Devolution is 20 years old. The anniversary has prompted debate amongst politicians, the media and commentators about the state of devolution. Has devolution increased the quality of democracy, boosted the economy, improved public services and led to a clear constitutional settlement that works for the UK as a whole?
The final briefing in our series on the recent Spending Round looks at local government announcements, comparing the SR with the recommendations from the MHCLG Select Committee’s report on local government funding. The additional funding is welcome but does the SR mean an end to austerity or just a pause?
In the last two months there have been three reports on the state of childhood in the UK. This briefing focuses mainly on the Action for Children report which shows the widening gap between children growing up in vulnerable circumstances and those growing up in greater affluence. Policy recommendations are made.
This briefing is the second of three assessing the Chancellor’s spending announcements made in Spending Round 2019. it looks at the current state of public finances and the shortening available spending headroom under current fiscal rules. A page has been turned on austerity, but much remains uncertain.
In the 14th and final instalment in our series of briefings exploring winning programmes from the 2018 Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards, we’re taking a look at the winner of the Festival of the Year category, Cork County Council’s Youghal Medieval Festival.
The purpose of this swift read is to examine some of the key findings of the recently published NOAC report on customer satisfaction, which involved an externally commissioned survey on how satisfied residents felt with their local authority.
Scotland was one of the first countries in the world to develop a national strategy to tackle social isolation. This briefing highlights projects and activities from across the UK with a primary or secondary aim of tackling social isolation.
The New Towns are one of Britain’s great success stories. Despite creating hundreds of thousands of employment opportunities and popular places to live, too many New Towns have been left behind, with crumbling infrastructure and a lack of investment. How can their future be assured?
Although the possibility of a no deal brexit has fallen, it could still happen. This briefing sets out the likely consequences of no deal. It includes a summary of government preparations, with a focus on operation Yellowhammer.
This briefing deals with what is known so far about the Two Child Policy which began in April 2017. Through the policy, income support provided to families through tax credits, Housing Benefit or Universal Credit (UC), has been limited to two children.