bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Managing contracts under the UK's Private Finance Initiative: evidence from the National Health Service
Authors: Lonsdale Chris , Watson Glyn
Published: November 2007

English

Over recent years, a number of contributors to the public management literature have argued that the buyer–supplier relationships generated by the UK Private Finance Initiative (PFI) are qualitatively different from those generated by traditional contracting out. References have been made to equality, transparency, risk-sharing and trust. In this article, the authors test a contrary argument: that UK public managers negotiate and implement PFI contracts within an environment which is, to a significant extent, characterised by supplier opportunism, something that requires them to employ an extremely assiduous, if not necessarily distant, approach to contract and relationship management. The testing of this argument is undertaken with evidence from PFI construction contracts operated within the National Health Service.
Navigating the contradictions of public service modernisation: the case of community engagement professionals
Authors: Mayo Marjorie , Hoggett Paul , Miller Chris
Published: November 2007

English

A commitment to public service reform has been a guiding theme of Labour administrations in Britain since 1997. These modernisation policies and practices formed the context for our research, using psychosocial approaches to analyse the contradictory impacts of modernisation agendas on social development workers’ motivations, professional values and the ways in which they identified and addressed ethical dilemmas in their work. Professionals responded to modernisation agendas in varying ways. While some welcomed the changes, others raised concerns, posing questions for the future about the potential impact on the motivations and values of the next generation of public service professionals.
Collaboration in Social Welfare: a framework for analysis
Authors: Hudson Bob
Published: November 2007

The social science perspective on organisations has tended to focus on intra-organisational phenomena, but the growing interest in collaboration as a means of enhancing welfare service delivery requires a greater focus on inter-organisational behaviour. This paper contends that the British approach has been unduly empirical and draws upon American material to develop a conceptual framework which may be applied to a variety of welfare settings. It considers ways in which collaborative activity might be measured and facilitated, but also warns against optimism about what can be achieved.
Tribunals Hearing Supplementary Benefit Appeals: the members’ role
Authors: Jackson Michael , Stewart Heather , Bland Rosemary
Published: November 2007

The article reports one aspect of research conducted about a year ago into the operation of tribunals hearing appeals on supplementary benefit matters. Attention is concentrated on the role of tribunal members in the public part of the hearing. It is suggested that while most members contribute during this part of the hearing, such as by questioning appellants, representatives or presenting officers, a minority very rarely do so. It is also suggested that some recent developments such as the appointment of legal chairmen and the more general judicialisation of the system may be making it more difficult for members to play an active role.
Behind Closed Doors: Further education, centralisation and the Youth Training Scheme
Authors: Walker Brian
Published: November 2007

This article attempts to analyse the policy formulation in respect of the two-year YTS, highlighting the exclusivity of the process despite an apparent high profile pluralist approach. The alleged politicisation of the Manpower Services Commission appeared to generate this policy myopia and at the same time enabled a large degree of central government control of education, particularly the LEA Further Education sector, whose work has shifted as a result from a broad-based vocational education to a model based upon a far ‘harder’ concept of training.
Implementing Economic Policy: An analytical framework
Authors: Thain Colin
Published: November 2007

The article presents an analytical framework developed to aid research into the implementation of the Thatcher government’s Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). The framework utilises the growing literature on the analysis of public policy in a way intended to be relevant to the study of the implementation of economic policy in the UK. Section one deals with the definition of the terms policy and implementation. This is followed by a section which sets out the assumptions which underlie the framework. The framework itself consists of six elements: the antecedents of policy; dramatis personae; policy standards and objectives; negotiation and conflict; implementation influences on policy and wider societal actors. Throughout the article examples from research into the MTFS are introduced to assess the value of theories drawn from the literature.
The Co-ordination of UK Policy on Alcohol and Tobacco: The significance of organisational networks
Authors: Harrison Larry , Tether Philip
Published: November 2007

