Author: Guest editor

By Professor Joanne Murphy Department of Management The Good Friday or Belfast Agreement of April 10th 1998, is an international Treaty signed by the British and Irish Governments and is generally regarded to have brought about an end to the long-running conflict in Northern Ireland known as ‘the Troubles’. The Agreement was the culmination of … Continue reading “Putting it Simply: What is the Good Friday Agreement?”

Nearly two weeks on from the Spring Budget announcement, we’re looking back on the policy changes, responses, and how they will affect you. Support for energy bills “The Chancellor has announced that the energy price guarantee will remain unchanged at £2,500 until June 2023. In the meantime, the household winter discount of £400 on energy … Continue reading “Reflections on the 2023 Spring Budget: expert opinions”

By Dr Adam MatthewsSchool of Education OpenAI’s ChatGPT uses machine learning to capture swathes of internet texts to create content which is capable of human-like responses to questions and follow-up dialogue. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in this form is generative; it can create content such as audio, code, images, text and videos – many of the … Continue reading “ChatGPT in education: how much work should we outsource to AI?”

By Jemma Saunders, Department of Film and Creative Writing The West Midlands has long been overlooked in film and television, but last year was a significant year for Birmingham on screen. The final series of Peaky Blinders was broadcast from February to April, while summer saw the city host the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Although a … Continue reading “Peaky Blinders and the fashionable flat cap: looking sharp?”

By Dr Sophie King-Hill, Senior Fellow, Health Services Management Centre and David Russell, Community Safety & Justice Manager Andrew Tate is not far from the news at the moment. Although the online influencer claims to support males in negotiating society and bettering themselves, his ideologies are underpinned by dangerous and extreme misogyny. On face value … Continue reading “The toxic influence of Andrew Tate: How society has failed a generation of young men and boys”

By Dr Anita Soni (University of Birmingham) and Megan Tucker (Community Project Leader for Humanify: making lives better) The winter holidays can be difficult and stressful. Everyone tends to have high expectations. The myth of a perfect Christmas with lots of food, presents, warmth and joy epitomised by images of families eating, playing and laughing … Continue reading “3 ways to get through Christmas”

By Professor Catherine Needham, Professor of Public Policy and Public ManagementHealth Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham Yesterday in the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed what had already been hinted: the cap on social care spending by private individuals would be delayed past its planned implementation date of October 2023. Instead, there will … Continue reading “The cap that never fits – delaying the social care cap yet again”

By Professor Judith SmithSchool of Social Policy, University of Birmingham In these straitened economic times, public services awaited the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement with trepidation, wondering where and how deeply the axe of funding cuts was going to fall. Trailers for the Statement had intimated tax increases, major spending constraint and delays to much-needed policy and … Continue reading “As good as it gets”

By Dr Kelly HallDepartment of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology Social care services are reported to be facing a ‘perfect storm’ of financial and workforce pressures. Spending on social care is falling and fewer people receive publicly funded services. There is a workforce crisis and recent reports suggest that around a quarter of care workers … Continue reading “Can social enterprises tackle the social care crisis?”