Richard Exell

One of the strongest supporters of the Big Society has warned David Cameron that “expenditure cuts are a double whammy in communities like ours, increasing unemployment (the public sector is the biggest local employer) and closing services at the same time.”

The warning comes in an open letter to the Prime Minister from David Robinson, co-founder of Community Links. As Patrick Butler put it in the Guardian, Community Links “has helped write the book on how to deliver successful grassroots social regeneration in some of the UK’s most deprived and unpromising neighbourhoods.” They also have a reputation among voluntary organisations for having been very successful at getting close to the new government. TUC and Community Links people have written a few guest postings for each other’s blogs, and they’re an organisation we admire.

In the past, Mr Cameron has praised Community Links as “one of Britain’s most inspiring community organisations”, and David Robinson writes as an admirer of the Big Society project:

The idea that we should all have the opportunity and the encouragement to play a part in the communities we share is not a new one but it is a good one. I admire your big hearted vision and I respect your clear sighted perseverance in pursuing it, but I am worried.

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• End of child trust fund will harm vulnerable children’s life chances, think tank cautions
  "Children and Young People Now" reports that IPPR has warned that the abolition of the child trust fund will be especially harmful for children in care. Maintaining the CTF for these children would cost a mere £14 million a year and help a group of vulnerable young people who have to establish an independent life much earlier than other children.
• The real cost of sacking one council worker
  An analysis by UNISON of the costs in benefits and lost taxes of sacking a local government worker.

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Richard Exell

I have blown my top previously about the government’s plan to remove Disability Living Allowance mobility component from people in residential care homes. Over the last few weeks more and more organisations have been speaking out about how this cut will mean restricted lives for thousands of people. And there’s still time to vote for this horrid decision in our special “Cuts Factor” competition.

Now there’s a chance to do something else.

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• Prince’s Trust: Young unemployed ‘face increased mental health problems’
  The third annual Youth Index from the Prince's Trust finds that 48 per cent of young people not in work claim that unemployment has caused such problems as self harm and insomnia. The Index is at its lowest level, "with the most significant decline around young people's emotional health. It also shows how those who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs) are significantly less happy across all areas of their lives."
• Working families face £436 cut in support for childcare costs next year
  A new report from the Resolution Foundation says that the cuts in childcare support through the tax credit system will costs 450,000 families an average of £436 next year. The report includes a breakdown by local authority.

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• Scottish charities fear public spending cuts will limit range of services offered
  "The Herald" reports on a survey by the Office of Scottish Charity Regulator showing concern among Scottish charities that a lack of funding would affect how much they could do in future.
• National Policing Improvement Agency cuts
  "Public Finance" reports that cuts in the NPIA could lead to individual forces being charged more for the Agency's services. Funding for a missing persons charity could also be hit.
• Challenge to Gove claim that ‘social mobility went backwards under Labour’
  The Labour Party has revealed figures showing that in recent years there was a sharper rise in the number of poorer pupils going on to university than there was for those from families with higher incomes.

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Richard Exell

The weak labour market figures we saw in December may be the precursor to more bad news in the early months of 2011, according to the latest Jobs Outlook report from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. Employers are, on balance, fairly positive about the outlook, with 23 per cent saying they will recruit permanent staff and 32 per cent expecting to increase their temporary workforce; only 5 per cent say they are going to cut their employment.

But, the Confederation adds, “optimism for the jobs market must be tempered by the impact of public sector cuts.” 40 per cent of public sector employers expect a “direct impact” on public sector employment and the REC forecasts that unemployment will rise to 2.65 million by the middle of next year:

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Owen Tudor

The debate about top bankers’ bonuses is unlikely to go away any time soon, with another round underway. Despite suggestions that the amounts to be paid out will be ‘restrained’ in some way, the figures involved will still look eye-wateringly large to anyone outside the City’s exclusive corporate dining rooms – evidence of just how detached from reality the financial sector still is, despite what should have been the ultimate wake-up call when the entire sector tottered on the edge before tax payers bailed them out. Earlier this year, the Chancellor was reported to have ruled out a tough regime of disclosure, despite howls of outrage. But now, an unlikely source does seem to have realised that something must be done.

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Richard Exell

The latest Focus from the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development looks at Disadvantaged Groups in the Labour Market and there’s a mix of good and bad news for the government. On the one hand, employers’ attitudes to members of groups usually thought of as having extra employment barriers have improved significantly. On the other, there’s still a great deal of resistance and it doesn’t look as though there’s much the government can do to overcome it.

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• Stripping child benefit from high taxpayers will cost £370 million
  Creating the new system to claw back Child Benefit from higher rate taxpayers will cost £130 million. 200,000 single income households will lose out, while “nearly a million two-income families with a combined income of between £44,000 and £88,000 who will keep their benefits because neither the mother nor father is a higher rate taxpayer. “
• Legal aid cuts will hit women the hardest, says justice department
  “The Guardian” reports that the Department of Justice’s own Equality Impact Assessment of the planned cuts in Legal Aid will disproportionately affect women, who will make up 57% of those affected. Members of minority ethnic groups and disabled people will also be hit.
• EIS Petitions Scottish Parliament on lack of jobs for new teachers
  Scottish teaching union EIS has delivered a 5,000 signature petition to the Scottish Parliament, calling for action to make sure that there are enough jobs for all new teachers at the end of their probationary year. A survey of new teachers by the General Teaching Council for Scotland has found that more than a quarter have found no teaching work at all.

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Richard Exell

Respected voices have warned that the “efficiency savings” demanded by Andrew Lansley mean that “care will suffer”. At the same time an influential government committee has advised him that these savings will not be sufficient to hit his spending targets, and that deep cuts will be necessary in social care and cancer research.

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