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Latest Result - Spending on parks and neighbourhood services in Scotland
Featured Publication - Spending on parks and neighbourhood services in Scotland

Spending on parks and neighbourhood services in Scotland

This is a report about what has happened to spending on parks and open spaces (“parks”) by Scottish local authorities. To provide context, the report also looks at spending on the wider group of local authority neighbourhood services - the services t…

  • Published: 17th Jun 2020
  • Authors: Josh Holden, Peter Kenway
  • Category: Local Government
Featured Publication - So you’ve declared a climate emergency: what next?

So you’ve declared a climate emergency: what next?

This report is accompanied by a blog by Alan Sitkin, now of Regent’s University and previously Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration and Business at the London Borough of Enfield, on our website. The report is also discussed in a joint piece from …

  • Published: 13th May 2020
  • Authors: Josh Holden, Peter Kenway, Bridget Mooney
  • Category: Climate change
Featured Publication - Neighbourhood services and sustainable local government

Neighbourhood services and sustainable local government

This report builds an argument for a sustained increase in local government spending on neighbourhood services, supported by an analysis of how that increase might be distributed across the 70 or so different services. Grouped under the broad heading…

  • Published: 31st Jul 2019
  • Authors: Josh Holden, Peter Kenway
  • Category: Local Government
Featured Publication - An Assessment of Local Social Security Provision in London

An Assessment of Local Social Security Provision in London

Like all English local authorities, London boroughs are now responsible not just for delivering certain elements of the social security system but for designing them too. This is a result of both the devolution of services that were once national to …

  • Published: 21st May 2019
  • Authors: Carla Ayrton, Peter Kenway, Josh Holden
  • Category: Social Security and Welfare Reform
Featured Publication - Hollowed out: The impact of financial localisation on neighbourhood services

Hollowed out: The impact of financial localisation on neighbourhood services

This report considers the prospects for the ‘neighbourhood services’ provided by local government. Neighbourhood services are mainly those provided by local government apart from social care and education, that is: highways and transportation; enviro…

  • Published: 24th Oct 2018
  • Authors: Peter Kenway, Carla Ayrton
  • Category: Local Government
Featured Publication - A Quiet Crisis: Changes in local government spending on disadvantage

A Quiet Crisis: Changes in local government spending on disadvantage

This report is about the services that English local authorities provide to support people facing disadvantage. Using a composite measure of ‘spending on disadvantage’, it looks at how such spending has changed, both in terms of service volume and re…

  • Published: 11th Sep 2018
  • Authors: Issy Petrie, Carla Ayrton, Adam Tinson
  • Category: Local Government
Featured Publication - Devolution within Northern Ireland

Devolution within Northern Ireland

This report examines evidence for an extension of the responsibilities of local government in Northern Ireland (NI) through devolution from Stormont. Its context is a drive towards greater power for cities and regions across the UK, the absence of a …

  • Published: 21st Jun 2018
  • Authors: Peter Kenway, Issy Petrie
  • Category: Local Government
Featured Publication - Preventing destitution: Policy and practice in the UK

Preventing destitution: Policy and practice in the UK

The research for this report explored how the policy and practice of both public and third sector organisations at the local, county and national levels could prevent destitution among UK-born people without complex needs. It involved 63 interviews w…

  • Published: 7th Jun 2018
  • Authors: Karen Barker, Carla Ayrton, Issy Petrie, Adam Tinson
  • Category: Income and Poverty
Featured Publication - The Impact on Public Finances of meeting UNISON’s 2018/19 pay claim for NJC local government workers

The Impact on Public Finances of meeting UNISON’s 2018/19 pay claim for NJC local government workers

This paper provides an estimate of the overall impact on public finances of the 2018-19 National Joint Council (NJC) pay claim for employees in local government covered by the NJC. Although the NJC also covers the majority of school support staff, th…

  • Published: 16th Nov 2017
  • Authors: Adam Tinson, Issy Petrie
  • Category: Local Government
Featured Publication - Are cuts to Council Tax Support in England a false economy for councils?

Are cuts to Council Tax Support in England a false economy for councils?

Key points Total uncollected council tax is £400m higher than in 2013-14 when Council Tax Benefit was abolished. The number of local authorities that have either retained CTB or set no minimum payment continues to decline, and more local authorit…

  • Published: 10th Aug 2017
  • Authors: Carla Ayrton, Karen Barker
  • Category: Council Tax
Featured Publication - Redefining neighbourhoods: A future beyond austerity?

Redefining neighbourhoods: A future beyond austerity?

