news and views

17 Nov 2008

Streets infested with children

If it was not for the word 'infested' this could be a positive headline. During Cadence's consultation on children's play in Somerset someone said that 'the message to children and young people, from adults, about their place in the public realm is very confusing - they want them away from the TV and Playstations, but not playing outside near their homes'. It always seemed a succint way of capturing the current confusion in the public discourse about the youth of today. The person who came up with this quote worked for Barnardo's and it is their survey that found that 35% agreed with the proposition that 'nowadays it feels like the streets are infested with children'... more

12 Nov 2008

Certainty - at any cost?

Donald Rumsfeld's famous "unknown unknowns" phrase got an airing on a Radio 4 discussion about politicans and uncertainty on Sunday. The point being made was that politicians are not allowed to admit they don't know something: the public demand certainty from them. Baronness Estelle Morris ... more

10 Nov 2008

Social mobility and Obama 2

Last weeks Cabinet Office report on social mobility has caused a stir. There is a feeling that the way it was spun to the newspapers lead to a focus on only a small part of the evidence. Or as Danny Dorling puts it in a Compass article - 'Do 3 points make a trend?'... more

5 Nov 2008

Designing out crime initiative

The Home Office backing an intiative to develop new and innovative design solutions to 'help prevent robbery, to crime-proof hot new gadgets and to embed public safety in the design of new public spaces and housing'. It will focus on crime problems that particularly affect young people. This is interesting to us in the context research proposal looking at the relationship between mode of transport and perceptions of young people's behaviour ... more

3 Nov 2008

Social mobility and Obama

If Obama becomes President one of his biggest problems will be attempting to deal with the huge weight of expectation that has grown during the campaign. He might do well to look to the UK, where an enormous number of people feel who were very excited in 1997, now feel diappointed with Labour's impact. One area where progress in the UK has not met expectation is social mobility. Cadence collaborator Professor Danny Dorling has done a lot work in this area and pointed us towards the new Cabinet Office Report released today, that suggests that it 'might start to rise in the future'... more

24 Oct 2008

Public value and staff engagement

The Work Foundation's recent work on public value is interesting. We like their idea of public services 'hitting the target, but missing the point' ... more

17 Oct 2008

Olympic parade and school sport

This week the Government released a press release saying that record number are now doing PE and school sport. This is a success story, but does it have anything at all to do with the Olympics? ... more

10 Oct 2008

Olympic legacy and financial crisis

With high profile Premier League football teams' sponsors going bust or being bailed out (if there is a difference between those two events) the implications of the credit crunch on sport have already been highlighted in the media. There has also been some discussion of how the 2012 Olympics will need to be cheaper/nationalised/smaller. More worrying is that it sounds like the financial crisis is also offering the opportunity for the planners of the Games to wriggle out of their commitments to grassroots sport and increased participation ... more

1 Oct 2008

Co-design and old fashioned banking

Cadence's work on public service innovation has involved some thought around how the full involvement of users and front line workers might work. This is in some ways a response to the generally accepted view that the days of centrally determined targets and processes are numbered. While the current focus of the banking crisis is very much on how naughty the bosses of banks have been in lending to people and organisations who were too risky, there will come a time when we all have to look at ourselves and recognise our own roles in creating this situation. Is it time for a return for the days when those who wanted a loan or mortgage had to make an appointment to see their local bank branch manager? ... more

29 Sep 2008

Child pedestrian casualties and inequality

As football commentators like to put it, it was déjà vu all over again with the Guardian’s recent article ‘Pedestrian road deaths linked to deprivation’. A not dissimilar headline to the 2002 article that said ‘Road death risk higher for deprived children’. Has anything changed? ... more

22 Sep 2008

Broken society and traffic?

At last! Someone has re-created the seminal 1969 Appleyard and Lintell San Fransisco study in the UK. The original study found that 'the weight of traffic in urban areas largely determined people's quality of life and also identified a major erosion of community on busy streets'. More ...

