Welcome to Social Policy Digest
Welcome to the Social Policy Digest Online. The Digest is designed as a key resource for all those working in UK social policy — policymakers, researchers, teachers and students, campaigners, journalists, and practitioners. It provides an easily accessible listing of new developments across the whole social policy field.
The Digest is a companion to two journals — the Journal of Social Policy and Social Policy and Society — both of which are published on behalf of the Social Policy Association by Cambridge University Press.
- Evidence for income gradient in children's mental health
A paper examined evidence for an income gradient in children's mental health – a tendency for low family income to be associated with poor mental health. It concluded that research findings in this area might not be very robust, and that findings should be treated with caution and interpreted in relation to the source of health assessments used for the analysis.
Source: David Johnston, Carol Propper, Stephen Pudney and Michael Shields, Is There an Income Gradient in Child Health? It Depends Whom You Ask, Working Paper 2010-08, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex
Links: Working paper
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Media access to family courts – views of children and young people
A study examined the views of children and young people regarding press access to, and reporting of, family court proceedings. The findings indicated that substantial problems were likely to arise for children and young people, with serious implications for children's safety and welfare. Almost all the children and young people interviewed (96 per cent) said that once they were told that a reporter might be in court they would be unwilling or less willing to talk to a clinician about ill-treatment or disputes about their care, or about their wishes and feelings.
Source: Julia Brophy, The Views of Children and Young People Regarding Media Access to Family Courts, Office of the Children's Commissioner
Links: Report | OCC press release | Oxford University press release
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Obstacles to 'independent' state schools
A think-tank report said that plans to allow more independent organizations, including groups of parents or teachers, to run new state schools could fail unless the existing 'tangle of state and local bureaucracies' were removed.
Source: Anna Fazackerley, Rachel Wolf and Alex Massey, Blocking the Best: Obstacles to new, independent state schools, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release | NASUWT press release
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Professionalizing the early childhood workforce
An article examined policies and strategies employed to professionalize the early childhood workforce in England since 1997.
Source: Eva Lloyd and Elaine Hallet, 'Professionalising the early childhood workforce in England: work in progress or missed opportunity?', Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, Volume 11 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Social justice implications of climate change
A report examined the social justice implications of climate change. Those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change in the United Kingdom might be those who had contributed least to the problem.
Source: How Will Climate Change Affect People in the UK and How Can We Best Develop an Equitable Response?, Economic and Social Research Council
Links:Report | ESRC press release
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Central government reorganizations – audit report
An audit report said that reorganizations to central government between 2005 and 2009 did not provide value for money, given that most had 'vague objectives' and that costs and benefits were not tracked. It estimated that the average annual cost of the reorganizations was almost £200 million.
Source: Reorganising Central Government, HC 452 (Session 2009-10), National Audit Office/TSO
Links: Report | NAO press release | IOG press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Decent Homes programme – report by MPs
A report by a committee of MPs welcomed the 'substantial progress' made towards the target of all social housing being of a decent standard by December 2010. However, despite this progress, the target would not be met. The government needed to do more to ensure that landlords could complete the outstanding work and that properties were not allowed to fall back into disrepair.
Source: The Decent Homes Programme, Twenty-first Report (Session 2009-10), HC 350, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee/TSO
Links: Report | HOC press release | Inside Housing report
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Call for 'Department for Devolved Government'
A think-tank report said that a lack of joined-up working across central government departments risked undermining the 'Total Place' initiative. It called for the setting up of a new 'Department for Devolved Government' to drive devolution and release greater freedoms and powers for locally elected politicians. Accountability for public health budgets and local policing should be devolved immediately to all local authorities.
Source: Nigel Keohane and Geraldine Smith, Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts: Total Place and the future shape of public services, New Local Government Network
Links: Summary
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Children and educational services in rural areas
A report examined the situation of children and young people living in rural areas – including population and migration, well-being and disadvantage, children's centres, and educational provision.
Source: State of the Countryside Update: Children and Educational Services, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency
Links: Report | CRC press release
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- European Commission calls for fiscal tightening
A report by the European Commission said that 'substantial fiscal tightening' needed to be implemented by the United Kingdom government from 2010-11 onwards in order to stabilize the public finances.