Neighbourhood services are universal services. The public sees them as the core function of local government. Since 2010/11, neighbourhood services have been the hardest hit of all local government services, taking a shrinking share of a shrinking b…

  • Published: 25th Apr 2017
  • Authors: Karen Barker, Peter Kenway
  • Category: Local Government
Featured Publication - Key changes to council tax support in 2017/18

Key changes to council tax support in 2017/18

Key points Council tax support (CTS) gives low-income working-age families a discount on the amount of council tax they have to pay. So if CTS is cut, the result is a tax increase for those families affected. 74 councils changed their schemes in …

  • Published: 4th Apr 2017
  • Authors: Otis Long, Carla Ayrton
  • Category: Council Tax
Featured Publication - Sustainable local government finance and liveable local areas: Can we survive to 2020?

Sustainable local government finance and liveable local areas: Can we survive to 2020?

This report paints a picture of local government finance up until 2020 against the backdrop of the past five years and identifies the challenge it presents to the liveability and public realm services most closely associated with APSE. They include l…

  • Published: 8th Mar 2017
  • Authors: Theo Barry Born, Peter Kenway
  • Category: Local Government
Featured Publication - Council tax support schemes in 2017-18: what are the key issues ahead of councils’ decisions?

Council tax support schemes in 2017-18: what are the key issues ahead of councils’ decisions?

A new briefing from the New Policy Institute is calling on local councils considering making their Council Tax Support (CTS) schemes less generous to consider the impact on low-income households. …

  • Published: 25th Jan 2017
  • Author: Adam Tinson
  • Category: Council Tax
Featured Publication - Have cuts to Council Tax Support in England led to rising council tax arrears?

Have cuts to Council Tax Support in England led to rising council tax arrears?

Council Tax arrears have risen in the years since the introduction of Council Tax Support (CTS), a local replacement for Council Tax Benefit (CTB) which tends to be less generous. This briefing paper looks at the relationship between the generosity o…

  • Published: 12th Dec 2016
  • Author: Carla Ayrton
  • Category: Council Tax
Featured Publication - NPI submission to CLG Local Council Tax Support Review

NPI submission to CLG Local Council Tax Support Review

On 2 December 2015 the Department for Communities and Local Government announced the launch of the mandatory three-year review of the localisation of Council Tax Support, following its replacement of Council Tax Benefit in April 2013. Since autumn 2…

  • Published: 19th Jan 2016
  • Category: Council Tax
Featured Publication - The impact on public finances of meeting UNISON’s 2016-17 pay claim for school and council workers covered by the NJC for Local Government Services

The impact on public finances of meeting UNISON’s 2016-17 pay claim for school and council workers covered by the NJC for Local Government Services

This paper provides an estimate of the overall impact on public finances of the 2016-17 NJC pay claim for employees in local government and schools covered by the National Joint Council (NJC). The paper has been commissioned by UNISON. The pay part o…

  • Published: 13th Jan 2016
  • Author: Adam Tinson
  • Category: Local Government
Featured Publication - Local Welfare Safety Net Inquiry: Submission from the New Policy Institute

Local Welfare Safety Net Inquiry: Submission from the New Policy Institute

The New Policy Institute (NPI) have responded to the Committee’s call for evidence on the local welfare safety net. This is a subject where we have both a wide-ranging view and in-depth knowledge, the latter from research projects to do with Council …

  • Published: 5th Nov 2015
  • Category: Social Security and Welfare Reform
Featured Publication - The Overall Impact on Public Finances of Meeting the Local Government Trade Unions' 2014-15 Pay Claim

The Overall Impact on Public Finances of Meeting the Local Government Trade Unions' 2014-15 Pay Claim

This pamphlet, commissioned by Unison, seeks to estimate the overall impact on public finances of the Trade Union Side’s 2014-15 pay claim for all employees in local government covered by the National Joint Council (NJC). The claim is for an extra £1…

  • Published: 18th Dec 2013
  • Authors: Peter Kenway, Adam Tinson
  • Category: Local Government
Featured Publication - The Impact of Welfare Reform on Low Paid Local Government Workers

The Impact of Welfare Reform on Low Paid Local Government Workers

Since 2010 pay in local government has increased by less than inflation. Uniquely in the public sector, local government workers suffered a three-year pay freeze - in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The pay award in 2013 was 1%, plus the removal of the bottom p…

  • Published: 31st Oct 2013
  • Authors: Adam Tinson, Peter Kenway, Hannah Aldridge
  • Category: Local Government

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