While there have been frequent demands for the UK government to improve policy co-ordination in relation to tobacco- and alcohol-induced harm, critics have rarely spelled out how they expect this to be achieved. This paper identifies three models of co-ordination which have appeared in the literature on organisations — the rational-corporate, partisan mutual adjustment and organisational networks — and examines whether any model offers an adequate description of the existing means of co-ordination in this field, or a prescription for its enhancement. It is concluded that government could achieve significant improvements in this area through modifications to the organisational networks involved in different sectors of prevention policy.
Local Authority Decentralisation — Tower Hamlets goes all the way
Authors: Morphet Janice
Published: November 2007

Since 1980 a number of Labour-run authorities have instituted various forms of decentralised services in order to make the communities they serve aware of local government and to have some formalised role. Through the provision of services at neighbourhood level, authorities have moved toward client centred administration. In Tower Hamlets, an Inner London Borough, the incoming Liberal administration in 1986 immediately decentralised all the council services to be managed within seven neighbourhoods. This paper considers the development of this initiative, and some of the potential issues such an approach raises.
Where did it hurt most? uneven decline in the availability of council housing in England
Authors: Kleinman Mark P.
Published: November 2007

The supply of council housing becoming available for letting to new tenants in England has declined considerably over the last decade, both through cutbacks in new capital expenditure by local authorities and through the effects of the Right to Buy on the overall size of the stock. This decline has been uneven, with important differences between regions and between types of local authority. It is shown that london in particular has been disadvantaged through changes in the spatial’ distribution of lettings. The reduction in overall supply has led to a reduction in the level of discretion which local authorities can exercise in regard to their allocation policies. National housing policy towards the council sector over the last decade is therefore seen to have inequitable spatial consequences. In addition, the change in the relative supply position of the two main tenures is likely to have affected tenure choice, particularly at the margin, with wider effects on public perceptions of the relative status of owner-occupation and public renting.
The Rediscovery of Restrictions: the impact of the miners’ strike on the powers of local authorities to offer financial aid through social work departments
Authors: Jackson Michael P.
Published: November 2007

Social workers in Britain gained the power to offer financial aid to clients with children through the 1963 Children and Young Persons Act. These powers were extended in Scotland through Section 12 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. However, these powers were also subject to certain limitations: where children were not involved, there had to be exceptional circumstances, it had to be likely that giving financial aid would save the local authority greater expense in the long term and, critically for this case, help could only be given to ‘persons in need’ as defined by Section 94 of the 1968 Act.

In practice, some of the restrictions imposed by the 1968 Act were soon forgotten or ignored as local authorities struggled to deal with the demands placed on them. Further, this strategy seemed to get official backing and had the support of other official bodies. However, the issue was re-opened with the miners’ strike of 1984/85 when some authorities used their powers under Section 12 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act extensively to help those on strike. The political controversy surrounding the strike caused the way social work departments were using their powers to offer financial aid to be looked at anew. The result has been the rediscovery of the restrictions of the 1968 Act and a major change to the practice of the previous 15 or 50 years.
Women’s Initiatives in Local Government … where do they come from and where are they going?
Authors: Halford Susan
Published: November 2007

This paper explores some of the practical and political implications of local government women’s initiatives. Two themes are discussed using survey and case-study material from a variety of local authorities. First, why do some local authorities choose to develop positive policies for women? Second, what status do these initiatives have and how politically/socially influential are they? The paper suggests that local government policy making can only be understood by reference to local social relations as well as an area’s overall economic and political profile. Finally, the paper concludes that ‘tokenism’ needs to be developed into a far more sophisticated concept if it is to be used to assess local government women’s initiatives.
Recent Political Difficulties of Local Government in N. Ireland
Authors: Connolly M. , Knox C.
Published: November 2007

Local government in N. lreland has frequently been associated with political controversy particularly since May 1985 following the election of Sinn Fein councillors and the subsequent signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. This paper traces Unionist reaction to both events, the impact on local services and the government’s role in the affair. The authors argue that the Unionist protest has failed in the face of legal reprimands, additional powers taken by the government and the diligence of officials in maintaining services. As a conciliatory measure the government announced timely proposals to counter Sinn Fein’s joint support for violence and democracy. In the interest of long term aims to devolve administration the government has been successful in its short term approach to N.I. local government.
Partnership or Privatisation? The political economy of local economic restructuring
Authors: Moore Chris , Pierre Jon
Published: November 2007

