How Andy Burnham can bring the UK’s essential services under public control, with Tony Curzon Price

Bringing essential services back under public control is a key part of Andy Burnham’s agenda. But with rising energy bills, struggling water infrastructure and growing frustration with privatised utilities, how can government deliver change without the cost of buying everything back? In this special deep-dive from the Policy Fix podcast, Nesta CEO Ravi Gurumurthy speaks to leading experts about the big decisions facing a new Prime Minister. Together, they test the ideas that could shape Burnham's first 100 days and explore what it would take to turn them into action. In this episode, Ravi Gurumurthy is joined by economist and Nesta policy fellow Tony Curzon Price to explore how a new government can give the public more control over essential services without returning to old models of nationalisation. They discuss why traditional regulation has often failed to deliver better outcomes and how government could take a more active role in shaping markets - from energy and water to digital services. The conversation also explores how better use of data could give people more control online and why creating a stronger public digital infrastructure could help build fairer markets. Listen now to discover the practical steps Andy Burnham could take in his first 100 days to rebuild trust, improve public services and rethink the role of government. Liked the episode? Rate, review, subscribe - and share with your network. We are a UK charity and our work is enabled by a financial endowment. Nesta is a registered charity in England and Wales 1144091 and Scotland SC042833. To find out more or connect with us, check out our website and socials: Website: nesta.org.uk Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/nestauk.bsky.social Facebook:facebook.com/nesta.uk Instagram: instagram.com/nesta_uk/hl=en LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/nesta