Ben Unsworth
@benunsworth.co.uk
User centred design in government. parkrun tourist A4418. Director of Digital and Tech for Kingston and Sutton councils.
Reposted by Ben Unsworth
NEW - we've data showing huge numbers of people reducing their income to avoid high marginal income tax rates. Not just at the £100k point (as previously reported). But at the £50k point:
November 14, 2025 at 12:47 PM
NEW - we've data showing huge numbers of people reducing their income to avoid high marginal income tax rates. Not just at the £100k point (as previously reported). But at the £50k point:
Chat in my very middle class WhatsApp group is mostly about the potential changes to cyclescheme. 50% of my close friends use it mostly as a way to reduce taxable income to stay the right side of child benefit or tax free childcare thresholds.
They would increase SIPP contribs instead.
They would increase SIPP contribs instead.
November 13, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Chat in my very middle class WhatsApp group is mostly about the potential changes to cyclescheme. 50% of my close friends use it mostly as a way to reduce taxable income to stay the right side of child benefit or tax free childcare thresholds.
They would increase SIPP contribs instead.
They would increase SIPP contribs instead.
Blowing people’s minds with my flying machine at Bristol’s science museum yesterday.
November 9, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Blowing people’s minds with my flying machine at Bristol’s science museum yesterday.
Some super jobs going at Skateboard GB skateboardgb.org/careers-jobs/
Careers / Jobs | Skateboard GB
skateboardgb.org
November 7, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Some super jobs going at Skateboard GB skateboardgb.org/careers-jobs/
✍️ weeknote benunsworth.co.uk/2025/11/07/w...
Featuring Jevons paradox and Baumol's cost disease, along with links to things I emailed myself this week.
Featuring Jevons paradox and Baumol's cost disease, along with links to things I emailed myself this week.
Weeknotes 2nd to 7th November · Ben Unsworth
benunsworth.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 7:25 PM
✍️ weeknote benunsworth.co.uk/2025/11/07/w...
Featuring Jevons paradox and Baumol's cost disease, along with links to things I emailed myself this week.
Featuring Jevons paradox and Baumol's cost disease, along with links to things I emailed myself this week.
My favourite sign in the building! Thinking of getting a Tech Support (not public health) equivalent made for my support team 😀
November 3, 2025 at 1:23 PM
My favourite sign in the building! Thinking of getting a Tech Support (not public health) equivalent made for my support team 😀
The boy’s beetlejuice costume has gone down well this year 👻 🎃
October 31, 2025 at 6:53 PM
The boy’s beetlejuice costume has gone down well this year 👻 🎃
Cognitive polyphasia. One of my *favourite* things about opinion research.
The fundamental problem:
58% of voters want public spending maintained or increased.
67% want taxes to stay at their current level or be cut.
In reality, it’s a binary choice. Taxes go up, or spending is cut. That’s it.
58% of voters want public spending maintained or increased.
67% want taxes to stay at their current level or be cut.
In reality, it’s a binary choice. Taxes go up, or spending is cut. That’s it.
October 31, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Cognitive polyphasia. One of my *favourite* things about opinion research.
Reposted by Ben Unsworth
It's a lovely sunny day!
If you're out for a walk, please take some photos of memorial benches and add them to openbenches.org
We're *very* close to thirty-nine *thousand* benches mapped 😃
If you're out for a walk, please take some photos of memorial benches and add them to openbenches.org
We're *very* close to thirty-nine *thousand* benches mapped 😃
October 26, 2025 at 9:05 AM
It's a lovely sunny day!