The restructuring of local economies in the face of declining traditional industries is a major problem confronting all advanced western societies. This article contrasts the experience of two countries with very different traditions of political management of their national economies, namely the UK and Sweden. The authors argue that whilst there are important divergencies in macro political and economic objectives, there is an interesting convergence in practice in tackling the impact of restructuring at the local community level. This convergence is based on the idea of market led regeneration and bringing private interests, in the form of big business, into a policy-making and implementation role.
The Local Economy and Local Economic Strategies
Authors: Lovering John
Published: November 2007

This paper outlines the changing urban and economic patterns of the UK, in order to pose questions of principle concerning local economic strategies. Proposals for local intervention usually assume that the local economy is a coherent entity which can be influenced by regeneration policies. In reality most local economies are so fragmented that this approach is inadequate. Strategies for local benefits should devote far more attention to local labour markets.
Greater London Council Ethnic Minority Business Development Initiatives: A policy review
Authors: Memon P. A.
Published: November 2007

Since the 1980s, local authorities and central government have come to recognise ethnic minority small business development in inner city areas as a valid policy issue. This can be seen as a response to under-representation by particular black groups in the small business sector and promotion of small business as a focus of government economic policy for inner cities. The Greater London Council (GLC), prior to its abolition in 1986, played a key role in pioneering local government initiatives targeted to the needs of black owned businesses and those aspiring to be self-employed. These are now being implemented by the Greater London Enterprise Board (GLEB). The paper analyses the development and implementation of these initiatives in the wider policy context of GLC’s radical economic strategy.
Economic Principles in the Public and Private Sectors
Authors: Parsons Stephen
Published: November 2007

The last few years have witnessed repeated claims that entrepreneurial activity can alleviate problems in both the private and public sectors. Furthermore, policy initiatives aimed at increasing financial accountability have been developed for the public sector, encouraging managers to take responsibility for the financial effects of decisions. This paper investigates the understanding of entrepreneurial activity of the Austrian School of economics which, via representatives such as Hayek and Littlechild, has been highly influential on government thinking. The paper argues that recent financial management initiatives in the public sector embody assumptions which directly contradict the Austrian understanding of entrepreneurial action, and that the demand for financial accountability results in grave problems for any attempt to encourage entrepreneurial activities in the public sector.
Fair Employment: towards reform in Northern Ireland
Authors: Osborne R. D. , Cormack R. J.
Published: November 2007

Far reaching proposals for the reform of fair employment legislation in Northern Ireland include annual compulsory monitoring by employers and a form of ‘contract compliance’. This paper examines the origins of fair employment legislation in Northern Ireland, identifies the factors prompting the reform and highlights the importance of Canadian policy in shaping the new proposals. The paper concludes by noting the need for a careful evaluation of the new policy as it is implemented.
Women’s Committees: a model for good local government?
Authors: Edwards Julia
Published: November 2007

Women’s committees, although still few in number, have been a steadily growing phenomenon in local government for the past ten years. They reflect the failure of politicians and professionals to address the needs of women in the community and many of them have developed co-operative ways of working with women’s groups trying to extend the representativeness and responsiveness of local government. By analysing policies in terms of women’s lived experiences, women’s committees highlight the alienating effect of predominantly white, middle-class, male-defined policies which ignore the majority of citizens. Given a firm legal base, adequate resources and a corporate structure, women’s committees might radically improve women’s equality of opportunity in local authority jobs and services. As such they may, therefore, also offer us a potential model for more democratic local government generally.
The Politics of Shit: regulation of liquid manure application in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony
Authors: Conrad Jobst , Teherani-Krönner Parto
Published: November 2007

The 1980 EC Drinking Water Directive limiting the amount of nitrate in drinking water to50mg/l can hardly be implemented without preventive measures in the application of nitrogen fertilizers and manure in regions with intensive farming. As yet, however, this has not been worked out at the EC level. One of the first mandatory regulations has thus been introduced in some West German states concerning the amount of and the timespan over which liquid manure may be applied.

