RSA News

A survey of 50 local authorities show that in the face of cuts to public spending many councils are coping better than expected with over 90% balancing their budgets in 2010/11 and 86% managing to protect front line services by focussing on back office savings and efficiency measures. A surprising 71% also said that the impact of cuts had been positive or neutral. Commissioned by the RSA and LGIU, the survey found that the number of council CEOs and senior staff that are pessimistic about the impact of the cuts on the most vulnerable is small but growing.

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A campaign by the RSA and the TUC to lift key restrictions on the forthcoming National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) has been recognised by the Work and Pensions Select Committee. The Committee’s report into auto-enrolment, concludes that certain restrictions placed on NEST will create complexity for employers and will disadvantage some employees. The RSA wholeheartedly endorses the report and believes a failure to act will compromise the success of the Government’s flagship pension policy of auto-enrolment.

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Businesses should act as ‘community hubs’, helping promote social interaction amongst their customers and developing local action plans to create happier, more resilient communities according to a new report published today by the RSA.The Community Footprint: Shared Value for Business and Communitiesconcludes that the competitiveness of businesses is related to the health of the communities in which they operate.

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Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are over represented in ‘stubbornly satisfactory’ schools that often fail to improve, according to a major report published today by the RSA. (Un)Satisfactory? Enhancing Life Chances by Improving ‘Satisfactory’ Schoolsfound that those schools with disadvantaged pupil populations are more likely to ‘coast’, remaining ‘stubbornly satisfactory’ and not improving between inspections.

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