17 Sep 2008

Banking crisis lessons on incentives

Learning from the private sector is something that the public sector is often urged to do. This normally means something about efficiency getting results, the inference is that the public should be more like the private. It's not just the CBI who say this kind of thing, organisations like the Local Government Association quite happily put out press releases saying 'Councils can learn from best in private sector'. The current global financial uncertainty/crisis must have lessons too, but perhaps more about what not to do. Cadence has taken an interest in the role of incentives in promoting innovation and it does seem that the banking industry has been very keen on the use of cash bonus incentive systems in recent years ... more

11 Sep 2008

RSA Tipton Academy and innovation

The Government's Acadamies initiative has always been controversial, largely because of the nature of some of the sponsors, particularly those with their 'Christian ethos'. What has perhaps been lost in the media coverage has been that their overall aim is to to try and create distincitive, innovative schools in more deprived areas that the more aspirational local families choose as oppose to travelling to higher performing schools in more affluent neighbourhoods. That might explain why one of the most quintessentially Blairite policies has not been axed by Gordon Brown, even if innovation in many cases has been restricted to having fancy buildings. The start of the 2008-09 Academic Year sees a whole new raft opening including the RSA sponsored Academy in Tipton in the West Midlands which sounds like it really is innovative ... more

8 Sep 2008

Team sports to blame for obesity?

A BBC report on Loughborough University research has suggested that, 'an over-emphasis on competitive team sports in schools is being blamed for "marginalising" the wider efforts to promote physical exercise'. The Government say they are 'bemused' ... more

1 Sep 2008

Clubs for Young People Blueprint

The first Hearing for the Blueprint for structured community youth work in clubs takes place this week. An interesting selection of experts will give evidence on what they think makes a great club. This follows coverage of research into the relationship between ASBOs and clubs ... more

11 Aug 2008

Women, role models, Gold and participation

Great performances by Nicole Cooke and Rebecca Adlington in the first few days of the Olympics. The Cooke victory was particularly impressive and gritty. But, will these Golds do anything to increase female participation in cycling and walkking? History suggests not ... more

31 Jul 2008

Innovation everywhere ...

Innovation, innovation everywhere, but what to think? Ex-Head of Policy and Strategy at No.10 and now Chief Exec of the RSA, Matthew Taylor, is a big thinker and says in his recent blog that he has 'spending time recently with some amazing social innovators' ... more

24 Jul 2008

Youth justice and inequality

The reports of the apparent rise in extreme youth violence which have been highlighted in recent months is creating a lot of anxiety. Channel 4's series on the subject, Louise Casey's proposals and Imperial College's rejection of Majid Ahmed all contribute to an atmosphere of panic and outrage. Here Jeremy Cushing of the Cadence Network gives his personal view, with references to the role of inequality and restorative justice ... more

15 Jul 2008

Youth crime and role models

Today's announcement of the Youth Crime Action Plan coincided with Hazel Blears launching a search for role models to inspire Black boys. It's not clear whether this was intentional, probably not, but both are relevant to Cadence's work on a Blueprint for community based youth work. These two bits of news appear to link to another recent story, namely the resignation of Ray Lewis, Boris Johnson's Deputy. Was/is Ray Lewis perhaps the sort of role model the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government might be searching for? ... more

27 Jun 2008

Innovate with users, says PM

The Prime Minister has announced that he wants 'World Class Public Services'. He says for that for that to happen, 'means unlocking the creativity and ambition of public sector workers to innovate and drive up standards in partnership with service users', which fits very well with Cadence's recent work in this area ... more

25 Jun 2008

Getting the basics right and innovation

The fact that the loss of personal details of 25 million people was 'entirely avoidable' tells us something about the difficulty in promoting innovation, when getting the basics right can prove to be so difficult. How can we ask government departments to be more innovative when their basic systems for data security are said to be 'woefully inadequate'? Cadence's work on innovation has been looking at how systems can be improved by tapping into the knowledge of front line workers (and users!) and creating the conditions and incentives for them to innovate ... more

16 Jun 2008

Civil Service old fashioned ...

