• Ever thought, “why don’t they just fix it?” Then this is the place for you. Until 12 November the public can submit suggestions to www.small-ideas.org for practical, low cost, non-controversial ways to improve the UK. Health, schools, transport, business, housing, policing, justice, tech, shopping, money – or something else entirely.
  
• The Initiative, founded by MoneySavingExpert Martin Lewis, and run by innovation charity Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence and public participation charity Involve, will take the public’s ideas for everyday fixes and turn them into professional policy.
  
• A cross-party panel of politicians and policy experts: Jonathan Bartley, Mayor Tracy Brabin, Dame Tamara Finkelstein, Danny Kruger MP, Polly Mackenzie, Dame Penny Mordaunt, Emma Roddick MSP, Kwajo Tweneboa, and chaired by Martin Lewis CBE will then choose the final ideas to take to government, councils and regulators - with the goal of getting them turned into action.

“It’s time politics stopped ignoring the small stuff that can make lives better!” - Martin Lewis

The new Small Ideas Initiative today asks the UK public to start sending in suggestions via www.small-ideas.org that could make people’s lives easier or better as part of a year-long experimental project to iron out some of the wrinkles in society.

The Initiative aims to bypass the structural and often partisan issues that typically occupy politicians, instead providing a unique focus on the smaller fixes across a huge range of areas that could quickly improve daily life.

An example that inspired Martin Lewis to set this up:

Hundreds of thousands of people with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or severe strokes are eligible for a hugely underpublicised council tax reduction, under the Severe Mental Impairment (SMI) rules. Yet often councils have their own application forms and bespoke process, including on how and when to involve doctors. This sows confusion, and makes charity guidance to vulnerable people harder, leaving too many who need the discount without it. After Martin and his team’s campaigning, first Wales and now England committed to having only one form and one system. A small change with real impact.

That was one of the sparks that triggered Martin to fund this experiment to see if it is possible to acquire small-fix ideas far wider than just his speciality area. It may be:

• making real-time sewage alerts visible at all beaches
• introducing standardised allergy displays on menus
• ensuring parking meters allow people to clock out, so they pay only for the time they use rather than guessing in advance

The Initiative will consider ideas submitted before the deadline of 12 November 2026. They may be submitted by all members of the public, plus charities and organisations that represent those who can’t represent themselves.

What type of ideas WILL make the cut?

• Practical – a solution, not just a complaint
• Do-able – it must be something that could realistically change
• Relatively inexpensive – if it costs too much, government, regulators, or councils won’t do it
• Decent impact – whether it could help millions of people a little, or thousands of people a lot
• And crucially… hard to disagree with – the kind of thing that 80% of people, whatever their politics, would say “yeah, that makes sense”

What ideas we’ll have to say NO to:

• Too local – a drinking water fountain in your local park won’t cut it (a water fountain in every park may do)
• Overly political – no party lines, and no dog whistles
• Illegal – breaks the law, criminal or otherwise
• Harmful – nothing that harms people or animals

What happens once the ideas are in?

Following the initial crowdsourcing phase,the team at Nesta will first filter the submissions to ensure they fit the criteria above. Then Involve will convene academics, specialists and policy experts to check the practicality and feasibility of the ideas - turning them into professional policy proposals.

A longlist of ideas will be published and the public will be able to give their own feedback on the ideas.

Finally, the cross-party panel will review the ideas and the feedback to select a final list of around 50 do-able proposals and ensure they have appeal across the political spectrum. We will then take this manifesto of small ideas to decision-makers and campaign for their implementation.

Martin Lewis, Founder & Chair of the Small Ideas Initiative, says: “A year ago, in a fringe event POLITICO asked what I would have advised the government when it got into office. I said, alongside the big stuff, it should’ve found 100 small things that piss people off and fixed them, in a way that people can see they’re fixed. I then listed a raft of these glitches. As I left, I emailed myself ‘Set up an institute for Small Ideas’.”

