Publications

Basic skills include literacy, English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), numeracy and digital as well as other capabilities like health, financial and citizenship. They help people find work and be active citizens and adapt to economic and social change, including that caused or accelerated by the pandemic.

Youth unemployment, generally defined as someone aged under 25 who is not in work and who is actively seeking work, has risen sharply during the pandemic and has lasting, damaging effects.

The pandemic has had a stark impact, including a number of high profile business closures. The pandemic and recovery from it will bring shocks to local economies that can be negative, such as the closure, relocation or downsizing of a significant local employer; or positive, such as a significant infrastructure project or the relocation of a major employer into an area.

Long-term unemployment is most generally defined as being out of work for 12 months or more and this is something expected to increase following the pandemic. Helping people back to work quickly will aid recovery and ensure everyone can share in recovery.

Retraining for the purposes of this guide refers to people moving to new jobs or careers where a significant development of new skills is required. This will be increasingly important as working lives lengthen and coronavirus potentially accelerates some structural economic changes.

An advice and best practice guide for councils Local authorities are feeling the financial pinch due to a continuing trend in spurious compensation claims. This guide provides advice to councils on how to tackle this increasing problem, with case study examples highlighting best and worst practice. This publication was originally published on 1 July 2004

Local government plays a huge role in people's lives and, according to the Treasury, is 'widely recognised' as the most efficient part of the public sector, making £2.6m a day in savings. So why is it that public satisfaction of council services is improving, but the public perception of councils is not?

This publication sets out early findings of the Lifting the Burdens Task Force in the form of challenges for central and local government and maps the way forward for the task force over the next 12 months.

Across the country one in ten social worker posts are unfilled and this figure urgently needs to be reduced so we can protect children effectively.

The overall aim of the research is to examine the extent to which developments since the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 have improved outcomes for young people leaving care, particularly those with mental health issues. It examines young people's views of service provision, outcomes and how they are measured, and the coordination and availability of services including voluntary services.