Ben Cooper

@bencooper1995.bsky.social

1420 Followers 382 Following

Research Manager, the Fabians. Interested in education, housing, Sea Wall and rural. Union rep.

Rather than tearing down the piecemeal infrastructure of family hubs once in government, Labour should transform it into a dedicated early years service. Reforming who Family Hubs are for, and the support they provide, will be much easier than starting from scratch. The most significant change would be a specific focus on early years: family hubs should not aim to support every young person up to the age of 19, many of whom would be better supported through schools, colleges and youth provision. Instead, it should seek to support every family from conception to age five. A comprehensive and non-stigmatising service, with an open door for all families, is the best way to reach the most disadvantaged and those who need the most help. And this service needs to be resilient. The demise of Sure Start under the coalition government demonstrated that whatever Labour does build in the future must have stronger foundations and be more difficult to dismantle by future Conservative administrations.
Front page of Seizing the Opportunity: The Fair Pay Agreement in Social Care. Joe Dromey and Ben Cooper, May 2025.
Figure 2: The total impact of introducing a 'baby element' of £293 a month and a 'toddler element' of £146 a month as part of Universal Credit The number of children under 5 - That benefit from the reform - 1,163,000 - Lifted out of poverty - 143,000 - Lifted out of deep poverty - 180,000 The number of children overall - That benefit from the reform - 2,126,000 - Lifted out of poverty - 238,000 - Lifted out of deep poverty - 304,000
How do we solve this? We recommend that the government introduces: - A new 'baby' element to Universal Credit, boosting the incomes of families claiming Universal Credit with a child under one by £293 a month - A new 'toddler' element to Universal Credit, boosting the incomes of families claiming Universal Credit with a child over one but under five by £156 a month - A Health in Pregnancy Grant worth over £480 during pregnancy
Housing LIN banner
Lego Notre Dame Cathedral, about a third completed
In the coming months we will bring forward further reforms designed to drive up standards across social housing to build greater trust and transparency between landlords and tenants. The government will: Consult on a new Decent Homes Standard and minimum energy efficiency standards, to ensure tenant’s homes are made safe, warm, and free from disrepair;
Wes Streeting in front of a banner saying "Britain 2030".
Social rented sector 8. Facilitate regular and consistent future data collection of social housing quality. 9. Establish a long-term social housing quality fund. 10. Introduce a housing replacement and regeneration fund. 11. Establish a 10-year social rent settlement.
Front cover of Support Guaranteed. A picture of a women with brown hair in a nursing uniform, with her hand on the arm of a woman with grey hair.
A 'Welcome to Korea' medal from the 1988 Seoul Paralympics