Video: Experiences of Debt Audits in Europe since 2011
Posted inCitizen 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 over everything else. This is why we need to start to ask questions: In whose interests have financial decisions been made? Who has benefitted from them, and who has paid for them? What power dynamics in society have they reinforced? A debt audit is a tool for democratising financial decision-making. Questioning the legitimacy and fairness of debt enables us to start having conversations about how public money should be used... [continues]
LOBO loans – an explainer
Posted inCitizen 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 the form of risky and expensive long-term loans called LOBOs. You can find out more about LOBOs from DRUK’s Local Authority Debt Audit website. Here are the basics. What is a LOBO loan?LOBO is a long-term loan, typically 40-70 years. The acronym stands for "Lender Option Borrower Option". The lender's (bank's) option is to change the interest rate at pre-agreed call dates (e.g. once or twice a year). The borrower... [continues]
Cuts and contempt – experiences of austerity and council democracy in Newham
Posted inCitizen Debt Audit Publications

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 debt audit" that seeks to evaluate the social sustainability of Newham council’s borrowing from banks in the form of LOBO loans. The aim of a citizen debt audit is to improve the accountability of local government towards its residents in managing funds in the public interest. We hope to start a conversation about the legitimacy of the continued, ring-fenced expenditure towards the financial sector in the context of harsh austerity... [continues]
#Newsletter: One year of Research for Action
Posted inNewsletters

#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 pipeline for a while as we wanted to set up an organisation that would enable us to develop independent research that was meaningful to us and useful for furthering social, economic and environmental justice, and do so in a sustainable way. After many brainstorming sessions, post-it notes, cups of coffee and multiple name choices, Research for Action was born. It has been an exciting year for us. We were awarded... [continues]
Report summary: Experiences of austerity and council democracy in Newham
Posted inCitizen 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 conversation about the legitimacy of the continued, ring-fenced expenditure to financial sector in the context of cuts in services in one of the most deprived areas in England. 43 per cent of children in Newham grow up in poverty. Yet since 2010, the council has cut spending on services by nearly a third. For this study, we asked 51 Newham residents about their experiences interacting with a range of council... [continues]
The battle for answers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Posted inGrenfell 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 regarding who held responsibility for the decisions that led to the loss of 71 lives. Hoping to help uncover answers to some of the wider questions around council housing that have been left outside the official inquiry into the fire, Research for Action has been using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to obtain information from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC). In August and September, we requested... [continues]
Open Letter: Cancel KPMG Appointment as Advisors to Grenfell Tower Inquiry
Posted inGrenfell 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! Read updated coverage on the Guardian, FT, BBC. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We the undersigned, call upon the Cabinet Office and Prime Minister Theresa May to reverse the decision to appoint KPMG as advisors to the Grenfell Tower inquiry, without competition. The failure of KPMG to disclose a clear conflict of interest - that KPMG audit Celotex, the parent company which produced the flammable cladding, alongside its role as auditors of the Royal Borough... [continues]
10 Reasons Newham Council is the UK’s ‘Debt Capital’
Posted inCitizen 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 Robin Wales attempted to explain away Newham’s shocking debt position as a natural consequence of the decline of the Newham Docklands, which hit working class communities in London’s East End particularly hard from the 1960s. But are there other causes that link back to Newham Council's economic, social and welfare priorities - such as chronic under-investment in social housing, low wages and a history of support for gambling - causing... [continues]
Why is The FCA Incapable of Protecting Small Business?
Posted inRBS - GRG

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 of questions for TSC MPs will undoubtedly be the RBS Global Restructuring Group (GRG) scandal, including how the financial regulator has dealt with GRG victims complaints and the delayed RBS GRG s166 report, first commissioned in 2014. An initial summary report, ignoring senior RBS managers' roles, was released last week. The MPs ought to ask Andrew Bailey more fundamental questions. Why is the FCA’s Head of Retail Banking Supervision informing... [continues]
Research for Action submission to Grenfell Tower inquiry terms of reference
Posted inGrenfell 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 the politics, policies and day-to-day realities of housing privatisation, urban regeneration and state-led gentrification in the UK. Recent research was an ESRC-funded project exploring residents' experiences of housing/ estate regeneration in England under Private Finance Initiative (PFI). Sid Ryan: Is an investigative journalist specialising in the NHS, Private Finance Initiative and the Freedom of Information Act. During a Fellowship at the Centre for Investigative Journalism, pursued a project into widespread... [continues]