communities

Recent migration into Scotland: the evidence base

This report reviews evidence on the impact of migration into Scotland since 2004, when the accession of the A8 countries - Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia - to the European Union resulted in increased migration into the UK. The review includes available evidence in relation to other groups, including asylum seekers and refugees. The review uses evidence from a range of published and unpublished sources, including datasets, surveys and qualitative studies, across the two main areas of economic and employment impacts and social impacts.

The Strategic Isolation of the British Drugs Field and new Recovery Philosophy.

In March 2008, a new 10 year national drugs strategy document was published: Drugs: protecting families and communities. This new drug strategy presents an agenda which strongly reinforces the main points of the last strategy with its emphasis on crime reduction and community safety. Like its predecessor, it says less about individual health and social outcomes. In the same month the United Kingdom Drug Policy Commission, (UKDPC), an independent think tank, published a major report on the drugs strategy and its key focus criminal justice.

Carers at the heart of 21st century families and communities

The Carers Strategy sets out the Government’s short-term agenda and long-term vision for the future care and support of carers. At the heart of 21st-century families and communities.

In a changing society most people are living longer, many are developing long-term clinical conditions and the vast majority have rising aspirations in terms of maintaining maximum independence and control over their own lives. Consequently, an increasing number of people may find themselves taking on a caring role at some point in their lives.

What works in enabling cross-community interactions?: perspectives on good policy and practice

This report briefly reviews the evidence for the current state of community interaction within England, together with theoretical approaches such as ‘contact theory’ which can inform activities that bring individuals and groups together. The report then draws on the expertise of 28 practitioners from across the country who highlight activities which can be used to stimulate greater interaction and the obstacles and barriers that exist.