A former Entrepreneur of the Year winner has said, 'that significant parts of the civil service are broken' and that 'the machinery of government is not even in the 20th century, never mind the 21st century.' Some people might not understand why this is in newspaper ... more

9 Jun 2008

Healthy town = Eco Town ?

When is an Eco Town a Healthy Town? Well probably when a local authority employs a good bid writer and as a result they get bit of cash for each initiative. The Department of Health are inviting bids to a new £30 million Healthy Communities Challenge Fund. Which spread over 3 years and the whole of England perhaps is not so exciting after all ... more

4 Jun 2008

Volunteers and red tape

The Government has announced new guidance on CRB checks for volunteers. It aims to take action on the potential for red tape to act as a barrier to volunteering. Cadence welcome this as this is a real issue in a number of areas we work like sport, play and youth policy ... more

23 May 2008

Making opinions count?

Cadence Works have said that one form of innovation for public services would be for actions and policies to be reactive to problems defined by users and front line workers. Too much effort goes into consulting on solutions to the wrong problem. Patient Opinion is currently doing a good job of collecting opinions on health care and ensuring that the insitutions involved get to hear good and bad. The question for us is how do we move from counting opinions to making opinions count? ... more

12 May 2008

ASBOs, respect and youth clubs

Recent reports say that the number of ASBOs issued has reduced significantly since Brown tookover from Blair. What has not changed so much is the percentage of ASBOs that are breached. What does this mean? Well it might suggest that there are still not enough places to go and things to do for young people ... more

9 May 2008

Democratic accountability

Cadence Network member Gordon Macnair gives a view following the recent election and says 'democratic accountability may feel hollow to a local politician when, reading the national press, it is clear that the commentariat see local elections solely as referenda on national government. Maybe that, the fact that council tax pays only for some 15% of local expenditure, and the steady drain of local autonomy to the centre explain the dismal level of policy debate at local level ... more

6 May 2008

Green taxes first victim of political desperation

One of Gordon Brown's responses to his recent local election disaster is to hint that he will veto charges on domestic waste collection and delay fuel duty rises in the Autumn. In the USA Hillary Clinton is promising a fuel tax 'holiday' for voters in Indiana in her race to be Democrat candidate. It appears that moves to protect the environment are still a luxury of a booming economy and positive poll ratings. When the going gets tough the green taxes get going ... more

30 Apr 2008

Elections and inaction

The Government by convention restrict their policy announcements during the local election period - purdah. This leaves slim pickings for organisations like us who like to highlight policy announcements and debate ... more

24 Apr 2008

Mayors still a good idea

Over the last 10 years every so often a report comes out by a think tank saying that elected Mayors are a good idea. 'There is a growing body of evidence to support the contention that mayors have enhanced and overseen improvements in local authority performance', says the most recent ippr report. Cadence agree, but Tony Blair was keen and made no real progress during his time in power and Gordon Brown has shown no appetite for meaningful local government reform ... more

21 Apr 2008

My Place - Government cash for places to go

My place will provide £190m of Government cash over the next three years with grants of between £1m and £5m. This follows the announcements made by Ed Balls over the last year and is a very welcome start. Cadence's work with Clubs for Young People on a Blueprint for structured community youth works in clubs will hopefully play an important part in ensuring such investment has a lasting benefit ... more

11 Apr 2008

Eco towns and transport

Whether the Government will come to regret the use of the term 'eco town' remains to be seen, but it is interesting to see that a wide range of groups have picked up on the potential for the transport element of the initiative to be problematic. The Local Goverment Association hit the nail on the head when Sir Simon Milton said 'It's no use building carbon neutral, environmentally-friendly houses if they are in the middle of nowhere with no facilities so that people have to drive miles to buy a loaf of bread or take their kids to school'... more

