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Election manifestos provide an important reality check for organisations like the Centre for Social Justice. It is a clear indication, in black and white, as to whether government is listening to us and whether we are having an impact.

We’re pleased to say that the 2019 election has given us some very positive news, and while nine years of Conservative-led government has seen our focus pay off in its manifesto in particular, we were pleased to see our ideas making waves across Parliament. There are 45 CSJ recommendations appearing across the party manifestos, roughly two thirds of them in the Conservative plan, a third in the Labour proposals and a handful in the Liberal Democrats.

Exclusions and alternative provision – When we began our work in this area in 2016 we initially struggled to get a hearing from some senior Government ministers. By the time we published our landmark paper ‘Providing the Alternative’ in 2018, the Education Select Committee had launched an inquiry, the Timpson Review into exclusions had begun, and the Secretary of State attended our launch to announce changes to the system. For the first time the issue is now included in the manifestos of both major parties. In response to our investigation into cold spots of alternative schools, the Conservative Party have announced their intention to expand provision, while the Labour Party have adopted our recommendations to end ‘off-rolling’ by making schools accountable for the outcomes of pupils who leave their rolls, and ‘reform alternative provision (AP) to ensure an excellent education is the right of every child’.

Serious Violence Reduction Order – The Serious Violence Reduction Order was created as a policy proposal to combat violent crime as part of our 2018 report on gang violence – It Can Be Stopped. The order would enable police to use enhanced stop and search powers on prolific offenders still under license. While much of our approach to violent crime builds on the well documented public health measures used around the world, this particular order is designed to empower police to keep communities safe while on patrol. The Conservative Party has decided to adopt the policy wholesale, including the name.

Addiction Treatment – In 2017 we were saddened to see that addictions were not mentioned once in the manifestos of either major party. They are a key pathway to poverty for the CSJ and so over the last two years we have established a permanent unit and conducted a major review into the addiction treatment and recovery sector. This resulted in our ‘Road to Recovery’ report which recommended the substantial reinvestment and structural rethinking of the sector. Over the last few months we have pushed this report hard in the corridors of Westminster and now, in the 2019 manifestos, we are pleased to see the Labour party pick up on the urgent need for increased funding and the Conservative plans to rethink the structure of the sector. Both also vow to address problems in the gambling sector, following our reports on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals and substantial lobbying on problem gambling.

Housing First – Shortly before the 2017 election we published our manifesto to end rough sleeping and dramatically reduce homelessness. Central to that was the scheme we named the paper after – Housing First – a policy used in the USA and Finland to house the chronically homeless. Subsequently the three largest parties all mentioned Housing First in their 2017 manifestos including the Conservative pledge to launch pilots in three of our largest cities. That happened last year and with early pilots looking positive we have continued to lobby for a national scheme, including renewed calls in our recent Housing Commission, meetings with consecutive housing ministers, and with policy officials at Number 10. In this election both Labour and Conservative have recommitted to end rough sleeping and the Conservative party has committed £120m a year by 2024 to ‘end the blight of rough sleeping by the end of the next Parliament by expanding successful pilots and programmes such as the Rough Sleeping Initiative and Housing First’.

Invest in youth services – As part of our work on violent crime in 2018 we looked at diversion and youth services as a key factor in reduction. In 2019 we picked up this recommendation and built on it in our report Community Capital. This looked at OnSide Youth Zones in particular and how young people can be not just diverted from crime but guided towards positive relationships and activities to build character, confidence and relationships. We recommended a National Youth Infrastructure Fund to enable youth clubs to keep up their good work, without fear of losing the next bid or failing to secure another donation, with £1b investment in capital and an endowment over the next 10 years. The Labour Party has responded with a National Youth Service and guaranteed access to quality youth work while the Conservatives have taken the idea of the Fund and pledged £500m for youth services over the next five years.

While the above are some of our key policy wins there are many more besides.

Both parties also endorse policies from Control, Order, Hope – our manifesto for prisons. A Labour government will restore prison officer numbers, tackle the prison maintenance backlog, and ‘invest in proven alternatives to custody, including women’s centres and problem-solving courts’ – both long term CSJ policies. Meanwhile the Conservatives have focused on our priorities of training and employment of prisoners and anti-drug measures.

As well as our push for a National Housing First programme, the Conservatives have picked up on a number of policies from the CSJ Housing Commission over the last 18 months. These include an end to no-fault evictions, strengthening possession rights for landlords and a Social Housing White Paper to boost the supply of social homes.

Our Regional Revolution paper, looking at the variance of economic opportunity around the UK feeds into a major narrative of both Labour and Conservative manifestos. Both manifestos push for major infrastructure like rail in the North of England while skills investment and Further Education funding a major unifying theme. In the Conservative manifesto we also saw an encouraging pledge for a National Disability Strategy, and the promise to continue the investment in Universal Credit that the CSJ has pushed for over the last two years.

Modern Slavery, not even discussed a decade ago, is now part of the furniture following the CSJ’s landmark work. The Labour Party pledges a £20m fund for the survivors of modern slavery, while the Conservatives will strengthen the National Crime Agency to address the related issue of organised trafficking.

In our family work we were pleased to see the Conservatives agree to champion Family Hubs, a longstanding push of the CSJ, while both Conservative and Labour Parties heed our call to boost and potentially rename the Troubled Families Programme. Both parties also pledge to review the whole system for Children in Care.

Lastly, all parties pick up ideas from our communities paper – Community Capital. The Labour Party will list pubs as Assets of Community Value so community groups have the first chance to buy them when they are under threat. The Conservatives pick up a number of themes including a major push on devolution, initiatives to build community pride, and a £150 million Community Ownership Fund to encourage local takeovers of civic organisations or community assets that are under threat. Even the Liberal Democrats get a look in here mirroring the primary recommendation of our report that looks at well-being impact assessments that measure capital beyond money alone.