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Report Back provides news, views and reports from local government and the voluntary and community sectors. These reports are related, whenever possible, to the special theme of each issue of Benefits, but the most important consideration is their topicality and relevance to as wide an audience in these fields as possible. Benefits may commission pieces for particular themes but individual contributions are welcomed from those working in these areas and should be sent to the Editorial Office. These contributions might focus on either local government or the voluntary and community sectors, or on relationships between the two.

Government policy in recent years has led to a full understanding of the scope of poverty being eroded from public consciousness. Although research has demonstrated a growth in poverty, in width, depth and concentration, and the mapping of that poverty is far more precise than hitherto, effective poverty research is hampered by two processes. First, government policies have driven many of the poor out of official statis tics. Second, government has increasingly manipulated aspects of the research process, including the compilation and use of official statistics, thereby also obscuring the extent of poverty. This article argues the need for an independent accountable national statistical service.