The Briefing Room

Did you step outside this morning and feel something odd on your face or neck? Its called rain. We’ve hardly had any this summer and the result was the declaration this month of drought status across two thirds of England and almost all of Wales. The reservoirs are low. And the future looks parched: the government estimates that by 2055, England will face a water shortfall of 5 billion litres a day. To put that in context we currently use 14 billion litres.
Why has this happened and how can we fix it? Other than everyone moving to Scotland.
Step inside The Briefing Room and together we’ll find out.
Guests:
Sir John Armitt, chair of The Public Private Partnership Commission
Professor Jim Hall, Professor of Climate and Environmental Risk at Oxford University
Dr Heather Smith, Senior Lecturer in Water Governance at Cranfield University
Production team:
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Ben Carter, Bob Howard and Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Penny Murphy
Sound engineer: James Beard
Production co-ordinator: Keshia Agyei

Until recently Baroness Louise Casey was going to deliver her huge review of English social care by 2028. Then the PM changed and so did the date. Now the whole shebang is timed for next summer. Last week we looked at what we mean by social care, who gets it, who provides it and who pays for it. And why our current system is deficient.
This week we find out what the alternatives are, how much they’d cost and who’d pay.
Guests:
Thea Stein, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust
Simon Bottery, who leads independent charity The King's Fund's work on adult social care
Sir Andrew Dilnot, the economist who was asked by the government back in 2010 to chair a commission to find a fair and sustainable way of funding adult social care in England
Production team:
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Ben Carter, Sally Abrahams and Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound engineer: James Beard
Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Maria Ogundele

It’s social care time again. That moment every five years when politicians and civil servants are on the cusp of coming up with a new system to replace the perceived arbitrary and unfair way in which we in the UK pay for the care that many adults need to be able to live a decent life.
Right now Baroness Casey, appointed by Keir Starmer to conduct a urgent review into social care in England with the objective of recommending a new plan, has been asked by Andy Burnham to make it even more urgent and recommend it more quickly.
In this first of two episodes looking at what the review is likely to find and its impact on all of us, we’ll look at what we mean by social care, its history and who gets it.
Guests:
Thea Stein, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust
Simon Bottery, who leads independent charity The King's Fund's work on adult social care
Sir Andrew Dilnot, the economist who was asked by the government back in 2010 to chair a commission to find a fair and sustainable way of funding adult social care in England
Production team:
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Ben Carter, Sally Abrahams and Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound engineer: James Beard
Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Maria Ogundele

According to polls immigration remains near the top - or at the top - of public concerns. And now a new prime minister inherits that popular anxiety. Last week The Briefing Room examined arguably the most visible aspect of the migration question: the small boats, asylum seeking and illegal migration.
This week we look at legal migration, the issue of reliance on overseas workers, changes to indefinite leave to remain and public opinion about migration.
Guests:
Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford and author of What is Immigration Policy for?
Dominic Casciani, BBC Home and Legal correspondent
Rob Ford, Professor of Political Science at the University of Manchester
Production team:
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Ben Carter and Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound engineers: Duncan Hannant
Sound mix: James Beard
Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed, Maria Ogundele

New PM, old problems. When Labour took office they vowed to tackle the people smuggling gangs behind the small boats crossings, to reduce net inward migration and to act to replace cheap imported labour with better paid indigenous workers. Meanwhile Andy Burnham faces polls showing immigration still sitting near the top - if not the top - of public concerns.
But what are the facts here? What does the record show after two years of this government?
This issues here are so big and complicated that we’re devoting two programmes to them. In this - the first one - we’re going to focus purely on small boats, asylum seekers and illegal immigration.
Guests:
Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford and author of What is Immigration Policy for?
Dominic Casciani, BBC Home and Legal correspondent.
Production team:
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Ben Carter and Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound engineers: Duncan Hannant and Andy Garratt
Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed, Maria Ogundele
Picture credit: Ben Stansall Via Getty