Now time for devolution to spread.

The process of devolution has so far been precisely that – a process. The original settlements of the late 90s have evolved to meet the needs and circumstances of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with both constitutional and cultural changes occurring gradually as required.

But there is one area of…

The symbolic value of votes

The recent referendum in Wales demonstrated that such matters are often just as much about symbolism as they are about the precise technicalities of the issue being put to the vote. With True Wales arguing that the assembly had failed to deliver, they were at least partly attempting to…

Wishing won’t help WAG

If Welsh Assembly Government targets of recent years were all achieved, we would be about to enter nirvana. Child poverty – gone. Fuel poverty – consigned to history. CO2 emissions – down. Waste – non-existent. And so on. …

Research needs to be available to all.

Ben Goldacre recently argued that journalists should be linking to the sources they have based their stories on. The reasoning was simple; by providing links, readers of the publications in question can read the original sources and make their own decisions regarding how fair or accurate the story…

Bigging up the Big Society?

On 27 March, The Observer published a story on the news that the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has included the Big Society (BS) in its research agenda:.  Last Sunday I and 187 other academics signed a letter in protest  . (Note: the list of signatories…

Spare, not a dime, but a moment of time.

My three children over the last ten years have been in the age group 16 to 25 years.  I have watched them and their friends make the transition from fulltime education to adulthood.

These young people have become adults who want to be independent of their birth families and are…

DWP Smoke and Mirrors

Unemployment is BIG business.  Forget the numbers out of work, the Department for Work and Pensions has announced the two companies which are ‘preferred bidders’ to deliver the new Work Programme in Wales: Working Links and a joint…

How Fair is Wales?

Not very, is the simple answer according to a new report prepared by the Bevan Foundation and New Policy Institute for the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The report systematically measures equality on a range of indicators and, to no one’s…

Localism – friend or foe to infrastructure in new communities?

Cross Posted from the JRF blog

Caterham Barracks has been cited in case study after case study as a paragon of public involvement in creating new communities. The development of the former Army base has been praised as a fine example of community-led planning, …