There’s a quiet revolution on the frontline of public services, in the voluntary sector and in communities up and down the country – power and resources are being put into the hands of people so they can come together to solve the problems that matter most to them. We need your help to map and […]

Adam Lent argues that our intensifying climate crisis requires a political, economic and cultural revolution rooted in the empowerment of communities. @adamjlent We enter this new decade in the grip of a triple crisis: of climate, of economic inequality and of political legitimacy. Currently our political leaders in the UK and across the world seem […]

The North-South divide is the trope most commonly used by policy-makers to highlight the problems of regional inequality in England, but it is by no means the country’s only socio-economic gulf. Since Boris Johnson first became Prime Minister in July 2019, Government Ministers and Conservative politicians have talked enthusiastically about the need to “level up” […]

So, the new decade begins with Australia literally on fire. Unsurprisingly, many of us are feeling the moral imperative for climate action more strongly than ever, and yet a glance at politics right now offers little cause for hope. Whilst outright climate denialism is on the wane, a look across the Atlantic offers us a […]

The PM may have given minimum wage earners a cash boost but Adam Lent argues only bringing the low paid into the heart of power will make a long-term difference. My most terrifying duty as Head of Economics at the TUC was to lead the annual trade union delegation to the Low Pay Commission (LPC). […]

Dining dividing lines continue to eat up councils as they fail to agree on what to have for Christmas lunch. We asked council leaders, chief executives and Mayors what they’d ban from the dinner table at on 25th December. Their surprising answers might, or might not, reveal a lot about the inner workings of local […]

In theory, a Conservative government with a very strong mandate should prove a tasty prospect for the local government sector. The party’s manifesto commits the government to a devolution white paper, major new funding for infrastructure, money for towns and community businesses, an extra £1bn for social care every year plus a new drive to […]

Local authorities experience considerable difficulties as they budget to keep vital services going whilst facing uncertainty about their future finances, and this is exacerbated when they are unsure when a longer-term settlement can be achieved.