TPXimpact launches Market-Shaping Playbook for policymakers

TPXimpact launches open-source playbook to help policymakers improve public service markets

TPXimpact has published the Market-Shaping Playbook for Policymakers, a free, practical guide for central and local government teams. It helps address systemic technology challenges, such as vendor lock-in, poor interoperability and supplier market failure across services including planning, social care and housing management.

The Market-Shaping Playbook has been developed to highlight the important role of national coordinators - in particular, the policy community - in delivering the changes needed to overcome some of local government's biggest challenges.

In the face of Local Government Reorganisation and ever-growing financial and operational pressures across the public sector, there’s a need for more shared language and frameworks to help teams address systemic challenges. The Service Manual and DDaT framework already offer well-established guidance to help teams build great services. However, there isn't support for those trying to modernise whole service ecosystems.

The playbook aims to fill this gap. Market shaping is the design and delivery of interventions that influence how markets develop when commercial incentives alone do not produce socially beneficial outcomes.

The Market-Shaping Playbook outlines a seven-stage framework to help policy teams navigate complexity and:

identify the underlying causes of market failure
understand the conditions needed to correct these failures
design and test targeted interventions
build feedback loops so policy can adapt as services are delivered

The work was led by Linda O’Halloran, Senior Partner at TPXimpact, who has spent the last 15 years leading innovation at the intersection of central and local government. She led the 2018 Local Digital Declaration movement, and various programmes at MCHLG and GDS before joining TPXimpact to develop their market-shaping practice.

Linda O’Halloran, Senior Partner at TPXimpact, said:

“Our hope is to share practical ways to overcome entrenched market failures - technology dictating practice, poor choice of product and service on the market - and create future-ready foundations for tomorrow’s public services.”

The Market-Shaping Playbook for Policymakers is aimed at policy and delivery teams working on improving local service outcomes.

Explore the playbook