Poverty and inequality are financial challenges for local authorities and threaten the cohesion of their communities.
This is the latest in a series of briefings on local Council Tax Support (CTS) schemes. It focuses mostly on a short report produced by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on March 11. The PAC took evidence from the DCLG, but also built on evidence in a report published in 2013 by the National Audit…
The Child Poverty Act 2010 established a legal requirement for the UK Government to meet four targets for child poverty reduction by 2020. The 2010 Act requires the UK Government to publish and update a UK child poverty strategy every three years. The Coalition’s first child poverty strategy was published in April 2011. On 27…
* This briefing considers Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations and the role they play in the public sector, particularly in collaboration with local authorities * It assesses the impact of recent developments, particularly ‘The Big Society’ and the budget deficit * A range of nationally reported local authority VCS initiatives are listed and summarised…
In a Parliamentary debate on food banks last December, attention was drawn to a study on food insecurity commissioned by Defra in early 2013 which had yet to appear. The report was published on 20 February 2014. This briefing outlines the aims of the research and its main findings. The report has appeared in the…
This briefing deals with selected chapters in the latest IFS Green Budget, focusing in particular on the prognosis for the UK economy, the public finances, and incomes growth. Also dealt with are chapters on business rates, housing, and policies to help the low paid. This briefing will be of particular interest to members and officers…
The LGiU is working with Citizens’ Advice to help councils better understand how they can support those falling into debt through use of payday loans. We hear from Ashley Scarfield, Campaigns Officer at Citizens Advice, who tells us about the launch of their new series of blogs on how local authorities can tackle irresponsible lending.…
The briefing summarises the results of the Work and Pensions Committee’s (WPC) recent inquiry into Jobcentre Plus. The WPC’s report focuses in particular on the role of Jobcentre Plus (JCP) in the context of welfare reform and new roles and responsibilities for JCP which are progressing in parallel with resource reduction as a consequence of…
This briefing summarises Preventing Suicide in England: One Year On, the first annual report of the Governments suicide prevention strategy highlights recent research and good practice in suicide prevention.
There has been a growing interest in food banks in Parliament and among the media, prompted in large part by evidence of a rapid growth in the numbers of people turning to food banks to feed themselves and their families. The coordinating body of the UK’s largest network of food banks is The Trussell Trust.…
This briefing summarises the initial results of a longitudinal study on the impacts of welfare reform on social housing tenants. The study, Real Life Reform, is being led by a core group of seven housing providers, supported by the Northern Housing Consortium and with input from the University of York. Two reports have been published…