4 Apr 2008

Kings of the swingers playing around

Recent stories of swinging politicians are more likely to induce a Nick Clegg(over) joke rather than admiration, but Ed Balls and Andy Burnham's enthusiastic leaping on to a swing seems to have gone down well everywhere. They were launching a consultation on a national play strategy ... more

2 Apr 2008

Culture v Creative Industries

Sheffield's aspiration for its very own version of the Angel of the North in some ways demonstrates some of the confusion between promoting culture and promoting creative industries. The 2 Toms, of the local go magazine, have been pushing the idea of turning the Tinsley Cooling Towers, beside the M1 and Meadowhall, into a huge piece of public art. This is a great, not new idea, but their success in getting publicity has had one definite impact - the current owners E.ON are definitely going to carry out the long term threat to knock them down. E.ON are reportedly giving £500,000 for a piece of public art to take their place near the proposed new biomass power station and local MP Richard Caborn has suggested a steel football and no this is not being posted on April 1st ... more

31 Mar 2008

Young people: good v hood

'Ban the hood for good!' 'Is it time to let children play outdoors once more?' 'Young people today ... actually, they're great' 3 articles from the weekend newspapers giving a different view of young people demonstrating the usual conflict that Cadence Works has come across every time we have been involved in consultation on open space and play. One consultee in Somerset summed it up beautifully 'the message to young people, from adults, about their place in the public realm is very confusing - they want them away from the TV and Playstations, but not playing outside near their homes' ... more

22 Mar 2008

Innovation Nation

The Government's new innovation paper has some interesting public service innovation elements. A new Whitehall Innovation Hub catches the eye in particular, as does the Audit Office plan to look at how risk is addressed in relation to innovation. Fans of Yes Minister will have a field day with such a paper (extending the 'power to innovate'!) and there is always the fear that when governments start writing strategy creativity and innovation are at great risk. A recent round table suggested that Grade 7 civil servants need targeting as it as that level that ideas stall, a course called Grade 007 - 'a license to innovate' would work? ... more

18 Mar 2008

Public space and human rights

'In any civilised society access to high-quality public space should be a fundamental human right. Everyone should be able to see a tree from their window. Everyone should have a doorstep they can sit on. Every home should be within five minutes' walk of a bus stop and a place for children to play. Everyone should live within 10 minutes' walk of a really good public space' says Richard Rogers and Cadence agrees ... more

13 Mar 2008

Budget for greenspace

Amongst other things the Budget was billed as a 'boost to housing' by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Secretary of State Hazel Blears said 'I welcome this budget - it will help us support peoples aspiration to own their own homes and ensure communities are built in a way that will protect the environment for future generations'. The budget follows Natural England's announcement this week of their Accessible Natural Greenspace Standard (ANGSt) model which says: That no person should live more than 300m from their nearest area of natural greenspace of at least 2 ha in size. Whether the new Housing and Communities Agency will take this on board when it aims to help councils build millions of new homes is an interesting question ... more

11 Mar 2008

Customer service excellence = innovation?

Minister for Transformational Government (that's not a made up job title), Tom Watson, announced a 'new standard to raise the bar for public services' this week. The Customer Service Excellence (CSE) standard is interesting as it aims to be a a practical tool that helps public services be more responsive to people's needs. Another of the Minister's responsibilities, as if transformational government was not enough to keep anyone busy, is the National School of Government, who Cadence have been doing work for on public service innovation and Cadence wonder whether the obvious links between these two areas of work are fully appreciated ... more

7 Mar 2008

Make me a criminal

Make Me a Criminal: Preventing youth crime is the latest in a series of ippr reports on young people that have caught the eye. Cadence Network member, Jeremy Cushing, says it is 'fascinating' and 'much more open about the reasons for youth offending than government reports'. Here he gives his personal take on it as someone who has been an 'appropriate adult' for a number of years ... more

4 Mar 2008

Unfit children

England footballer Michael Owen says, "We all know that kids don't take as much exercise as they used to. When I was young, my mum was quite happy to let me go outdoors on my own but she'd think twice about it now because the streets are no longer as safe. I certainly wouldn't be keen to let my kids go to the park on their own. So kids tend to stay at home much more and watch TV ... more

