Welfare Reform on the Web (September 2011): Welfare state - UK

Councils’ cuts to 2,200 charities undermine Big Society

M. Savage

The Times, August 2nd 2011, p.3

The Department for Communities and Local Government said that the Government had provided ‘a fair and progressive funding settlement for councils that protect frontline services and shield the most vulnerable’. However more than 2,200 charities have had their funding cut or withdrawn by local authorities.

New Labour in government: think-tanks and social policy reform, 1997-2001

H. Pautz

British Politics, vol. 6, p. 155-186

This article seeks to cast light on the role of think-tanks in social policy making during New Labour’s first term in office under Tony Blair. It is based on interviews with analysts from think-tanks, civil servants and politicians, as well as analysis of key documents. It concludes that New Labour, once in government, made little use of the think-tanks which had supported the party modernisers in opposition. With the party in government, the civil service emerged as the most important actor in the design of social policy.