If you're out for a walk, please take some photos of memorial benches and add them to openbenches.org
We're *very* close to thirty-nine *thousand* benches mapped 😃
If you're out for a walk, please take some photos of memorial benches and add them to openbenches.org
We're *very* close to thirty-nine *thousand* benches mapped 😃
Three quotes to replace lead flashing on a flat roof:
1 - £2500
2 - £800
3 - £475
First two quotes were check a trade, third was via recommendation on the village WhatsApp. The first one quoted in person - when I asked if he was serious, he said lead was expensive… (I know the £ of code 4 lead)
1 - £2500
2 - £800
3 - £475
First two quotes were check a trade, third was via recommendation on the village WhatsApp. The first one quoted in person - when I asked if he was serious, he said lead was expensive… (I know the £ of code 4 lead)
October 25, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Three quotes to replace lead flashing on a flat roof:
1 - £2500
2 - £800
3 - £475
First two quotes were check a trade, third was via recommendation on the village WhatsApp. The first one quoted in person - when I asked if he was serious, he said lead was expensive… (I know the £ of code 4 lead)
1 - £2500
2 - £800
3 - £475
First two quotes were check a trade, third was via recommendation on the village WhatsApp. The first one quoted in person - when I asked if he was serious, he said lead was expensive… (I know the £ of code 4 lead)
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... hadn’t appreciated how much folks in the Uk hold in cash. Interesting to see Martin Lewis talk about culture change - quick look at his website’s content on holding stocks and shares and the tone is very ‘risk your money goes to zero’
Cutting cash Isa limit will not boost stock market, MPs warn Rachel Reeves
Treasury committee says move in November budget could push up mortgage rates instead
www.theguardian.com
October 25, 2025 at 9:12 AM
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... hadn’t appreciated how much folks in the Uk hold in cash. Interesting to see Martin Lewis talk about culture change - quick look at his website’s content on holding stocks and shares and the tone is very ‘risk your money goes to zero’
We built a digital peer-to-peer book sharing service about 10 years ago. These odd attitudes towards books as sacred objects were surprisingly common.
One of the posts that got me flamed back in the old place was when I said I didn’t fetishise books as objects and wasn’t bothered if their owners wanted to rip them in half to make their baggage lighter or chuck them in the recycling once they’ve read them or whatever. Some people went ballistic
The veneration of Books As Objects misses the point entirely. If you're reading a book, turn the corners down, break the spine, spill soup on it. It's your book, go nuts. A pristine, unread book is a tragedy in a way that a beloved, much-read book that looks like the dog's been at it could never be.
October 14, 2025 at 9:57 AM
We built a digital peer-to-peer book sharing service about 10 years ago. These odd attitudes towards books as sacred objects were surprisingly common.
Slowly getting back to being able to move some weight around. Have taken it very slowly, worked on ankle mobility and squat is now above 100kg and to a decent depth.
October 11, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Slowly getting back to being able to move some weight around. Have taken it very slowly, worked on ankle mobility and squat is now above 100kg and to a decent depth.
Stares at the remains of the bowl of couscous, two hot dog sausages, carrot and Peppa Pig fromage frais he just ate for ‘dinner’.
feel like if you had a super long work day and you get home feeling exhausted but still make the healthy meal you had planned for dinner instead of just eating some slop then there should be a procession in your honour in your neighbourhood, and the mayor should give you the keys to the city
October 9, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Stares at the remains of the bowl of couscous, two hot dog sausages, carrot and Peppa Pig fromage frais he just ate for ‘dinner’.
Got me a job at a startup and helped me build a network of gov internet nerds that helped build my career. Led to some lovely IRL friendships too.
The other lovely thing is that I left the networks I didn’t like (Facebook and Twitter).
The other lovely thing is that I left the networks I didn’t like (Facebook and Twitter).
Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?
October 9, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Got me a job at a startup and helped me build a network of gov internet nerds that helped build my career. Led to some lovely IRL friendships too.
The other lovely thing is that I left the networks I didn’t like (Facebook and Twitter).
The other lovely thing is that I left the networks I didn’t like (Facebook and Twitter).
Reposted by Ben Unsworth
One thing that's interesting interacting with big banks is that they essentially replicate 100% of the logic and qualities of public sector bureaucracy (the need to taxonomise, sharply demarcated silos/domains of competence, complete inability to tailor, diffusion of moral agency, etc.) 1//n
October 8, 2025 at 4:10 PM
One thing that's interesting interacting with big banks is that they essentially replicate 100% of the logic and qualities of public sector bureaucracy (the need to taxonomise, sharply demarcated silos/domains of competence, complete inability to tailor, diffusion of moral agency, etc.) 1//n
Seeing LinkedIn posts where people are using their professional social network to complain (or have a dig at) their local council… then get annoyed that the council isn’t picking up the issue and treating it as a complaint.
LinkedIn as a public service channel isn’t something I expected.
LinkedIn as a public service channel isn’t something I expected.
October 2, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Seeing LinkedIn posts where people are using their professional social network to complain (or have a dig at) their local council… then get annoyed that the council isn’t picking up the issue and treating it as a complaint.
LinkedIn as a public service channel isn’t something I expected.
LinkedIn as a public service channel isn’t something I expected.
