Cut off III: the social impact of utility disconnection

This paper analyses the circumstances that led to people being disconnected from utilities, the impacts of disconnection, and how people manage to finance reconnection. It is based on 171 surveys and four interviews with consumers disconnected in the second half of 2012.  Findings are compared with Cut Off survey results from 2004 and 2008, noting a number of significant changes over the past eight years. The research reveals that paid workers are just as likely as pensioners and the unemployed to be disconnected from electricity, gas or water. Disconnection is most often the result of long-term financial stress rather than a one-off event. Furthermore, a significant number of respondents reported an unusually high utility bill and debt prior to disconnection. There was also a high proportion of people who felt that retailer payment plans were unaffordable, and a large number of people did not know that vouchers or payment assistance existed to pay utility bills in emergency situations. This suggests a strong need to improve and promote existing support services and for utility retailers to engage with consumers in ways that are tailored to their needs to avoid disconnection, especially for paid workers who may not be eligible for government assistance

Housing and Communities' Inequalities in Northern Ireland : Summary Report

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) commissioned the University of York to review the evidence and data on housing and communities’ inequalities for people associated with each of the Section 75 equality grounds of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Since the 2007 ECNI Key Inequalities in Northern Ireland report, the Northern Ireland housing system has undergone profound shocks arising from the financial crisis and its aftermath. Against this backdrop, the report compares to what extent different groups of people are able to access adequate and sustainable housing to identify key inequalities. The review comprised a comprehensive literature review of housing policy and research and of different groups of people in Northern Ireland; a review of a range of data resources; 12 telephone interviews with local stakeholders; and an expert seminar to discuss the interim findings. There are a number of caveats to the report, in that the evidence base was stronger for some equality grounds than others, and the descriptive data utilised is limited by the analysis being unable to disentangle the impacts of individual equality grounds from others, and from a lack of time series or longitudinal data

Building virtual bridges: how rural micro-enterprises develop social capital in online and face-to-face settings

In rural UK, businesses are often isolated and have much to gain from healthy networks, yet studies show that many rural business owners fail to network effectively. Information communications technologies offer new ways to network that might benefit rural businesses by expanding their reach. This study looked at online and face-to-face networking behaviour among rural micro-enterprises in Scotland in relation to the development of bonding and bridging social capital. Given the challenges of remoteness faced by many rural businesses, online networking is particularly useful in developing bridging capital, but is an unsuitable context for building the trust needed to gain tangible benefits. The article therefore highlights the importance of face-to-face interactions in developing trust and bonding social capital. Rural business owners face distinctive challenges with respect to online communications, which are explored in this article

Housing and Communities' Inequalities in Northern Ireland

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) commissioned the University of York to review the evidence and data on housing and communities’ inequalities for people associated with each of the Section 75 equality grounds of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Since the 2007 ECNI Key Inequalities in Northern Ireland report, the Northern Ireland housing system has undergone profound shocks arising from the financial crisis and its aftermath. Against this backdrop, the report compares to what extent different groups of people are able to access adequate and sustainable housing to identify key inequalities. This review comprised a comprehensive literature review of housing policy and research and of different groups of people in Northern Ireland; a review of a range of data resources; 12 telephone interviews with local stakeholders; and an expert seminar to discuss the interim findings. There are a number of caveats to the report, in that the evidence base was stronger for some equality grounds than others, and the descriptive data utilised is limited by the analysis being unable to disentangle the impacts of individual equality grounds from others, and from a lack of time series or longitudinal data