Although it has recently moved the ‘Nudge unit’ (Behavioural Insights Team) from public to part-private ownership, the UK government is by no means ditching behavioural science. Just have a look at the letter below – sent to businesses across the UK last week by the prime minister himself.

There are a few things quite smart – or behavioural – about this way of promoting a new policy:

• The 10 Downing Street letter head is attention grabbing and makes the reader feel special – note that this is the first thing you’ll see when you open the letter
• The benefits of the policy (up to £2000 savings) are presented up front
• The policy has been designed around simplicity – a tick box on a form will do the job
• The letter refers to a social good (“help to grow our economy”) as well as a private good
• The letter makes a social reference to the “1.25 million businesses” that will benefit
• The letter is ‘signed’ by David Cameron, adding a personal touch

Although we can’t compute the exact effect of this letter (its publication on gov.uk suggests  there is no Randomised Controlled Trial to measure how this letter compares to other ways of promoting the policy), it is clearly based on the lessons from recent experiments on policy letter writing (by the BIT and the FCA, for example).

One thing that would have made this letter even better is deleting the second third paragraph: it’s too party-political, and the Conservatives have rightly been criticised for it. Nevertheless, it’s encouraging to see wider use of these communication techniques in government, especially when they are used so transparently.