A Mis-signalling Problem? The Troubled Performance Relationship between Credit Unions and Local Government in the UK

2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Davis ◽  
C. Brockie
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Credit Unions ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Signalling Problem

Public health: unchained or shackled?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Health System ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Health Gap ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
The Uk

As in the case of other parts of the UK wider health system, it has been a turbulent time for public health since 2010. Not only has the function undergone major structural and cultural change following its return to local government from the NHS, where it had been located since 1974, but it has had to confront new challenges in public health arising from lifestyle behaviours and a widening health gap between social groups. All of this has occurred during a period of unprecedented financial austerity affecting public services in general but local government in particular. This chapter reviews the state of public health in the lead up to the changes announced by the Coalition government in 2010. It then summarises the reforms before offering an interim assessment of their impact. Finally, it discusses the evidence to date concerning the reforms and speculates on likely prospects in the years ahead.

From front-line defence to back‑foot retreat: the diminishment of local government’s role in social health outcomes

2020 ◽  
pp. 347-364
Author(s):  
Michael Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk

This chapter investigates the diminishment of local government's role in social health outcomes. The 20th century led to radical improvements in public health across England and the United Kingdom (UK). Modern local government in the UK was born out of a growing concern about the links between social conditions and the state of public health. Yet while 'social determinants of health' has become a global discipline, local government has ceded its role over the last decade as its capacity has withered during the time of austerity. The COVID-19 crisis of 2020 has shown the capacity of local government to mobilise anew around public health issues, but its fundamental fiscal and constitutional weaknesses show that a new settlement is needed more than ever.

A new page? The public library in austerity

2020 ◽  
pp. 227-248
Author(s):  
Emma Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Marked Decrease ◽  
Public Library ◽  
The Public ◽  
Communal Space ◽  
Clear Shift ◽  
The Uk

This chapter demonstrates how, in the UK, austerity has not been limited to the provision of social security. Most government departmental budgets were cut and there was a clear shift in responsibility from central to local government, which also had its budgets slashed. The cuts to local government have also resulted in a marked decrease in the provision of key services. The chapter finds that libraries can be important spaces for support workers to meet clients, as well as for those with fewer resources to access computers, books, or simply a safe communal space outside of their home. Future lack of investment in universal public services may perpetuate and further widen the inequalities in access to these resources.

9. Devolution and local government

Public Law ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Stanton ◽  
Craig Prescott
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Regional Institutions ◽  
Legislative Authority ◽  
Recent Addition ◽  
The Uk

Devolution is a recent addition to the UK constitutional law vocabulary. The concept refers to the decentralisation of power from central institutions in London to regional institutions exercising executive and legislative authority in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This chapter explores the principle of devolution, both in terms of its historical development and its constitutional importance. It discusses recent issues and debates relevant to the role that it continues to play in the UK Constitution through the established institutions in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. All this is tied together in consideration of a problem scenario which encourages discussion of the powers of the devolved institutions and their relationship with centralised authority at Westminster.

4. How the UK is organised

2021 ◽  
pp. 71-99
Author(s):  
Anne Dennett
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
National Security ◽  
Central Government ◽  
State Legislature ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Government Power ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

This chapter details how power is allocated in the UK, and its organisation in terms of devolution and regional and local government. Power in the UK is divided into three branches or arms of state: legislature (law-makers), executive (government and administration), and judiciary (courts and judges). Before devolution, the government’s (executive’s) administrative power was centralised and it extended to the whole of the UK, but devolution has made significant changes to the constitution and has brought a substantial rebalancing of power in the government of the UK. Since devolution’s introduction, the power of central government no longer extends to the growing areas of domestic policy that have been devolved to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The UK government’s remit therefore now covers England and the whole of the UK on non-devolved matters including the conduct of foreign affairs, defence, national security, and oversight of the Civil Service and government agencies.

scholarly journals Commercial property tax in the UK: business rates and rating appeals

