Local services

Most top-tier local authorities in England have not yet produced a child poverty strategy, despite being required to do so under the Child Poverty Act 2010, a study has found.

The survey was carried out by a children’s charity, 4Children.

New research covering the UK, USA and Scandinavia has found that middle-class people are in an advantaged position compared with less affluent social groups when it comes to accessing public services – the so-called ‘sharp elbows’ effect. The evidence for this is clearest in the United Kingdom.

The paper summarises a wide range of academic research since 1980 looking at the nature, extent, and impacts of middle-class activism – defined as the strategic articulation of ‘non-poor’ interests on a collective or individual basis – in relation to public service provision.

Better assessment of the cost effectiveness of early intervention is needed, argues a report from the National Foundation for Educational Research, Early Intervention: Informing Local Practice. The report finds that the case for investing in early intervention is widely accepted and supported but that there was a lack of UK-based evidence concerning its cost effectiveness:

Until recently, UK-based researchers and evaluators have rarely been asked to consider value for money when evaluating the processes and impacts of programmes. Increasingly, however, the landscape is changing, with researchers being asked to consider value for money when carrying out evaluations, and local practitioners, LA officers and commissioners being required to evidence the value of interventions, both on outcomes for children, young people and families and also on local and national assets.