29 Feb 2008

Shared space and consideration

The idea of shared space on our streets is getting more and more coverage. When street furniture is reduced behaviour is much more reliant on eye contact, nods and little waves between vehicle drivers and pedestrians. Many argue that this reduces accidents, but does it make us safer in other ways too ... more

27 Feb 2008

The bishop, mosquito and play

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the high-pitched electronic device, 'Mosquito', designed to disperse groups of youngsters is "a sad example of an indiscriminate and knee-jerk response to a perceived problem, which only deals at best with symptoms, not causes"... more

25 Feb 2008

Creative industries to the mainstream

Cadence welcomes the new Culture Secretary's view that 'The creative industries must move from the margins to the mainstream of economic and policy thinking' ... more

20 Feb 2008

Mayors and innovation

Ken Livingstone welcomes his freedom to sack or take to task staff who don't deliver - a key flexibility, he says in today's Guardian, he adds its necessary to get things done. This says a lot about the difference between the Mayoral model and traditional local government structures, the article suggests Ken has been won over, but then you would be if you the one with the powers ... more

18 Feb 2008

The value of public art

Big works of public art are in the news, with talk of an Angel of the South and the usual arguments about what is or is not art. Most people in the North delight in people like Brian Sewell's dislike of Gateshead's Angel, it's sort of a perverse verification. Not all commissions are as successful as the Angel, but that does depend how you define success. Is the fact that lots of people like it enough ... more

14 Feb 2008

The power of sport and money

It seems as though the athletics world is ganging up on Dwain Chambers and trying to demonise him. There is an over romantic view of sport sometimes and people like him are bad for business, because that's what it is business and action only happens when money is the issue ... more

6 Feb 2008

Quality of life and innovation

Cadence Works attended a seminar on some interesting scoping work carried out for CABE Space on the relationship between quality of life and quality of public space. Not surprisingly one of the conclusions of the work was that more research is required ... more

4 Feb 2008

Make play safer, says Cameron

Play is certainly enjoying a profile it's never had before at the moment. The Conservatives review of childhood is recommending measures to tackle the fact that the outdoors is 'hostile' to children. The most eye catching idea is bringing back park keepers, which is interesting as it has been reported as though the authors have not noticed the recent appearance of Play Rangers who are being funded by the local authorities and the BIG Lottery Children's Play Initiative ... more

30 Jan 2008

DIY innovation

Ben Rogers of ippr says we need to know more about examples of innovation. He mentions Kent County Council and the Design Council, which will feature in work Cadence Works are just starting for the National School of Government ... more

29 Jan 2008

Culture vulture

CIDS and Cadence Works have been succesful in a bid to develop a Creative Industries Strategy for Derbyshire County and Derby City Councils. Previous DCMS Minister James Purnell came up in the interview ... more

24 Jan 2008

Slimline planning

NICE have announced their first guidance on how the environment could be planned to tackle obesity ... more

17 Jan 2008

Public service innovation

Innovation is in the news this week and Cadence Works are doing more work in this area for the National School of Government . We were interested to hear that "Moving up to the next level, however, from good enough to excellent, will require completely new thinking that will challenge the way Whitehall works" according to Chief Secretary to the Treasury Andy Burnham... more

15 Jan 2008

Living in Wales

Cadence Works and Sheffield University have been awarded a contract to carry out analysis of Living in Wales Survey data. We are looking at links between volunteering, quality of life and sustainable travel ... more

9 Jan 2008

Re-connecting people and place

Cadence Works are putting the finishing touches to a joint EPSRC research proposal: Re-connecting people and place - The Role of Walking and Cycling in Creating Sustainable Communities ... more

3 Jan 2008

Restorative justice and the Children’s Plan

A productive festive season for Jeremy Cushing of the Cadence Works Network leads him to say, "The Children’s Plan is a giant grab-bag of worthy ideas, many of which, if implemented, would do real good" ... more on Jeremy's view