Even though the liquid manure regulation in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony is characterised as smooth and conciliatory towards farmers, it can be seen as an attempt to control nitrate emissions into ground water. Despite their shortcomings, the Liquid Manure Ordinance and the Liquid Manure Directive stand out as positive examples of at least partial applications of the ‘polluter pays’ principle.
Drift and Resistance: refining models of political recruitment
Authors: Barron Jacqueline , Crawley Gerald , Wood Tony
Published: November 2007

In this article, which is based on personal interviews with councillors, council candidates, party members and their spouses, we look at the considerations governing recruitment to district and county councils. After criticising some aspects of what we call the classic model of political recruitment, we look in some detail at the resources, opportunities and motivations of potential council members. We identify some differences in patterns of recruitment according to gender and to party. The most important distinction, however, is between those who ‘drift’ into a council position at the suggestion of a party member, and the majority who strenuously resist such persuasion.
‘New Poverty’ in the European Community
Authors: Room Graham , Lawson Roger , Laczko Frank
Published: November 2007

This article will first examine the changing terms of the debate on poverty in the member states of the European Community: exploring, in particular, the sorts of claims made by different political actors that recent trends in poverty are significantly different or ‘new’. It will then summarise the available evidence as to the restructuring of the map of poverty during recent years and the social and economic causes of these changes. This will make it possible to come to some assessment as to how ‘new’ is the ‘new poverty’ and what new challenges for policy makers it poses.
Performance Indicators: ‘backseat driving’ or ‘hands off’ control?
Authors: Carter Neil
Published: November 2007

The present Conservative administration has attempted to improve economy, efficiency and effectiveness in government by decentralising the delivery of public services. In order to overcome the familiar organisational paradox, that to decentralise it is necessary to centralise, the government has encouraged the development of performance indicators as a ‘hands off’ instrument of control over service delivery. This article analyses various problems raised by the use of performance indicators as a tool of control. It is argued that performance indicators remain an imperfect mechanism of central control and still involve a much resented degree of ‘backseat driving’ by government.
Political Rationality or ‘Incrementalism’? Charles E. Lindblom’s enduring contribution to public policy making theory
Authors: Gregory Robert
Published: November 2007

The lasting impact of Charles E. Lindblom on public policy making theory flows from his insight into the nature of a collective, political, rationality. The term ‘incrementalism’, with which his name is commonly associated, obscures rather than enhances an appreciation of this enduring contribution. The debate between Lindblom and his main ‘rationalist’ critics has failed to demonstrate any necessary relationships between the scope of policy change and the role of formal analysis. It has also tended to reify public policy making, misleadingly representing ‘incrementalism’ as a chosen political strategy, or analytical technique, rather than as the inevitable form of collective political action.
Public Management in Uncertainty: a micro-political perspective of the health service in the United Kingdom
Authors: Barrett Sue , McMahon Laurie
Published: November 2007

An increasingly common characteristic of public sector organisations in Britain and elsewhere in Western Europe is a heightened sense of uncertainty. Assumptions that have been cherished for decades are being challenged, and for large public institutions, used to plotting their way into the future in much the same direction as they left the past, the strength of the challenge and the wide front over which it is taking place is causing increasing concern for both managers and politicians.

In this paper we examine the uncertainty created within the National Health Service by an increasingly rapid shift from passive administration to more assertive management and from welfare values to market forces. We use the experience of a small group of District General Managers with whom we worked to try and better understand how managers have thought through these changes in practice. We go on to reflect on that experience and suggest a series of coping strategies for managing in uncertainty.
Strategic Regulatory Planning in the Management of Hazardous Materials
Authors: Kamieniecki Sheldon , Cohen Steven A.
Published: November 2007

The failure to coordinate policy formulation with policy implementation in hazardous waste regulation has hindered the identification of potential obstacles to achieving compliance. In an effort to integrate policy formulation with implementation, this paper develops a strategic regulatory planning model and applies it to a specific case, the underground storage tank provision of the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments. The final plan, submitted to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, emphasises ‘induced compliance’. The study shows that the model provides policymakers with a practical tool for combining policy formulation with implementation and identifying possible impediments to achieving compliance.
The Impact of Party Politics on Patterns of Service Provision in English Local Authorities
Authors: Barnett Richard R. , Levaggi Rosella , Smith Peter
Published: November 2007