“Today, after a lot of thought, work, connecting with the charities and bringing people together from across the political divide, delightfully it is beginning.”

“Every day people daily run into the life-potholes of unintended consequences, clunky systems and poor rules that make things harder than they should be. If we can fix some of those frustration points, we can make people’s lives easier, save time and help everyone get on with work or the things they enjoy. The possible combined effect, and feel-good factor, of the fixes combined shouldn’t be underestimated.”

“Yet this won’t work just by policy wonks in digital towers brainstorming. I’ve learned in my day job that if you want to know what’s really going wrong, ask the people living it. The initiative is set up to capture and capitalise on that collective intelligence then shape those ideas in the way the existing system needs, so they can be more easily put into practice. It’s exciting.”

Note: The original speech via POLITICO can be watched here.

Kathy Peach, Director of the Centre for Collective Intelligence at Nesta, said: “The government is understandably busy grappling with big structural questions, but that shouldn't stop us from getting smaller, straightforward things done. Until now, there hasn’t been a good way to find ideas from communities around the UK and make sure they get a fair hearing, or get them into our statute books and regulations. The Initiative for Small Ideas is designed to change that, acting as the bridge between the public’s practical solutions and political action.”

Sue Tibballs, CEO of Involve, said: "Years of bringing people into decision-making have shown us that the public are brilliant at understanding problems and finding solutions. Those on the receiving end of policy and services know best where things aren't working, and they're often the first to spot how to fix them. The Small Ideas Initiative is an exciting democratic innovation that gives everyday experience and common sense a real route to power, helping to find ways to make life better for us all."

The panel that will help to consider the proposals includes:

• Jonathan Bartley, Councillor and former Co-Leader (Green Party)
• Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire (Labour)
• Tamara Finkelstein, Chief Executive of Royal Academy of Engineering (former permanent secretary)
• Danny Kruger MP (Reform)
• Polly Mackenzie, former Director of Policy (Liberal Democrats)
• Penny Mordaunt, former Leader of the House of Commons (Conservative)
• Emma Roddick MSP (SNP)
• Kwajo Tweneboa, social housing campaigner

Notes to editors

1. Martin Lewis worked with Polly Mackenzie on coming up with the initial scope that was put out to tender with a range of charities. He is the sole funder of the Initiative, and it has been set up with a £175,000 personal donation to the two organising charities: Nesta's Centre for Collective Intelligence and Involve. Due to this structure, it will be a charity-run initiative (but is not a charity in its own right). Martin Lewis has made the donation in a personal capacity, so the Initiative has no formal connection to MoneySavingExpert nor Martin’s Money & Mental Health Policy Institute charity.
   
2. For enquiries and fact checks about the Small Ideas Initiative, please contact [email protected]. For interview requests with Martin Lewis or others please contact his MSE office via [email protected]

About Martin Lewis
Martin Lewis CBE is a campaigning journalist, founder and Chair of both MoneySavingExpert.com and the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute charity. He has his own prime time ITV ‘The Martin Lewis Money Show’ and BBC “The Martin Lewis Podcast” plus many millions of social-media followers.

He has led campaigns securing financial education in schools, helping consumers reclaim billions in mis-sold PPI and unfair bank charges, and driving major policy changes on energy, council tax, mortgages and scams. In 2026 he was presented with the 2026 BAFTA Television Special Award.

About Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence

Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence are award-winning experts in public engagement. They design digital platforms and innovative approaches that help institutions build trust and collaborate with citizens on the issues that matter. Find out more at https://www.nesta.org.uk/centre-for-collective-intelligence/

About Involve

Involve is the UK’s leading public participation charity. We develop, support and campaign for new ways to involve people in decisions that affect their lives. Since 2003, we have been working with governments, parliaments, civil society, academics and the public to create and deliver new forms of public participation that re-vitalise democracy and improve decision making. More information at https://www.involve.org.uk/