This is a summary diagram the 2015 Productivity Commission report, More effective social services, that looked into social service provision in New Zealand, asking why – despite the hard work and…

This 2017 Briefing to the Incoming Minister sets out why social investment matters, and what a successful social investment approach could look like. The components to enable a social investment…

In the context of austerity, public services in England have been focused on short-term crises rather than long-term solutions. This report argues that pooling central government funding in local…

In 2018, the then-Government tasked social sector Chief Executives to look into the way their agencies worked with social service providers. This 2020 report sets out some of the outcomes from that…

This 2015 report took an extensive look into social service provision in New Zealand, asking why – despite the hard work and commitment of service providers – social services were not always…

This 2014 research report came out of the Families 100 project, which involved extensive research with 100 families experiencing poverty in Auckland. The report uses ‘composite characters’ to…

This 2014 research report came out of the Families 100 project, which looked into the lives of 100 families who use foodbanks, to understand what prevents them from moving out of poverty. Eight key…

Understanding what works for whom at what cost starts with asking the right questions. Questions should be framed to help a policy professional: • understand the population who will be the target of…

This guidance is aimed at any local government officer involved in the report writing process: writers, reviewers, managers and governance professionals. It supports officers to provide robust,…

Narratives are critical to policy, but some pitfalls should be avoided. Policy professionals should avoid a ‘knowledge fallacy’, that people will agree with a policy if they just have more knowledge,…