White working-class communities feel left behind

Since the 2001 disturbances in Burnley, Oldham and Bradford community cohesion has become a central feature of government policy. A critical review of the concept is provided in a new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Based on research in Aston in Birmingham, Canley in Coventry and Somers Town in London, the report finds that people in these areas feel that they are not listened to by local or national government and that policy makers have failed them. Read Community cohesion: the views of white working-class communities here.

Victorian levels of inequality

Yesterday saw the publication of the High Pay Commission's final report into boardroom pay. The report - 'Cheques with Balances: Why tackling high pay is in the national interest' - argues that the pay of UK executives is corrosive for the economy. It lists a 12-point plan to stop "high pay creating inequalities last seen in the Victorian era" and puts forward a series of reforms:

• A radical simplification of executive pay
• Putting employees on remuneration committees
• Publishing the top ten executive pay packages outside the boardroom
• Forcing companies to publish a pay ratio between the highest paid executive and the company median
• Companies to reveal total pay figure earned by the executive
• Establishing a new national body to monitor high pay.