Student Debt: Abandon All Hope?

23^rd January 2014

Much has been written over the last fifteen years, since University tuition fees were first introduced, about the rights and the wrongs of asking graduates to pay back society for their degrees.

Education + Higher education + Personal finance + University + University fees

Community Energy Strategy: The Roadblock to Scaling Community Energy

22^nd January 2014

Community Energy will remain the domain of wealthy areas where volunteers (often professionals and retired) muster up the enthusiasm, knowledge and community spirit to deploy and finance a low carbon technology, for the benefit of the community.

Community energy + Community finance + Energy + Social impact + Solar PV

Who Is Lonely And When?

17^th January 2014

Who is lonely and when? Loneliness (that unwelcome feeling that occurs when there is a mismatch between the number and quality of relationships we want and those we have) can be a serious issue for many older people.

Care + Loneliness + Support

Immigration Week: The Costs Of Bashing Immigration

6^th January 2014

Immigration has been a major political topic in the UK during 2013. Yet despite all the evidence which shows that immigration has a positive impact on the British economy and the lip service that politicians from all parties pay to the benefits of diversity in our society, most of the debate has been about how we can prevent people from coming here or how we can force people to return home.

Immigration Week: Figuring Out Integration

18^th December 2013

The current debate around immigration amongst politicians and the media, which has become increasingly negative, has led to growing tensions within communities who continue to struggle with the idea of integration.

Immigration Week: The Social Dimensions Of Integration

18^th December 2013

According to the concerned public bodies and much of the media, migrants are the bane of the NHS. In October last year an official report commissioned by the government, announced that the NHS was spending up to £2bn a year on foreign visitors and short-term migrants, with so –called ‘health tourists’ costing between £70m and £300m a year.

Immigration Week: Stories, Statistics And Stereotyping

17^th December 2013

In 1946 a young, half Serbian, quarter Spanish girl arrived in the UK on a Cessna plane from Belgrade. She spoke only Serbo-Croat. She had seen her Jewish friends carted off to the concentration camps and her mother’s hair had turned white with the effort of keeping her alive during the wartime years in Yugoslavia.

Immigration

The Church and the Future of Credit Unions

12^th December 2013

In a co-ordinated demonstration of support for credit unions, over 40 Bishops visited or joined their local credit union in October. In the wake of comments by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the summer, churches and credit unions are working together to strengthen the provision of local, affordable financial services in the communities they both serve.

Communities + Credit union

2013 Autumn Statement: ResPublica ResPonds

8^th December 2013

Thursday 5th December saw the Chancellor George Osborne deliver his fourth Autumn Statement to the Commons. Following a week’s worth of predications and the usual leaks to the media, to somewhat subdued anticipation the Chancellor used his opportunity at the despatch box to formally outline the Government’s plans for Britain’s economic future.

Autumn statement + ResPublica ResPonds

2013 Autumn Statement: An SME’s Christmas wish list

5^th December 2013

Lending to SMEs, or rather the lack of it, is one of the biggest impediments to a healthy UK economic recovery. Up until now, the Government has been relying on the methadone treatments of QE and the Funding for Lending Scheme (which, to date, has only served to boost the housing bubble) to keep our low-interest-rate-drug-addled economy going.

Alternative finance + Autumn statement + Platform black + SME + SME finance