Poverty and inequality are financial challenges for local authorities and threaten the cohesion of their communities.
From April 1 2013 upper tier local authorities have been responsible for local welfare schemes, following the abolition of two discretionary elements of the social fund - community care grants and crisis loans. This briefing covers the background to the changes, the funding of the new arrangements, a summary of what new schemes have been…
* This briefing summarises a Select Committee report on the Implementation of welfare reform by local authorities and highlights its recommendations. * The report welcomes the localist dimension to the reforms and the contribution of local authorities to local welfare provision. It reflects evidence of concerted local efforts to implement the changes on time. *…
This briefing deals with two reports published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on the distributional effects of policies to reduce carbon emissions. The first assesses the impacts of different energy and climate change policies on households (including impacts on consumer energy bills), and their effectiveness in reducing carbon emissions. The second examines how compensations in…
The House of Lords Select Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change concluded in its report, Ready for Ageing? that “the Government and our society are woefully unprepared” for the rapid ageing of the UK population. 10.7 million people in Great Britain can currently expect inadequate pensions; the major shift to ‘defined’ contribution pensions through…
The structural reforms of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 are implemented on April 1 bringing huge changes for the NHS and local authorities. This special briefing considers: the state of progress in major elements of reform such as clinical commissioning groups, health and wellbeing boards and public health issues to look out for…
This document, produced by the Resolution Foundation, provides a detailed profile of the low-to-middle income group in the UK. An earlier briefing has dealt with the Resolution Foundation’s analysis of the causes of low income and of the stagnation in the group’s earnings growth over the past decade. The group comprise about one third of…
The introduction of Universal Credit (UC) will alter not only the structure of benefits but also methods of payment and claim management. Transition to the new system will alter the type of required support services for claimants and the DWP intends working with local authorities to help provide targeted local support. This document from the…
The aim of the research project from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on which this report is based was to examine whether an ‘intergenerational culture of worklessness’ exists and whether it plays a role in determining high and persistent levels of worklessness. It was carried out because the authors claim that the notion is popular among…
In this review of provision for children and young people in 2012, the Children’s Rights Alliance recognises progress in some areas, but it also warns that in some other areas the government has not met the challenges for their welfare posed by budget austerity in the public sector.
The LGiU has published several briefings covering the key provisions in the Local Government Finance Act 2012 - particularly business rates retention and the localisation of council tax benefit. Attached to this is a guide to the act which brings the previous ones together and updates them. The briefings were written by Mark Upton, LGiU…