We really don’t need to know who you are to report a pothole, we just need to know where the hole is 👍 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Public backs ‘super ID card’ which could be used to report potholes
Ministers have recently said they are considering introducing a form of digital ID for adults in Britain
www.independent.co.uk
September 25, 2025 at 8:51 AM
We really don’t need to know who you are to report a pothole, we just need to know where the hole is 👍 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
And suddenly, my kids also love a band that I like. Excellent cover of Golden from K-Pop Demon Hunters youtu.be/3JQXT-ETQVY?...
Biffy Clyro - Golden (KPop Demon Hunters cover) in the Live Lounge
YouTube video by BBC Radio 1
youtu.be
September 24, 2025 at 8:07 PM
And suddenly, my kids also love a band that I like. Excellent cover of Golden from K-Pop Demon Hunters youtu.be/3JQXT-ETQVY?...
Eventful weekend at the Cookham Dean gravity race. Held off posting until we knew everyone was out of hospital and ok.
Started well. Had an early run number and dry weather window. Hoped to improve on last years 3rd place. (The child was not driving in the race!)
Started well. Had an early run number and dry weather window. Hoped to improve on last years 3rd place. (The child was not driving in the race!)
September 15, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Eventful weekend at the Cookham Dean gravity race. Held off posting until we knew everyone was out of hospital and ok.
Started well. Had an early run number and dry weather window. Hoped to improve on last years 3rd place. (The child was not driving in the race!)
Started well. Had an early run number and dry weather window. Hoped to improve on last years 3rd place. (The child was not driving in the race!)
Two excellent approaches on LinkedIn, for ‘people like me’.
Wealth management… lol… 80% of my career is in the public sector.
Tailor made suit jackets. Do you do denim?
Wealth management… lol… 80% of my career is in the public sector.
Tailor made suit jackets. Do you do denim?
September 15, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Two excellent approaches on LinkedIn, for ‘people like me’.
Wealth management… lol… 80% of my career is in the public sector.
Tailor made suit jackets. Do you do denim?
Wealth management… lol… 80% of my career is in the public sector.
Tailor made suit jackets. Do you do denim?
This was me. Had to get new school uniform, shoes and trainers for all three children.
UK retail sales up a higher-than-expected 0.6% in July reut.rs/4g9uwTT
UK retail sales up a higher-than-expected 0.6% in July
British retail sales volumes rose by a higher-than-expected 0.6% in July, leaving them up 1.1% on the year, official figures showed on Friday.
reut.rs
September 5, 2025 at 7:22 AM
This was me. Had to get new school uniform, shoes and trainers for all three children.
Absolute scenes in the school WhatsApp group after the PE schedule has been released - clearly stating Y3 need to come to school in kit on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Kids go back this Friday. Parents in WhatsApp “so do they wear PE kit this week?”
Kids go back this Friday. Parents in WhatsApp “so do they wear PE kit this week?”
September 2, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Absolute scenes in the school WhatsApp group after the PE schedule has been released - clearly stating Y3 need to come to school in kit on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Kids go back this Friday. Parents in WhatsApp “so do they wear PE kit this week?”
Kids go back this Friday. Parents in WhatsApp “so do they wear PE kit this week?”
Having had bikes stolen, I’d add a bit more to this guardian article on bike locks www.theguardian.com/thefilter/20...
Less than gold rated lock will be no barrier to thieves in London. Even then, if your bike is worth £1k+ it won’t stop them - spend £250+ on the angle grinder resistant one.
Less than gold rated lock will be no barrier to thieves in London. Even then, if your bike is worth £1k+ it won’t stop them - spend £250+ on the angle grinder resistant one.
The best bike locks in the UK for all budgets, unpicked by experts
From coveted Kryptonite locks to lightweight and combination designs, these are the bike locks our experts swear by – as well as tips for keeping your bike safe
www.theguardian.com
August 30, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Having had bikes stolen, I’d add a bit more to this guardian article on bike locks www.theguardian.com/thefilter/20...
Less than gold rated lock will be no barrier to thieves in London. Even then, if your bike is worth £1k+ it won’t stop them - spend £250+ on the angle grinder resistant one.
Less than gold rated lock will be no barrier to thieves in London. Even then, if your bike is worth £1k+ it won’t stop them - spend £250+ on the angle grinder resistant one.
Fun afternoon skating with the kids. The boy has gone from awkward to steezy in the blink of an eye.
August 24, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Fun afternoon skating with the kids. The boy has gone from awkward to steezy in the blink of an eye.