Numeracy and innumeracy in public life
Social capital is back in fashion and that can only be a good thing. Of course, for a certain class of analyst and policymaker – of which I am one – it never went out of fashion, but for everyone else it is a curious concept that can often seem like the miracle cure for…
Natural experiments reveal whether investments in neighbourhoods make a difference, says Richard Harries Appearing before the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee last month, Michael Gove laid out his four priorities for the new Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities. These, he said, were to strengthen and improve local leadership and living standards, raise the quality of…
How many social enterprises are there in the United Kingdom? No-one seems to know. Back in 2003, the Government thought the total was “in the region of 5,300”. By 2012, the number had ballooned to 62,000 (Hansard, 21 Jun 2012, Column 1867). Then, two and a half years ago, it claimed there were “an estimated…
The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) has been a hotbed of talent and fresh thinking since its foundation by Michael Young in 1997. Its latest innovation, Match Trading®, draws on this experience and is attracting interest from across the social sector and within the corridors of government. Match Trading is brand new type of grants…
If you want to learn what the spirit of the people is by means of arithmetic, it goes without saying that that’s extremely difficult. Leo Tolstoy, “Anna Karenina” When CP Snow published The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution in 1959 it seems unlikely he had the voluntary and community sector in mind. Yet more than 60…
On 30 April, former Cabinet Secretary Lord Gus O’Donnell wrote an article for the Sunday Mirror making the case for up to £7 billion of asset transfers from local authorities to the community. Let me tell you the strange story behind this number. Local councils in England own buildings worth £81.5 billion; they own land and…
Gentlemen: While marching from Portugal to a position which commands the approach to Madrid and the French forces, my officers have been diligently complying with your requests which have been sent by His Majesty’ ship from London to Lisbon and thence by dispatch rider to our headquarters. We have enumerated our saddles, bridles, tents and…