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 602-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Michael Greenhalgh ◽  
Kevin Muldoon-Smith ◽  
Sophie Angus
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the introduction of the business rates retention scheme (BRRS) in England which transferred financial liability for backdated appeals to LAs. Under the original scheme, business rates revenue, mandatory relief and liability for successful appeals is spilt 50/50 between central government and local government which both share the rewards of growth and bear the risk of losses. Design/methodology/approach The research adopts a microanalysis approach into researching local government finance, conducting a case study of Leeds, to investigate the impact of appeals liability and reveal disparities in impact, through detailed examination of multiple perspectives in one of the largest cities in the UK. Findings The case study reveals that Leeds, despite having a buoyant commercial economy driven by retail and service sector growth, has been detrimentally impacted by BRRS as backdated appeals have outweighed uplift in business rates income. Fundamentally BRRS is not a “one size fits all” model – it results in winners and losers – which will be exacerbated if local authorities get to keep 100 per cent of their business rates from 2020. Research limitations/implications LAs’ income is more volatile as a consequence of both the rates retention and appeals liability aspects of BRRS and will become more so with the move to 100 per cent retention and liability. Practical implications Such volatility impairs the ability of local authorities to invest in growth at the same time as providing front line services over the medium term – precisely the opposite of what BRRS was intended to do. It also incentivises the construction of new floorspace, which generates risks overbuilding and exacerbating over-supply. Originality/value The research reveals the significant impact of appeals liability on LAs’ business rates revenues which will be compounded with the move to a fiscally neutral business rates system and 100 per cent business rates retention by 2020.

scholarly journals ‘Deal or no deal?’ Governing urban infrastructure funding and financing in the UK City Deals

Urban Studies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 1448-1476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter O’Brien ◽  
Andy Pike
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Urban Infrastructure ◽  
International Investment ◽  
National State ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Administrative Culture ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Political Economic

How urban infrastructure is funded, financed and governed is a central issue for states at the national, city-regional and city scales. Urban infrastructure is being financialised by financial and state actors and transformed into an asset in the international investment landscape. Local governments are being compelled by national state and financial institutions to be more entrepreneurial in their infrastructure funding and financing and to reorganise their governance arrangements. This article explains the socially and spatially uneven unfolding and implications of urban infrastructure financialisation and local government attempts to implement more entrepreneurial practices and governance forms. The empirical focus is the City Deals in the UK: a new form of urban governance and infrastructure investment based upon negotiated central–local government agreements on decentralised powers, responsibilities and resources. The continued authority of the highly centralised UK national state, its managerialist institutions and conservative/risk-averse administrative culture have constrained urban infrastructure financialisation and entrepreneurial urban governance in the UK City Deals. Situated in their particular spatial, temporal, political-economic and institutional settings, financialisation is understood as a socially and spatially variegated process and urban governance is interpreted as the articulation and mixing of new entrepreneurial and enduring managerialist forms.

scholarly journals Impact of Universal Credit in North East England: a qualitative study of claimants and support staff

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. e029611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mandy Cheetham ◽  
Suzanne Moffatt ◽  
Michelle Addison ◽  
Alice Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
North East ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Community Sector ◽  
Roll Out

ObjectivesTo understand the impact of the roll-out of Universal Credit (UC) from the perspectives of claimants and staff supporting them in North East England.DesignQualitative study comprising interviews and focus groups.SettingGateshead and Newcastle, two localities in North East England characterised by high levels of socioeconomic deprivation, where the roll-out of UC started in 2017 as a new way to deliver welfare benefits for the UK working age population.Participants33 UC claimants with complex needs, disabilities and health conditions and 37 staff from local government, housing, voluntary and community sector organisations.ResultsParticipants’ accounts of the UC claims process and the consequences of managing on UC are reported; UC negatively impacts on material wellbeing, physical and mental health, social and family lives. UC claimants described the digital claims process as complicated, disorientating, impersonal, hostile and demeaning. Claimants reported being pushed into debt, rent arrears, housing insecurity, fuel and food poverty through UC. System failures, indifference and delays in receipt of UC entitlements exacerbated the difficulties of managing on a low income. The threat of punitive sanctions for failing to meet the enhanced conditionality requirements under UC added to claimant’s vulnerabilities and distress. Staff reported concerns for claimants and additional pressures on health services, local government and voluntary and community sector organisations as a result of UC.ConclusionsThe findings add considerable detail to emerging evidence of the deleterious effects of UC on vulnerable claimants’ health and wellbeing. Our evidence suggests that UC is undermining vulnerable claimants’ mental health, increasing the risk of poverty, hardship, destitution and suicidality. Major, evidence-informed revisions are required to improve the design and implementation of UC to prevent further adverse effects before large numbers of people move on to UC, as planned by the UK government.

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