21 Dec 2007

Christmas comes early for play world

There was great news this week for the many Play Partnerships who had applied to the BIG Lottery ... more

18 Dec 2007

Ofsted thumbs up for Business@School

Limeside Primary School in Oldham is 'outstanding' according to a recent Ofsted inspection. The school hosted Cadence's Business@School enterprise project ... more

13 Dec 2007

ippr on school starting age

Children should start school later, suggests ippr Director, Lisa Harker when commenting on the new Children's Plan. Cadence agree that formal learning should be delayed and play should be taken more seriously ... more

12 Dec 2007

Millions for cycling and play

A good week for some of Cadence's clients and areas of interest this week with millions going into play and cycle routes ... more

10 Dec 2007

Play rangers - not ASBOs - are what's needed

ippr says that greater investment in playgrounds and clubs such as scouts and cadets could reduce offending by giving youngsters something constructive to do, while ASBOs can be seen as something of a badge of honour ... more

3 Dec 2007

Sustrans connect2 project

Voting has opened for the people's 50 million lottery giveaway. Cadence's work for Sustrans makes us biased, but it is the only national project ... more

27 Nov 2007

Sport and Government

There is some suggestion that the Government are about to change their approach to driving up participation in sport... more

23 Nov 2007

Radio 4 Investigation - Truth about obesity

The Investigation, a Radio 4 programme, this week suggested that there is no impending 'obesity epidemic' ...more

20 Nov 2007

Brown's green plan and local government reform

Gordon Brown's first big speech on the environment suggested that the UK's emission target of a 60% cut by 2050 could be increased to 80%. The responsisbility to deliver this target will largely devolve to local government. Are they up to the job? ... more

15 Nov 2007

Delhi transport problems

A Cadence collaborator has relocated to Delhi to work on transport policy, which is quite a job. He emailed this week to ask if we had any ideas about how to promote cycling ... more

9 Nov 2007

Cities better or not?

Two views in one week - According to the Government "the regeneration of cities such as Sheffield, Leeds and Hull have made these cities barely recognisable from the 1980s when jobs and opportunities were few and far between". But, a think tank report says, "over the last 10 years, and despite a doubling in funding levels, the very cities that have received these record levels of funding have fallen further behind ... more

5 Nov 2007

Social Innovation - Creating the Conditions

The National School of Government have just published a report on Social Innovation, featuring 10 case studies, of which Cadence have written 3. The report coincided with a conference with keynote speakers Ed Miliband and Gus O'Donnell ... more

2 Nov 2007

Immigration, housing and inequality 2

An announcement of a "Probe into housing 'unfairness'" by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission is a hopeful sign ... more

2 Nov 2007

Immigration, housing and inequality

David Cameron's essay into immigration policy comes at a time when both main parties are aware of public anxiety on the subject, says Jeremy Cushing, part of the Cadence Network. He suggests that inequality and housing are more pressing, but associated problems that need addressing ... more

29 Oct 2007

Risk, fear and childhood

The way the media covered play expert Tim Gill's new book, "No Fear", about risk and childhood was instructive this week. Some picked up on his view that bullying is exaggerated ... more

24 Oct 2007

Robin Hood a Northerner

Professor Danny Dorling was on Radio 4's Today programme again talking about a new North South dividing line. It suggests that Nottingham is in the North and that Robin Hood was a Northerner ... more

19 Oct 2007

Obesity - more chewing the fat, little action

This week’s Foresight report on obesity got a bit overshadowed by Ming Campbell’s resignation. That was a shame as for the first time the debate moved on beyond burgers and turkey twizzlers …. more

11 Oct 2007

Cadence secure ICT Hub contract

Cadence have just secured a contract to carry out some research for the ICT Hub on accessing funding for investment in ICT for the voluntary and community sector... more

3 Oct 2007

Jamie Oliver's dinners - remember Alf Tupper?

