Latest Updates

New guidelines on how public sector bodies should deal with concerns raised by staff and the public have just been published.

The Covid-19 pandemic has drawn attention away from the ongoing crisis of SEN provision in the education system. There is no easy fix.

The argument for a green recovery to the pandemic is growing across the globe, as Scope reported last week.

The Executive has plenty on its plate but now is the time to look at childcare in Northern Ireland.

This week 57 charities, including NI Environment Link wrote to the Prime Minister demanding all elements of any recovery package be consistent with reaching net zero emissions by 2050. 

Quintin Oliver on how to build a better world post pandemic. 

Covid-19 risks an increase in loneliness. It also makes loneliness much more difficult to tackle. We have to think of ways to work against these problems – especially with Northern Ireland at risk of a coronavirus second wave.

If we’ve learned anything from the pandemic, surely it is that there is nothing more important than our health and wellbeing.

Many NI charities are struggling financially The Covid-19 Charities Fund will help some but not all. Scope speaks with the Willowfield Parish Community Association, whose experience is emblematic of wider worries.

This weekend marks the anniversary of one of the more improbable incidents in Ireland’s strange and troubled past.

It is Volunteers’ Week. Given that the world feels like it is descending somewhere dark, it truly is worth remembering how much people are willing to help others without expecting anything in return.

Never mind clapping the carers, the only solution to our crumbling adult social care services is to fix the broken system.

Before Covid-19, Northern Ireland’s childcare sector worked hard but was under-resourced. Now it faces huge challenges, and shortages could hamstring our economic and social recovery from coronavirus.

Lockdown has re-connected most of us to the outdoors and the simple joys of walking.

The pressures Covid-19 has placed on the third sector are, amongst other things, ironic. They also get to the heart of what the sector is, and why it is special. DfC’s Community Response Plan illustrates this well.

Lauren Pennycook from the Carnegie UK Trust argues that local authorities are leading the way in supporting their communities during the pandemic

There are experts, and then there are other experts, and sometimes they don’t agree.

The first test of a universal basic income has proved a success. A large majority of the public want it introduced. Politicians at Westminster are drawing up plans. Is UBI now more likely than not?

It’s Red Cross Week, and Scope speaks to the organisation here in Northern Ireland about how it has had to transform its work to tackle the pandemic.

The Coronavirus Act is one of the most repressive pieces of legislation ever enacted by government. Scope talks to NI Human Rights Chief Commissioner Les Allamby about the implications.