Workplace expert Acas has today launched a consultation on its new draft statutory Code of Practice on handling requests for a predictable working pattern.
Recent years have seen changing patterns of work and an increase in concerns about the impact that an unpredictable working pattern can have on some workers’ ability to generate a reliable income and to manage their work-life balance.
Young people leaving care have long experienced financial difficulties when they move out of the care system. The sharp rise in the cost-of-living has exacerbated an already difficult situation as care-experienced young people without the financial cushion of ‘the bank of mum and dad’ attempt to manage their money and avoid debt.
The Trussell Trust, an anti-poverty charity that operates a network of food banks across the UK, reported a 37% increase in the number of three-day emergency food parcels it distributed between 31 March 2022 and 1 April 2023, compared to the year before.
This study, the fourth in the Destitution in the UK series, reveals approximately 3.8 million people experienced destitution in 2022, including around one million children. This is almost two-and-a-half times the number of people in 2017, and nearly triple the number of children. There is an urgent need for action to tackle destitution in the UK.
The cost of living crisis has left many households struggling to afford essential goods and services. This report explores the case for social tariffs – discounts offered to certain vulnerable customers – the goods they are best suited to and how they should be designed to deliver for all.
Whoever forms the next government will be leading a country in which improvements in life expectancy have stalled and where the health of the poorest has got worse. This presents a problem, not only for health and well-being but also for the future of our economy, the NHS and social care. For the nation’s economy to prosper, and keep up with progress in other economies across the world, it needs a healthy workforce. Poorer health limits people’s opportunity to engage in work. In turn, being out of work can lead to poverty, which is associated with worse health outcomes.
Cancer is the cause of just over a quarter of all deaths in England in a typical year. The most common cancers are breast, lung, prostate and bowel cancer. In 2021, 134,802 people died from cancer in England. The number of deaths has increased by 6% since 2001. But after accounting for the fact that England’s population is both growing and ageing, the rate of cancer deaths has fallen by 23% among men and 16% among women.
This briefing covers mental health policy and services in England. As health is a devolved matter, the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are responsible for setting their own policies in this area. Links to policies of devolved administrations are provided in section 7 of this briefing.
Browse data constituency estimates for the prevalence of 20 health conditions, including diabetes, depression, asthma, high blood pressure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), dementia, and epilepsy. These estimates are based on analysis of 2022/23 data from England’s GP practices published by NHS Digital.
Many of the UK’s biggest organisations with an interest in mental health have come together to
develop and promote this plan to address worsening mental health. Ahead of the UK general
election, we will campaign for these policies to be adopted as part of a 10-year, cross-government
mental health strategy, ideally to begin in the first year of the next parliament.