It seems a bit unfair to criticise Jamie Oliver for the fact that kids don't want to eat healthier food. Headlines like ‘Kids 'Sick' Of Healthy School Meals' and ‘Children find Jamie Oliver's school food hard to swallow, say inspectors' appear to give that impression. Diet is an important determinant of health, but chips never seemed to do Alf Tupper - The Tough of the Track any harm.... more

28 Sep 2007

Substance conference has substance

Cadence have just spent 2 days at Substance's 'Beyond Engagement' conference and it was time well spent. The participation of people like Olympic Gold Medal winner Darren Campbell on role models and drugs or Chair of Jamie Oliver's Fifteen project Mike Trace on what makes a good project, the whole event had.. well, substance... more

25 Sep 2007

From Crack Den to Dragons Den?

On Wednesday Cadence will be discussing the contribution that enterprise can make to young people with the delegates of Substance's annual conference. The theme this year is ... more

18 Sep 2007

Northern Rock queues and public space

The pictures of the queues of people outside Northern Rock branches make good examples of how the nature of the urban environment can influence the quality of all kinds of everyday experiences .... more

12 Sep 2007

What can enterprise offer young people?

cadence are looking forward to presenting at the upcoming substance conference ‘beyond engagement’. "From crack den to dragon’s den" is quite a billing for our talk, but gives an opportunity to talk about how setting up a business can appeal to young people ... more

4 Sep 2007

Cycling's image not helped by Boris

Boris Johnson's Mayoral candidacy should be good news for utility cycling, something Cadence support through our work and personal habits. Here's a man who rides in London in his suit ... surely no better advert for the bike as the best of way of getting around the City. But, there is a hitch, becuase Boris' eccentricity lets people off the hook. Of course Boris cycles - he's mad! ... more

20 Aug 2007

Sustrans Play Routes

cadence have been helping Sustrans develop the idea of Play Routes. Recently information was sent to all English local authorities and it has generated a great deal of interest. All the play strategy consultations cadence has been involved in have picked up on the importance of cycling and walking .... more

13 Aug 2007

Link between car use and obesity

The Institute for European Environmental Policy has published a piece of work that cadence welcome suggesting a link between obesity and increased car use and decreased walking and cycling. This sounds sensible and a welcome contribution to a debate that is too often dominated by the role of diet. But, fan as cadence are of moves to make cycling and walking more attractive and safer, there is still a part of the obesity debate that nobody appears to want to get their teeth in to ..... more

30 Jul 2007

Link between asthma and obesity

Research recently reported by doctors from King's College London has revealed a possible link between asthma and obesity. According to the research cells in the lungs of asthmatics produce not only proteins that cause the condition but also others that are known to increase appetite... more from James Rimmer

19 Jul 2007

Tour de France offers political opportunity

The Tour de France's incredibly successful visit to London seemed to go unnoticed by Gordon Brown's new Government, amazing considering it went spectacularly past his new front door at Number 10. The fact that over 2 million people enjoyed the race means that at least you can't blame the people who did the marketing and it was of course a triumph for Mayor Ken. Some of the British press initially seemed more interested in the fact that Ken can't ride a bike ... well that's one thing potential candidate Boris clearly beats him on ... but in the end the coverage was overwhelmingly positive and cadence family and friends enjoyed a great day out in Hyde Park ... more

17 Jul 2007

Poor show when it comes to inequality

Friend of Cadence and Sheffield University Professor Danny Dorling has been prominent in the media this week following the release of a new Joseph Rowntree report on poverty ... more

17 Jul 2007

What makes an entrepreneur?

Where does the ability to be an entrepreneur come from? A discussion piece that Sophy co-authored for the magazine Life in the Day earlier in 2007 ...

16 Jul 2007

Sport up for grabs

Honeymoon periods can be cruelly short when a long-standing number two takes over the top job. If Gordon Brown has any doubts about this he should take a look how little time it took for, new England Football Manager, Steve McClaren, to be unfavourably compared with his predecessor Sven Goran Eriksson ... more from this piece that appeared in Whitehall and Westminter World ...