The Care Bill is a good start when it comes to reforming long-term care funding. But joining up health and social care budgets is the next vital step Read more
Iain Duncan Smith wants wealthier pensioners to pay back their winter fuel allowances and other benefits. He’s attacking the wrong fiscal targets Read more
Local authorities are caught between a rock and a hard place when cutting budgets, but evidence from Scotland shows they can avoid making a bad situation worse by protecting those most in need Read more...
News that the Treasury is looking for even bigger cuts from unprotected Whitehall departments is adding to the public sector gloom. So what is to be done? Read more...
David Cameron’s plans to curtail migrants’ rights to social housing have the appearance of being thought up quickly and not thought through properly. There are much better ways to increase the availability of homes to UK-born applicants Read more...
Over-reliance on targets has been suggested as a factor in the Stafford Hospital scandal. But managers and front-line staff should never use the ‘system’ as an excuse for behaving in an unacceptable way Read more
The Minister for Welfare Reform takes issue with assertions in a post on the PF Blog yesterday and says the government is committed to protecting vulnerable claimants throughout the transition to Universal Credit Read more
As the Universal Credit prepares to go live, how is the DWP going to ensure that the most vulnerable claimants get the support Lord Freud agrees they need? Read more...
The LGA is correct in calling for a greater role for councils in tackling youth unemployment. But why stop there? Town halls should make the case for assuming responsibility for the increasingly discredited Work Programme Read more
There has been a lack of mature and open conversations between local authorities and the voluntary and community sector. As the cuts start to bite, they need to discuss shared goals as well as individual concerns Read more
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