Research for Action

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Home
Projects
Events
Blog
Contact us

Research for Action is a workers’ co-operative producing research to support social, economic and environmental justice.

Through in-depth investigations into vested interests and corporate power as well as researching alternative economic models, Research for Action produces informative, reliable and accessible material for the general public, the media, civil society and grassroots organisations to help strengthen their activities in bringing about long lasting change.

WHAT WE OFFER

Investigations

“How to…” guides

Reports

FOI support

Workshops

Consulting

CURRENT PROJECTS

Reclaim Local Democracy

Citizen Debt Audit

Guest blog: Austerity and Gateshead Council

The equivalent of 50% of our council tax is paid out in interest payments on debt owed to central government and banks. By Gateshead resident, Liz Moylett.
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Newsletters

October newsletter: share your experiences of local accountability

Hi all, It’s a busy autumn after a summer break, and we need your help again! One of the most important strategies in our work on LOBO loans has been…
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Citizen Debt Audit

Share your experience of using the Local Audit and Accountability Act

Research for Action is investigating the effectiveness of the Local Audit and Accountability Act in relation to the rights it grants the public to: inspect council financial accounts ask a…
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Newsletters

July newsletter: festivals, council accounts & credit card cost cap

Welcome to our July newsletter. Summer means picnics and barbeques, workshops at festivals and inspection of accounts (doesn’t it?). Here are our news for the month! NEWS Why we need…
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Newsletters

June Newsletter: object to your council’s accounts. We are winning on LOBO loans!

Hi all, Even if it hasn’t felt like summer this week, it is June and the season for inspecting council accounts. An important victory in Newham showed us that exiting…
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Participatory Actions

MP and councillor letter on LOBO loans

Introduction: This letter is intended to be circulated cross-party to MPs and throughout networks of local government councillors in England, Wales and Scotland in councils (at least 2o0) affected by…
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Newsletters

May newsletter: Local elections, summit for change & more

Hi all, Spring is advancing fast and we at Research for Action have another newsletter full of news to tell you… TAKING ACTION Submission to Local Government Finance and the…
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Newsletters

April Newsletter: councils exit RBS LOBO loans

Dear friends of Research for Action, Here are our latest news! We have a busy April coming up full of events and great news to share about banks winding down…
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Newsletters

March Newsletter: finance and empire

Welcome to our March newsletter. Spring is advancing fast and packed with exciting events… We are also proud to announce Research for Action is two years old this month! If…
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Citizen Debt Audit

Seven councils sue Barclays over LOBO loans and LIBOR rigging

Seven councils are suing Barclays over LOBO loans the bank sold them in years 2005 to 2008. The loans’ interest rates were pegged to LIBOR, a benchmark rate set by…
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Solidarity

Solidarity with the Stansted 15

In March 2017, a group of 15 activists halted a flight that was due to deport people from the UK to Nigeria and Ghana. The activists, known as the Stansted…
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Citizen Debt Audit

Councils missing out on £16bn in interest savings by refinancing LOBO loans via Government

Earlier this month, Kent County Council and bankrupt Northamptonshire County Council announced they were refinancing LOBO loans taken out from state-owned RBS. Kent County Council refinanced LOBO loans worth £60m…
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Citizen Debt Audit

Debt and Democracy In Newham – A Citizen Audit of LOBO Debt

The east London borough of Newham has the most bank debt in the form of LOBO loans of any local authority in the UK. Even in austerity conditions, the council…
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Citizen Debt Audit

Launch event: A citizen’s audit of Newham’s bank debt

Join us for the launch of Research for Action’s report on the audit of Newham’s bank debt on 30 October. After a decade of cuts, public services are at…
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Newsletters

#Newsletter: June

Hi all, Here are the latest updates from Research for Action. This is also your final chance to opt in to receiving this newsletter. If you haven’t done so yet,…
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Citizen Debt Audit

Video: Experiences of Debt Audits in Europe since 2011

Ten years from the financial crisis, cuts and privatisation of public services have become the new normal. Yet public sector funds are often constrained by debt repayments that have priority…
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Citizen Debt Audit

LOBO loans – an explainer

Research for Action is developing a citizen debt audit in the London Borough of Newham, building on the investigation by Debt Resistance UK into bank lending to local authorities in…
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Citizen Debt Audit

Cuts and contempt – experiences of austerity and council democracy in Newham

This report was written by Research for Action to document residents’ lived experience of austerity in the London borough of Newham. It is part of evidence collection for a “citizen…
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Newsletters

#Newsletter: One year of Research for Action

Welcome to the first Research for Action newsletter! Research for Action was set up last year as a workers’ co-operative by Fanny, Joel and Vica. It had been in the…
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Citizen Debt Audit

Report summary: Experiences of austerity and council democracy in Newham

Research for Action is collecting evidence of Newham residents’ experiences of cuts to services as part of our citizen debt audit. The aim of the project is to start a…
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Grenfell Tower

The battle for answers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

The aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire has been widely characterised by mistrust in the official processes. Nine months from the fire, the local community is still waiting for answers…
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Grenfell Tower

Open Letter: Cancel KPMG Appointment as Advisors to Grenfell Tower Inquiry

UPDATE: Following publication of this letter on Sunday 7 January in the FT and Guardian, KPMG have announced they are stepping down as advisors to the Grenfell inquiry with immediate effect!…
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Citizen Debt Audit

10 Reasons Newham Council is the UK’s ‘Debt Capital’

On Tuesday 07 November, Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales was questioned by BBC London about the Borough’s ranking as a household debt hotspot – labelled the “UK’s debt capital.” Sir…
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Investigations

Why is The FCA Incapable of Protecting Small Business?

Andrew Bailey, CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), fronts the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) 10am on Tuesday to account for the City regulator’s recent performance. Top of the list…
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Grenfell Tower

Research for Action submission to Grenfell Tower inquiry terms of reference

Contributors to the submission: Professor Stuart Hodkinson: is a Lecturer in Critical Urban Geography (Leeds University). His main research focus is on the ‘new urban enclosures’ with specific interest in…
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Grenfell Tower

Grenfell Tower and RBKC – victims of austerity? or exponents of shock doctrine?

Since 2010, when George Osborne introduced his program of savage 40% cuts to council funding (“austerity”), many councils facing budgetary and cost cutting pressures have peddled the line that due to…
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CONTACT US

For general inquiries
email us at info@researchforaction.uk or contact us via twitter at @research_act
To contact a member directly see details below.

Fanny Malinen

Joel Benjamin

Vica Rogers

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