Community empowerment is a defining agenda of the Brown Government, and likely to feature heavily in the manifestos of all the three main parties at the next election. The Communities and Local Government White Paper on the same topic, which is due for launch in July 2008, is therefore eagerly anticipated, by the local government community at least. In this context, this essay discusses how, despite community empowerment being presented as a panacea for many social ills, the evidence in relation to some outcomes is relatively patchy. Read more...
Average house prices have doubled in the last decade. Demand for housing has outstripped supply to such an extent that housing has become a national policy priority for the Brown government, as well as a staple topic of conversation at dinner parties. Read more...
In this publication, all parties consider the role that government and business can play in pushing forward employee volunteering. Read more...
This report argues that the growth of the privately rented sector over the previous fifteen years has been a major success and that success has been driven primarily by market forces. Read more...
In this essay, published in 2004, Paul Richards observes that voter disengagement, particularly among the urban working class, is effectively bringing about the reversal of the Reform Acts. Read more...