Monthly Archives: March 2016

Opportunities and Threats for UK Environmental Policy

Major threats to environmental policy over the current Parliament include deregulation, economic uncertainty and the dominance of the Treasury, according to panellists at a ‘Castle Debate‘ at the Law Society on 15th March. The event, ‘Government Environmental Policy: Opportunities and Threats‘, was the latest in a regular programme of discussion meetings organised by Pamela Castle OBE, providing an opportunity for leading

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Are we ‘sleepwalking into segregation’? Panellists discuss at ‘Integrated Britain?’ event

Mark Rusling, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People in Waltham Forest, suggested that the UK is in danger of ‘sleepwalking into segregation’ at an event examining the topic of integration in British society last night at the RGS-IBG. The event, the latest in the series of ’21st Century Challenges‘ discussion meetings for public audiences, saw distinguished panellists take to

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Tonight: Integrated Britain? Panel discussion

Meet the panel for tonight’s discussion Tuesday 15 March, 7pm at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). Tickets can be bought on the door or at http://www.rgs.org/WhatsOn/21st+Century+Challenges/Integrated+Britain.htm We hope to see you there! Speakers Sonia Sodha (Chair), Chief Leader Writer, Observer Sonia is Chief Leader Writer at the Observer and a freelance public policy and strategy consultant. Previously she was

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Integrated Britain? Geographers Examine the Effects of ‘Onward Migration’

Image: Malachy Browne (taken in the Calais ‘Jungle’) Since 2000, the UK Government has operated a policy of ‘compulsory dispersal’ of refugees, aiming to spread the burden of housing asylum seekers across the UK to discourage long-term settlement in the South East of the country and in London. Very little has been known however about whether refugees remain in the

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The Migration ‘Balloon Effect’ and its Implications for Policy

UK Government policies aimed at reducing the flow of migrants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to this country are likely to have a smaller effect than intended and to adversely affect the UK’s talent pool. These are among the key findings of a recent study by Dr Carlos Vargas-Silva and Dr Cinzia Rienzo from COMPAS (the University of Oxford’s Centre on

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Professor Christina Boswell to Join ‘Europe’s Migration Crisis?’ Panel

Professor Christina Boswell will join our panel on 22nd March to discuss ‘Europe’s Migration Crisis?‘. Christina Boswell is Professor of Politics at the University of Edinburgh. She is Co-Director of the Centre for Science, Knowledge and Policy (SKAPE), and Director of Research for the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh. Her research examines the relationship

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The Benefits of Social Housing To Young, Poor Households

The interim findings of an ESRC and Public Policy Institute for Wales-funded project on housing schemes and poverty alleviation show that becoming a tenant in social housing is likely to have positive impacts on the gross income, housing quality and financial prospects of young, poor households, although whether these benefits last for the long term is unproven. The study, ‘The

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Analysing the UK’s North – South Divide

A new report shows the scale of the divide between economic development in the north and the south of Great Britain. The report, ‘Uneven growth: tackling city decline‘ reveals that although many Northern cities are growing, this growth often lags significantly behind national levels. The report was written for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) by geographers at the Centre for Urban

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Public panel discussion: Integrated Britain?

Tuesday 15 March 2016 7.00 – 8.30pm Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Globalisation has increased the cross-border and cross-continental movement of people and ideas like never before. The UK, continuing its long history of immigration, is more culturally diverse than ever, with London alone home to 270 nationalities speaking 300 languages. Understanding how our different cultures interact is complex and

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UK Population Projected to Exceed 70 Million by 2039

Crowd - by James Cridland

Image: Crowd, by James Cridland Last week saw the release of two new analyses: the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) quarterly update to its annual net migration figures and projections from the Migration Observatory of the impact of migration on UK population growth. The Migration Observatory’s analysis, by Dr Alessio Cangiano, shows that more than half (51%) of the increase in

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