How England’s scrapped Sure Start centres boosted the health and education of disadvantaged children: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock The Sure Start programme was launched in 1999, with centres set up in communities across England to offer support to the most disadvantaged families. These centres had significant investment and a broad remit that focused on improving the lives of …
Cancer: people living in England’s poorest areas at higher risk of death – new study: Those living in London had the lowest risk of dying from cancer. namtipStudio/ Shutterstock Nationally, the risk of dying from most cancers is falling thanks to improvements in screening, diagnostics and treatment. But new research shows stark health inequalities still …
Inflation: I’ve been analysing the Bank of England’s forecast over the past two years – here’s how they got it wrong: The Bank of England (BoE) has been strongly criticised for failing to predict the surge in inflation. Had it done so, it could have reacted more quickly and prevented inflation from rising as high …
How the Bank of England’s interest rate hikes are filtering through to your finances: The Bank of England, London. Claudio Divizia/Shutterstock The Bank of England has increased interest rates to 5.25%, a level not seen since April 2008 and markedly higher than the all-time lows of 0.1% seen less than two years ago. In fact, …
Why does the FA give the Lionesses less social media support than England’s men? It needs to up its game for the Women’s World Cup: Piotr Piatrouski/Shutterstock During the 2022 European Championship, The Football Association’s (FA) @England account tweeted about the women’s team 80% less than the dedicated @Lionesses account did. According to my research, …
How England’s new lung cancer screening could save thousands of lives – expert Q&A: Lightspring/Shutterstock Lung cancer is often caught too late. As a result, it has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers. To detect it earlier, NHS England is rolling out a nationwide screening programme that has already begun in some …
Why the Bank of England’s interest rate hikes aren’t slowing inflation enough and what that means for mortgages: Consumer price inflation stuck at 8.7% in May, defying expectations of a slowdown and making a further rise in UK interest rates inevitable. The May figures came out the day before the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy …
England’s plan to introduce east Asia-style maths textbooks widely rejected by primary schools: DGLimages/Shutterstock Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently outlined a plan to improve maths skills in England, which will see young people study the subject at school until they are 18. This sounds straightforward but it’s worth considering how tricky new educational policy is …
Ring for the King: the long history of England’s bellringing tradition: Ahead of King Charles’s coronation on May 6 2023, there have been reports of a national shortage of bellringers. The UK counts 38,000 churches. The hope is that each will “ring for the king”, as the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers has labelled …
How Black children in England’s schools are made to feel like the way they speak is wrong: Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock Whiteness is an invention of the modern, colonial age. It refers to the racialisation of white people and the disproportionate privilege – social, linguistic, economic, political – that comes with this. Crucially, as an invention, …
To clean up England’s rivers we need to know how much sewage is dumped – but water firms won’t tell us: A sewer overflow maintained by United Utilities that flows into the River Tame in Greater Manchester. Jamie Woodward, Author provided UK environment secretary Thérèse Coffey has demanded that water companies share plans for how …
Grayson Perry’s Full English shows why England’s regions are crucial to its identity: In his Channel 4 series, Full English, artist Grayson Perry travels around England in a white van searching for an answer to the question: “Is there a viable version of England and Englishness that will feed my soul?” What Perry discovers in …
Decade of progress on making England’s homes safer threatened by austerity and the pandemic: Investing in housing should be just as important in public health messaging as exercise and having your five a day. I Wei Huang | Shutterstock In her ruling on the death of two-year old Awaab Ishak in Rochdale in 2020, senior …
?England’s early years educators are underpaid and undervalued – only government investment can improve this: Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock Early education and care for children aged from birth to five in England is at a critical point. On one hand, the cost of care and education to parents at a time of high price rises is …
England’s housing strategy carries a high carbon cost – unless politicians are willing to change plans: The government's response to the housing crisis has been to build more homes. M2020/Shutterstock England’s housing sector accounts for 20% of the country’s emissions. Its stock is outdated and efforts to improve the energy efficiency of England’s homes are …
Dead crustaceans washing up on England’s north-east coast may be victims of the green industrial revolution: Thousands of dead and dying crustaceans were found along Teesside's coastlines last year. FlorianKunde/Shutterstock Thousands of dead and dying crabs and lobsters washed up along a 50km stretch of England’s north-east coast last autumn. Observers reported seeing the animals …
Extensive algal blooms in England’s lakes: here’s why: There have been reports of extensive blooms of blue-green algae on Lake Windermere this summer. Sergey Muhlynin/Shutterstock This year has seen growing public concern over the state of England’s largest lake, Windermere. Campaigners, local residents and visitors have reported extensive blooms of blue-green algae at the site, …
UK interest rate rise: what the Bank of England’s historic hike means for your money: Households will feel the effect of rate rises as the Bank of England tries to slow inflation. New Africa / Shutterstock The Bank of England has raised its base rate by 0.5 percentage points, the largest single upward jump in …