimentation. They draw on diverse perspectives, tackle complexity and build consensus. Our support is best suited to tackling intractable, complex, systemic policy problems that require fresh thinking and can lead to potentially transformative solutions. 

We work at three levels:

  • delivering new policy solutions through inspiring practical projects
  • building the skills and knowledge of the policy profession and wider civil service
  • inspiring new thinking through our writing and experiments

So far, we have partnered with more than 7,000 civil servants on over 200 policy development and innovation projects. We work across central and local government departments and agencies, as well as with organisations outside of government and internationally. We are part of a network of public sector innovators around the world. 

Contact

20 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3B
Email: team@policylab.gov.uk