Administrative data supports councils in delivering the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) end-to-end, from identifying residents who may be eligible for support to running targeted campaigns and tracking outcomes. Administrative data allows councils to identify who may need help, target outreach based on individual circumstances and local priorities, intervene earlier to prevent escalation, and understand…
Month: March 2026
Food banks, weather shocks and the next cost of living crisis
This week’s Independent R&B Monday Discussion Group opened with two subjects that, on the surface, might have looked separate, but quickly proved to be deeply connected. Malcolm Gardner framed the session around a practical question for local government: what happens when immediate hardship on the ground meets a wider economic shock that is still only…
The Stagflation Trap: Why the UK’s Cost-of-Living Crisis is Making a Dangerous Return
For a fleeting moment in early 2026, the UK appeared to have escaped the gravity of the inflation crisis. Households finally saw a window of relief as energy forecasts dipped and the Bank of England signaled a return to target. That window has slammed shut, replaced by a “Stagflation Trap” triggered by escalating Middle East…
Youth jobs, council tax support and the case for deeper reform
Reflections from the Independent Revenues and Benefits Monday Discussion Group This week’s Independent Revenues and Benefits Monday Discussion Group ranged widely, but two themes dominated the discussion: the government’s latest youth employment package, and the continuing argument over council tax support, Universal Credit and the wider future of local taxation. As ever, the session brought…
Independent R&B Monday Discussion Group: Spring Statement review: what revenues and benefits practitioners heard beneath the headlines
The latest Independent Revenues and Benefits Monday Discussion Group took the Chancellor’s Spring Statement as its starting point and asked a simple question: what does it really mean when viewed from the frontline of local government? The answer from practitioners was clear enough. However upbeat the national presentation may have sounded, the local picture still…
The future of work, and what it means for revenues and benefits teams
The Independent Revenues and Benefits Monday Discussion Group spent much of its 2 March session exploring a question that is rapidly moving from policy theory into operational reality: what does the changing world of work mean for local authority services, especially revenues, benefits, council tax support, customer services and fraud? The discussion ranged across labour…
Briefing note: fiscal and economic context and what it means for local tax, welfare support and local government finance (March 2026)
Purpose To set out a single, joined up view of the national economic and fiscal outlook, and the practical implications for council tax, council tax reduction (CTR), local welfare support (including DHP and crisis type schemes), benefits and social security, business rates, housing, local government finance, and local government reorganisation (LGR). This note draws on…