Dani Payne

The gambling industry is a licence to print money. Tax it properly – and turbocharge the fight against child poverty | Gordon Brown New thinking is urgent now. I have not seen such deep poverty since I grew up in a mining and textiles town blighted by unemployment, says former prime minister Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown has called for taxes on the gambling industry (citing recent Social Market Foundation @smfthinktank.bsky.social research on gambling taxes) to raise funds to allow the government to tackle child poverty -

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Glad to hear that we have another Taylor Swift fan joining the team!

Leave to achieve - Smart Thinking This report from UK think tank the Social Market Foundation explores how universities can contribute to social mobility in their regions.

🥇Particular congrats go to @danihpayne.bsky.social @smfthinktank.bsky.social for the number 1 report 'Leave to achieve' - read it again here:

bit.ly/44sJsH3

#mostread #thinktanks

Brilliant to see my recent report on how universities can contribute to local social mobility top the @smartthinking.bsky.social leaderboard for most read think tank report in June - & great to see @smfthinktank.bsky.social take first place for most searched think tank! www.smf.co.uk/publications...

Open call for research participants - looking to interview those working in the digital or financial space in universities, and/or those will experience/knowledge of digital transformation in the public and private sector. Get in touch if this is you, & please share! @smfthinktank.bsky.social

I worry that the debate on social media/smart phones & young people’s mental health is becoming about who can shout the loudest, rather than the evidence. The research is much more mixed, often showing small or no impact, than some would have you think. t.co/kbwXwneY8N

In my latest podcast episode, @danihpayne.bsky.social from the @smfthinktank.bsky.social highlighted how little attention the higher education sector received in the Spending Review and also discussed why this matters.

Listen to the full episode here: insideyoured.com

If you need something to listen to on your morning commute…

Had a brilliant time chatting with Katie and Tom about the Spending Review.

What was announced for HE (spoiler: not much 🥲)? What might the post-16 white paper bring for the sector? And what is on my DfE policy wish-list? 🎁💵

Read 2 books on class recently… in 1 they talk about north vs south, but actually use stats comparing the north as a whole with just London. In another, they explicitly say ‘oh this book is about class in Britain, but we don’t cover the south west here’. I appreciate the honesty but still 😂

I’m glad you like it! Thanks Duncan!

How universities can contribute to social mobility in their regions It's time to take social mobility seriously. Here's how Universities can lead the way in doing so and give every child the chance to succeed.

www.smf.co.uk/publications... oops!

How universities can contribute to social mobility in their regions It's time to take social mobility seriously. Here's how Universities can lead the way in doing so and give every child the chance to succeed.

You can read @smfthinktank.bsky.social new report, Leave to Achieve?, which aims to start a conversation around a new way of thinking about and talking about universities contribution to social mobility in their regions here: www.smf.co.uk/publications...

Thanks to @nicolawoolcock.bsky.social for the coverage of our new report in @thetimes.com today. Regional disparities in access to HE are significant: a place-based approach to widening access, one that encourages & facilitates collaboration within regions, is needed to help close these gaps.

Navigating anti-science policies in environmental public health Nature Human Behaviour - Qian Di talks about what it was like doing public health research as a Chinese scientist in the USA during the first Trump administration. His experiences foreshadow...

As a Chinese international student during the first Trump administration, Qian Di was accused of research misconduct for his work on air quality, and eventually chose to return to China.

In this piece he reflects on his experiences, and the continued impacts of hostile US policies.

rdcu.be/epAMd

Interesting choice for UUK to draw a direct comparison between HE vs. school & college funding. Is the claim really that colleges have been lavished with funding compared to HE?

"The university system is being repeatedly deprioritised in favour of investment in schools and colleges." (1/2)

Chart shows the effects of Sure Start on academic achievements by age, SEN support by age, probability of hospitalisation by age and criminal behaviour up to age 16.

NEW: Sure Start generated widespread, long-lasting benefits for children in education, health, absences, and SEND.

Every £1 of up-front spending on Sure Start could generate around £2 in total benefits over the long run.

THREAD on our new ‪@nuffieldfoundation.org‬-funded report:

[1/11]

On universities the white paper only reduces the graduate visa from two years to 18 months (which is a win for the DfE).

The bigger thing universities will be worrying about is this little timebomb.

📢 Our latest report, A Workforce Fit for the Future, explores jobs & skills policy in Scotland – and how smart reforms could give the country a much-needed economic boost.
🧵 on new work from @jamiegollings.bsky.social & John Asthana Gibson, in collaboration with Our Scottish Future.

School fees leave families on £100k ‘with less than minimum wage’ The analysts behind the calculation say professionals like doctors and lawyers are being priced out

If I exclude from my income all my expenses I'm earning less than the minimum wage. This is a disgrace. I blame the government.

www.thetimes.com/uk/education...

✨Happy equinox✨

We've published some really great opinion pieces so far this month at Nature Human Behaviour! Like these, on:

- DEI across cultures
- AI in academia
- climate resilience & archaeology
- credit in scientific publishing
- social media & prosocial behaviour
- US science!

Links below

@beckyfrancis.bsky.social’s interim report is cautious and sensible but clear about where change is needed. Pleased to see @smfthinktank.bsky.social recommendations to reduce the volume of KS4 assessment being considered by the Review - this is vital to tackle rote learning and improve wellbeing

New house, new views (and new friends 🐑)

Department for Education. Effectiveness of school mental health awareness interventions Universal approaches in English secondary schools February 2025

Important new evidence published today: large-scale DofE trial (N=12,166) found that two universal MH awareness interventions, in secondary schools, led to an *increase* in emotional symptoms at long term (9-12 month) follow up

tinyurl.com/4ffday8y

Thread below

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3) On the OfS point - because their financial data is so lagged, sometimes the first sign the regulator has of a provider in trouble is the bank calling saying they are at risk of a breach in covenant. Doesn't seem ideal to me.

2) Boards are getting worried. They read the same newspaper headlines we do and are increasingly questioning why their banks are continuing to loan such large amounts to a sector which seems financially insecure.

1) UK banks are still working on the assumption that there is an implicit guarantee from gov to bail out HEIs, but we don't actually know if they would. If one was allowed to fail, the knock-on impact on lending across the sector could push multiple institutions over.

We are living through the legacy of unrestrained borrowing How did it come to pass that universities in England could borrow money without restrictions? David Kernohan traces the history of a decision that has shaped the sector

Really interesting piece on the explosion of borrowing in HE by @dkernohan.bsky.social.

A few thoughts on how precarious the current situation is:

wonkhe.com/blogs/we-are...

Brexit has pushed British scientists into the arms of China In this blog, SMF Senior Researcher Dani Payne explores the impact of Brexit on UK research sector's global competitiveness.

How has Brexit affected HE & research sector?

👨‍🎓fall in income from EU students
📝 UK’s international standing for research at risk
🗺️ harder to attract & retain the best academics in global “War For Talents”

👇SMF’s education lead @danihpayne.bsky.social explores www.smf.co.uk/commentary_p...

Brexit has pushed British scientists into the arms of China In this blog, SMF Senior Researcher Dani Payne explores the impact of Brexit on UK research sector's global competitiveness.

Brexit made it harder for UK scientists to collaborate with EU colleagues. Our international standing is at risk as a result.

As part of its Brexit Reset, government should invest in UK-EU science infrastructure & joint projects in climate science & AI 🔬🧬🧪 www.smf.co.uk/commentary_p...

To be fair to said residents (as a big fan of the Ox-Cam corridor), this is what they’ve been living with, but no one really cared about these tiny rural villages until a thinktank said they’d be great to build on