Poverty and inequality are financial challenges for local authorities and threaten the cohesion of their communities.
The necessary response to one public health crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic, may be inadvertently creating a different one behind closed doors – a rise in domestic violence. Councils have a crucial role to play in maintaining domestic abuse services and support during this period.
Rushed legislation and a target-driven culture at the Home Office led to the Windrush scandal, denying many people with the right to be in the UK a job, housing and health care. Some were wrongly deported. The review says it was avoidable and compounded by how the Home Office works.
The homeless are particularly at risk. Andrew Walker found out what Southwark is doing during the crisis and urges government action to ease the strain.
This briefing covers progress towards the fiscal targets and economic forecasts that accompanied Budget March 2020 in addition to brief commentary on other announcements, including those for capital and departmental spending, taxes, and welfare, and the Government’s response to the coronavirus crisis.
This briefing provides an update on social housing provision in Scotland. In addition to the current state of affairs, both the relevant history of social housing and the future of Scotland’s social housing are explored. This topic will be of interest to officers and councillors with a role relating to housing and social housing in…
For local governments, action towards a more gender equal world can occur at the organizational level, encouraging and supporting equality within their own organisations, as well as in their local communities. This briefing looks at organizational change to understand local gender equality in the context of access to employment.
Urban planning and governance requires gender sensitivity if it is to be sustainable, equitable, and effective. ‘Mainstreaming’ gender considerations into planning processes takes urban planning beyond the realm of efficiency into solving issues of social, economic and political equity – promoting civic engagement among women and minorities in the process.
This is the first instalment in our series of briefings exploring winning programmes from the 2019 Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards, following on from successful coverage of the 2017 and 2018 award winners. This week we’re taking a look at the winner of the Disability Services Provision category – Tipperary County Council’s Sign…
The UK is becoming an increasingly cashless society. By 2028 fewer than one in ten transactions will involve cash. The digital revolution brings many benefits to consumers and businesses but, as cash declines, some people risk being financially excluded. A report from the IPPR considers the issues and policy implications.
In December the Housing Agency published the latest annual report on the number of households qualifying for social housing support, though there are questions over how useful a guide it is and whether the process needs reforming. This briefing looks at the figures the annual summary assessment provides on social housing applications and comments on…