In conversation with Louise Casey: rethinking support for the poorest after the pandemic

The pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the way Britain supports its poorest families – and also strengths. What should the government learn from the last 18 months and what opportunities for reform can it seize? The Second World War led to the Beveridge report and the creation of the welfare state and the NHS; can the pandemic also galvanise radical change? An adviser to successive governments, most recently as the chair of the government’s Covid-19 rough sleeping taskforce, Baroness Casey is now calling for major reform in the way governments tackle hunger, rough sleeping and poverty. She was in conversation with Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government Baroness Casey has previously run the Rough Sleepers Unit, the Respect Task Force and the Troubled Families Unit. She also chaired this government’s Covid-19 rough sleeping taskforce.