Policy articles and commentary
Analysis, discussion summaries and practical commentary from people working close to policy and delivery.
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…
Read articleBy Paul Howarth Councils across England face an increasingly complex set of challenges as they seek to manage their council tax reduction (CTR) schemes. Alongside financial pressures and the final stages of Universal Credit…
Read articleThe Independent Revenues and Benefits Monday Discussion Group tackled two subjects that promise change for local government: artificial intelligence and council tax. One may help councils manage growing workloads. The other shows how long-standing…
Read articleThe Conservatives want to cut Universal Credit for some long-term unemployed people and control what they can spend it on. Britain has been here before. So has Australia. The evidence is rather less straightforward…
Read articleThe Independent Revenues and Benefits Monday Discussion Group returned this week to two subjects where policy, politics and practical delivery are becoming increasingly difficult to separate: the Government’s review of Local Government Reorganisation, and…
Read articleThe Independent Revenues and Benefits Monday Discussion Group returned from its summer break with three subjects which, at first sight, had very little in common: the collapse of Whyte & Co, the growing debate…
Read articleWhat councils need to know now The position in one minute The Government has launched a major review of the current Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) programme following fresh legal advice. Four earlier decisions have…
Read articleThe latest Revenues and Benefits Discussion Group pack highlights a difficult operating environment for councils, with household financial pressure, rising welfare needs and tighter local authority budgets combining to increase demand on services. Universal…
Read articleWhy were Visionary Network in Eastbourne at Ascendant by the Sea? The simple answer is that we see Ascendant Solutions as a friend and very much part of the Visionary Network family. I hope…
Read articleReform’s £50 Billion Welfare Plan: A Costing Is Not a Social Contract Reform has now published more detail than its critics sometimes admit. What is still missing is the law, the delivery plan and…
Read articleWe are now on our summer break, but the world of Revenues and Benefits has certainly not stopped. The Discussion Group returns on Monday 7 September, but this mid-break update brings together some of…
Read articleThe ordinary working age Housing Benefit caseload has finally closed, almost nine years after Universal Credit was supposed to have completed the job. The administrative milestone is real. The promised simplification is much harder…
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