For the last two years the CSJ has been working flat out to develop important social justice ideas to inform those planning for government in May. We have:
• Travelled over 50,000 miles around the UK;
• Visited almost 1,000 poverty-fighting charities and projects;
• Polled 6,000 members of the public.
Through our 350-strong poverty-fighting alliance of charities we have spent time in some of the most deprived communities – from Rhyl to Rochdale, from Margate to parts of Manchester, from Great Yarmouth to Glasgow – to discover first-hand what is fuelling poverty.
Last year we presented practical solutions in our six Breakthrough Britain 2015 reports which were grounded in the experiences of those trapped in poverty.
Breakthrough Britain 2015 was also a call to an incoming Government to continue the fight against poverty by tackling it at its roots.
This is the most uncertain election the nation has seen for generations, and we are no closer to knowing who will walk into Downing Street than we were six months ago.
With the campaign in its final few weeks, the manifestos have been presented by each political party and we are pleased to report major CSJ impact in each of them. The CSJ has had a significant influence, with more than 70 manifesto commitments derived from our work.
A number of these commitments were called for in the CSJ's own manifesto, published earlier this year.
We are delighted that a number of major policies received cross-party support from the three main parties, including the pledge to ban the sale and distribution of so called ‘legal highs’, as the CSJ called for in Ambitious for Recovery; and for mental health treatment to have the same priority as physical health treatment, as we called for in Completing the Revolution.
We also welcome the fact that all three parties pledged support to the principle of Universal Credit, a policy recommended by the CSJ. However, if elected Labour will pause and review the reform. It is vital this reform is continued and expanded by whoever forms a Government, as it is improving the lives of Britain's poorest and ensures work pays.
Some of the other manifesto highlights included:
1) The introduction of better measures to tackle child poverty by analysing its root causes, as the CSJ recommended in Rethinking Child Poverty.
2) A commitment to tackle youth unemployment, including by replacing Jobseeker’s Allowance for 18-21 year olds with a Youth Allowance, as the CSJ recommended in The Journey to Work.
3) A new semi-custodial sentence for prolific criminals, allowing for swift and certain justice, as the CSJ called for in Sentences in the Community.
1) Restoring the role of Sure Start centres as Family Hubs, as the CSJ recommended in Fully Committed.
2) An end to time limited 15-minute slots for care workers to visit older people at home, as the CSJ called for in Age of Opportunity.
3) Strengthening the law on domestic violence and giving more support to victims which the CSJ called for in Beyond Violence.
1) Introduction of specialist drug courts to tackle addiction and reduce reoffending which the CSJ called for in Ambitious for Recovery.
2) Expansion of the Troubled Families programme, as the CSJ called for in Fully Committed.
3) Improved careers advice in schools and colleges which the CSJ called for in Journey to Work.
It is not only the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party who adopted CSJ recommendations in their manifestos, but other parties including the Green Party, UKIP and the Scottish National Party.
At the CSJ we are committed to working with whoever forms a Government to ensure these ideas and others that we have proposed are delivered.
For a full list of CSJ policies in the party manifestos, please see our Election Watch page.
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