Ben Cooper

Jan 24, 2025 | fraserofallander.org | Mairi Spowage |Emma Congreve |Ben Cooper

Yesterday the Scottish government confirmed that plans for a National Care Service (NCS) in Scotland have been scrapped in favour of an advisory board and smaller, more targeted reforms. The decision came after months of declining support from key organizations and stakeholders including COSLA, key trade unions and representative bodies for social care providers in Scotland.

Jan 9, 2025 | leftfootforward.org | Ben Cooper

Ben Cooper is Research Manager at the Fabian Society. At the turn of this century, social housing was in dire need of investment. In 2001, 38 per cent of social homes in England failed to meet basic housing standards, with an estimated £19bn repair backlog. Today, things are very different. Just ten per cent of social homes are considered ‘non-decent’ and are not meeting the current Decent Homes Standard. This improvement in social housing stock was largely due to New Labour’s Decent Homes Programme.

Nov 19, 2024 | labourlist.org | Ben Cooper

No political party has ever formed a government without at least some rural voters. At the most recent election, Labour made enormous strides forward with rural Britain. Fabian Society analysis found the party went from representing just two of the most rural constituencies to representing 40. Even in seats that were only partially rural, those rural voters often made the difference between defeat and victory. Since the Budget, these rural votes have enjoyed an all-too-rare time in the spotlight.

Oct 16, 2024 | thetimes.com | Ben Cooper

Criminals who trick people into sending them money is the most common type of fraud in the UK. Known as authorised push payment (APP) fraud, it cost victims £460 million last year. As a result, pressure has increased on ministers and regulatory bodies to implement changes to help prevent it. Since 2019, most large banks have joined a voluntary contingency reimbursement model, which meant that up to 90 per cent of APP fraud victims in the UK were entitled to reimbursement.

Oct 3, 2024 | professionaladviser.com | Ben Cooper

In a ruling made earlier this summer, the UK Court of Appeal decided in R (World Uyghur Congress) v National Crime Agency that the decision by the National Crime Agency (NCA) to refuse to investigate the import of cotton into the UK value chain from the Xinjiang Uyghur region was unlawful. Crucially, the Court of Appeal overturned a widely held interpretation of the money laundering offences in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).