[Britain] Centre for Social Justice

Note: not to be confused with the same-named Canadian Centre for Social Justice.

Centre for Social Justice [Britain]: Partners.
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The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) [Britain] is an independent centre-right think tank co-founded in 2004 by Iain Duncan Smith, Tim Montgomerie, Mark Florman and Philippa Stroud.

Political positions

The Centre for Social Justice's stated aim is to "put social justice at the heart of British politics." While the think-tank states it is politically independent, it has been labelled one of the most influential on the British Conservative Party under the leadership of David Cameron.

Policy programmes and impact

One of the CSJ's most notable reports was "Breakthrough Britain." The Centre for Social Justice has also produced well-publicised reports into gang culture, modern slavery, addiction, family breakdown, and educational failure. In 2012, the CSJ announced it would carry out the study Breakthrough Britain II. The CSJ has also played important roles in the design and development of Universal Credit (a major welfare reform programme) and championing the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

More recently, notable policy programmes and impact include:

2019

• A report called on the government to increase the state pension age to 75.

2018

• "A Woman-Centred Approach" called on government to scrap plans for up to 5 new women's prisons and to put funds towards community-based alternatives. The Ministry of Justice subsequently announced they would scrap the new prison plans and set out proposals to pilot five residential centres for women in the community.

2017

• "Housing First" recommended placing homeless people dealing with problems like alcohol and drug abuse in permanent accommodation and giving them access to care and training. The approach, known as "Housing First," had been trialled in the US and adopted by Finland with positive results. Conservative Communities Secretary Sajid Javid had said he was keen to examine the scheme. While the CSJ called for a nationwide roll-out of "Housing First," the Government announced and allocated £28m funding for a number of "Housing First" pilot sites in the West Midlands, Liverpool and Manchester.

• Growing the Local called on the government to give Police and Crime Commissioners additional flexibility to increase the police precept, a set of proposals subsequently adopted and providing additional resources for policing and crime.

• "Lowering the Stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals" called on government to reduce the stake from £100 to £2 for fixed odds betting terminals, which the government duly did in 2018.

Structure and operation

Historically, the CSJ's work was project-based with projects and staff members changing regularly. Recently, under Andy Cook, the latest Chief Executive, the CSJ has created a number of dedicated policy units with specific unit heads to lead on their designated area.

Policy Unit structure

Policy area	Unit head
Education	James Scales
Work and Welfare	Patrick Spencer
Addiction and Criminal Justice	Adrian Crossley
Family	Cristina Odone
Modern Slavery	Tatiana Gren-Jardan
Financial Inclusion	Joe Shalam

The CSJ also has an alliance of "front line poverty fighting charities" and runs an annual Centre for Social Justice Awards ceremony celebrating some of the best voluntary and non-profit organisations in the UK. In addition the CSJ regularly holds events at the major political party conferences.

Awards

In addition to holding their own Awards ceremony, the CSJ has also won a number of awards in the past:

• The CSJ won Prospect Magazine UK Social Policy Think Tank of the Year 2019
• The CSJ won Prospect Magazine UK Social Policy Think Tank of the Year 2013
• The CSJ won Prospect Magazine Think Tank of the Year 2009
• The CSJ won Prospect Magazine Best Publication of the Year 2008 for its report entitled Breakthrough Britain.

Notable members

Past and present:

• Iain Duncan Smith

• Tim Montgomerie

• David Blunkett MP, Co-Chairman of the CSJ Advisory Council

• Johan Eliasch, Chairman and Chief Exec, Head N.V ; Chairman, Cool Earth; Prime Minister's Special representative on deforestation and clean energy

• Frank Field MP, Member of Parliament for Birkenhead (Independent)

• William Hague MP, former Foreign Secretary, former leader of the Conservative Party, former Member of Parliament for Richmond, Yorkshire (Conservative)

• Syed Kamall MEP, Co-founder of Global Business Research institute, MEP for London (Conservative)

• Paul Marshall, Chairman of Management Committee of Centre Forum; Adviser to Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party

• Kevin Tebbit, Former Director of GCHQ and former Permanent Under Secretary of the Ministry of Defence

• Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster

Funding

The CSJ acknowledges some funders in individual reports, but this information is not collated on its website or in its annual accounts, and there is no indication of the proportion of funders acknowledged, resulting in the think-tank being graded "E for transparency" by the "Who Funds You?" project in June 2018. The CSJ has been upgraded to a "D grade for transparency" by "Who Funds You?" as of July 2018.

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