Source: Recommendation for a Council Opinion on the Updated Convergence Programme of the United Kingdom, 2009/10-2014/15, European Commission
Links: Report | EC press release | BBC report
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Civil society and social technology
A report said that civil society organizations would have to undergo a profound shift in organizational culture in order to benefit fully from social technologies. Social media were not always being used effectively, with organizations often using them to broadcast their message rather than engage with their online community. (Social technologies are websites, services, and applications that allow users to engage in social behaviours online or on a mobile phone.)
Source: Suw Charman-Anderson, Making the Connection: Civil society and social media, Carnegie UK Trust
Links: Report
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Laming recommendations – progress reports
The government published an overview of progress against the recommendations in the report of Lord Laming on child protection services (published in March 2009), and set out future priorities. A separate report (the first by the Chief Adviser on the Safety of Children) said that the government had made 'good progress' in implementing many of the recommendations made by Lord Laming.
Source: The Government's Response to Lord Laming: One Year On, Department for Children, Schools and Families | The Chief Adviser on the Safety of Children: First Annual Report to Parliament – 2010, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: DCSF report | CASC report | Laming report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Management of contracted employment programmes – report by MPs
A report by a committee of MPs said that levels of detected fraud in contracted employment programmes were low: but it called on the government to ensure that processes for the detection of fraud were rigorous and robust.
Source: Management and Administration of Contracted Employment Programmes, Fourth Report (Session 2009-10), HC 101, House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee/TSO
Links: Report | HOC press release
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- National skills audit – advisory body report
A report (by an official advisory body) published the results of a 'national skills audit' for England, setting out existing trends and what skills would be needed for the economy to grow in the future. It recommended focusing support on economically valuable skills in priority sectors, highlighted the need for more information for employers and government on where high-value job opportunities would be in future, and called for businesses to make more use of high-level skills.
Source: Skills for Jobs: Today and Tomorrow – The National Strategic Skills Audit for England 2010, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Links: Report part 1 | Report part 2 | UKCES press release | DBIS press release | IES press release | Training Journal report | New Start report
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Policy approach to skills and globalization
A paper said that United Kingdom's policy approach to skills and globalization was 'outdated'. An increased supply of skills was not enough. There needed to be a greater focus on demand-side policy, and a more proactive approach to engaging with employers and understanding and meeting their needs.
Source: Phil Brown, David Ashton and Hugh Lauder, Skills Are Not Enough: The globalisation of knowledge and the future UK economy, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Links: Paper | Summary
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Maximizing impact of charities and philanthropy – manifesto
A think-tank manifesto outlined six changes designed to help the government to maximize the impact of charities and philanthropy. It called for funding to help charities measure their own impact, and for the introduction of standardized frameworks. It said that the government should publish the evidence it collected on the performance of charities in a similar way to that on public services performance.
Source: Manifesto for Social Impact, New Philanthropy Capital
Links: Manifesto | NPC press release | New Start report
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Concern over Tory policy on new faith schools
A report by a Christian organization called for clarification of the opposition Conservative Party's policies on new faith-based academy schools. It said that there was a threat to the rights of religious parents to be accommodated within the state education.
Source: Guy Brandon and John Hayward, New Academies, New Opportunities: An assessment of Conservative Party education policy, Jubilee Centre
Links: Report
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Civil society and the media
A report said that civil society had a crucial role to play in protecting and enhancing a diversity of viewpoints in the media, following the demise of traditional media business models.
Source: Tamara Witschge, Natalie Fenton and Des Freedman, Protecting the News: Civil society and the media, Carnegie UK Trust
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Children's rights in Wales – consultation
The Welsh Assembly Government began consultation on proposals to require it to have due regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in areas of its work.
Source: Proposals for a Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Consultation document | WAG press release | BBC report
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
- Call for mental health promotion in Wales
A report said that the overall cost of mental health problems in Wales was £7.2 billion a year. It called for greater investment in mental health promotion, and said that this would bring economic advantages.
Source: Lynne Friedli and Michael Parsonage, Promoting Mental Health and Preventing Mental Illness: The economic case for investment in Wales, All Wales Mental Health Promotion Network
Links: Report | Summary | NHS Wales press release
Date Created: 18 Mar 2010
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