This event is exclusive to Friends of Tortoise
in partnership with UCL
Social inequality may have been starkly highlighted and exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, but it was entrenched long before the first case crossed UK borders. Since then, UK inflation has hit a 40-year high, but behind the headline-grabbing statistics are real people in crisis. The rising cost of energy and food has not affected everyone equally. Based on November ONS data, the Resolution Foundation estimated that inflation for the richest households was 9.6 per cent – while for the poorest it was 12.5 per cent.
UCL’s ThinkIn series, in partnership with Tortoise, set out to ask how an intersectional approach could help us to re-think the principles of policymaking. We spoke to experts across the policymaking spectrum, from those who had worked at the highest level of government to those on the front line of the crisis. The result: a series of practical steps for policymakers to take forward. They are aimed not just at mitigating this crisis, but to put in place robust mechanisms to garner better outcomes for the inevitable next.
Underpinning the steps outlined in the report is a need for policymakers to acknowledge that this is not a moment in time – this is not just a cost of living crisis, but a UK poverty crisis. And crucially, whilst media momentum has waned, the crisis remains, with existing policy responses so far ineffective. There is a need for tangible solutions – rethinking the mechanisms of policy making and cross-society partnership – that put in place more effective and robust long-term thinking.
Join UCL and Tortoise to discuss: How can policy shift from short-term sticking plasters to long-term policy approaches? How do we make sure the right data – and at the right level – is available to policymakers? How can we work to bring the “three legs of society” – business, government and civil society – together to build more effective policy?
Timings: 9.00 – 10.00am (8.45 for breakfast).
For more information about the previous events in this series, click here.
editor and invited experts
Jess Winch
News Editor, Tortoise
Dr George Dibb
Associate Director for Economic Policy and Head of the Centre for Economic Justice, IPPR
Katie Watts
Head of Campaigns and Policy, Money Saving Expert
Professor Ann Phoenix
Professor of Psychosocial Studies, UCL Institute of Education
Thomas Pope
Deputy Chief Economist, Institute for Government