During November we launched two pamphlets – Why Relationships? and The Triple Test. With the appointment of Michael Trend as executive director we are now putting communications at the heart of how the Relationships Foundation works. RF has a strong reputation for its research and it has built up a considerable body of work. In the past however we have struggled to disseminate this work as widely as we would have hoped. Our intention now is that RF develops a reputation for making important contributions to public debate while maintaining its ongoing core conceptual work on relational thinking.
Why Relationships? is a short pamphlet setting out who we are and what we do. It brings together many strands of our research over the years in a concise form. As Michael Trend writes in the conclusion, “Our vision was to build values, which hold out the promise of furnishing a moral consensus upon which a modern, pluralist society might be built. The essential conviction that we are not autonomous individuals, nor a mass undifferentiated collective, but persons-in-relationship, changes everything.”
In the The Triple Test we claim that the social dimension is the elephant in the room when it comes to an integrated approach to public policy. The Relationships Foundation wants to put a ‘Big Idea’ into the political process: that policy development, proposals for legislation and government action should all be subject to a triple test – economic, environmental and social.
As the United Kingdom enters a pre-election phase there is a sense of unease in the electorate about the best way forward. In the front of many people’s minds are anxieties about the world economic situation and the effect of the failure of financial institutions on their daily lives. This is understandable but it doesn’t mean that other recent areas of great concern to voters have gone away. In particular, we shouldn’t lose sight of deeply-felt concerns about social issues which have become an increasing feature of our national life over the past decade, one of which has been that human and social relationships have suffered in the mad dash for growth.
The single test – the economic test – has dominated political debate for decades past. Recently, however, policymakers have begun to move towards a second test by recognising the vulnerability of the environment and seeking the tools necessary to address that vital sphere of life in their assessments. We argue that we now need to go further and add to this double test a third element – the social test. This would truly lead to integrated public policy, what we define in this pamphlet as True National Wealth.
We hold that non-economic factors are not yet sufficiently integrated into the determination of policy; that environmental and social goals are typically considered of secondary importance. Significant social problems are often left unattended as the dominant economic framework for prioritising and implementing policies fails to acknowledge the legitimate claims of other critical criteria.
The social aspect of ‘The Triple Test’ is fundamentally about relationships. Fifteen years ago we recognised that relationships were often undermined in organisations, public services and policy decisions. Our research has shown that the essential building blocks of a good society are good relationships, from family and community to public service and business.
Public policy is never neutral and we believe that policy makers and implementers should always test their proposals not only to ensure, as far as is possible, that these do not damage existing relational links, but also to see if ways can be found to encourage people increasingly to connect with each other in the public sphere. Strong communities and extended families can increase financial and social capital, increasing wellbeing and reducing long-term pressures on spending.
‘The Triple Test’ ensures a long-term integrated approach which is in the interest of voters and politicians alike. The Relationship Foundation’s relational proximity analysis provides a sound starting point to ensure that social considerations play a full part in integrated public policy. The politician with the vision and leadership to advocate for ‘The Triple Test’ can establish an enduring relationship with the voters, shaping the political landscape for the next generation.
The Triple Test is the first in a series on wellbeing. Future reports will look at the benefits of relationships when they work well and the costs that arise when they go wrong. The series will include conceptual pamphlets on how and why relationships work and specific policy proposals to support and empower relationships in areas such as debt and housing.