More than 10 years’ of cumulative reductions in funding to councils, exacerbated by long-term impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic and coupled with rising demand for services, have brought budgets to a tipping point. But what can be done?
Every democracy at times has to make difficult decisions – making sacrifices or accepting restraints in the longer-term interest of the community. Sometimes these choices are thrown up by emergencies like wars and pandemics. Sometimes they are thrown up by slower moving crises, like reforming pensions or committing to multi-decade strategies on net zero.
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered major shifts in labour markets globally. There has been an increasing focus globally on expanding and diversifying workforces, as well as facilitating the participation of underutilised groups in the labour market, and people with disabilities (PWD) are one of the key groups of interest.
Little in recent years has brought social change more swiftly, and with such little precedent, as the shift to remote methods in work, education, and service delivery. Understanding how this continues to impact disabled people is critical to addressing socioeconomic inequalities in UK society.