The UK central government recommends that English local authorities should publish a series of performance indicators in order to enhance accountability. However, interpretation of these data is complicated by the need to take account of the environmental circumstances faced by authorities. This paper uses the needs indicators developed by the government to allocate grants-in-aid to determine whether it is possible to build satisfactory models of local authority behaviour based on the suggested performance indicators. The findings are positive, and afford the opportunity to explore the nature of the impact of political control on local authority behaviour. In general, although the precise nature of the preferred model varies from service to service, the findings confirm that political control is an important determinant of provision in most of the services for which local government is responsible.
Housing Policy and ‘Special Needs’
Authors: Clapham David , Smith Susan J.
Published: November 2007

The concept of ‘special needs’ is one with which all housing practitioners and housing policy analysts will be familiar. It is a concept which is increasingly the touchstone for state involvement in housing and it is a label which can unlock the door to resources for many groups of people such as ‘the elderly’, ‘the mentally handicapped’ and ‘the physically disabled’.

The objectives of this paper are to examine the ‘special needs’ concept by analysing its role in the targetting of housing policy. The impact of the ‘special needs’ approach is assessed both in terms of its capacity to deliver the goods for ‘special’ groups and in terms of the implications of the approach for the impact of state intervention in the provision of housing and welfare. The argument throughout is that the ‘special needs’ approach has brought some substantial material gains to the groups it serves but that these achievements have been secured at the cost of inflexibility in service provision, the relative exclusion of ‘special’ groups from mainstream society and the increasing stigmatisation of such groups due to the stereotypical images their ‘special’ designation conveys.

Finally, two strategies of reform are considered: the incremental approach which aims to widen and expand the range of groups eligible for special provision; and a radical, strategy which challenges some key tenets of the ‘special needs’ approach and provides a more ‘universalising’ alternative.
Affirmative Action Policy in the United States: its impact on women
Authors: Johnson Roberta Ann
Published: November 2007

After offering a generic definition of Affirmative Action, this paper does three things: first, it traces the development of the United States Affirmative Action policy from the issuing of Executive Orders by Presidents Roosevelt, Kennedy and Johnson to its full implementation in the Department of Labour; second, it summarises and evaluates all the Affirmative Action cases decided by the Supreme Court, starting with the Bakke decision; and third, using Census and Department of Labour statistics and secondary sources, the paper considers in what ways Affirmative Action increases opportunities for women. Throughout the paper, Affirmative Action is appreciated for its redistributed thrust.
Expert Systems and the Public Provision of Welfare Benefit Advice
Authors: Dawson Patrick , Buckland Sarah , Gilbert Nigel
Published: November 2007

At some stage during their lives most people will need information on welfare benefit entitlements and on the operation of the social security system in order to lodge a benefit claim. This article reports on the feasibility of using computers to provide benefit advice and support to the public, drawing on data from a study of potential users of a computer information system. The article concludes that expert systems technology could provide opportunities for developing welfare benefit advice systems which are easy to use and which can educate non-experts about social security administration and entitlement to wefare benefits.
Coping with Difficulty: the Treasury and public expenditure, 1976–89
Authors: Thain Colin , Wright Maurice
Published: November 2007

This article asserts that the Treasury has experienced continual difficulty since 1976 in controlling public expenditure, and in achieving the objectives set by successive governments. It has responded to those difficulties by modifying the control system (PES) and initiating a variety of other ‘coping strategies’. These have helped it to manage and relieve some of the pressures to spend, and to limit the damage to its own credibility and that of the government of the day.
Performance Measurement in Child Care: when a falling boarding out rate should attract congratulation and not castigation
Authors: Knapp Martin , Baines Barry , Gerrard Bede
Published: November 2007

Almost every policy pronouncement at central government and local authority level advocates an increase in the proportion of children placed with foster families from among those admitted to care, that is no longer living with their biological or adoptive parents. Every local authority in England has successfully increased this proportion over a ten year period but they are finding it increasingly difficult to do so as child care populations change. This short paper reports how one London borough experienced a fall in its boarding-out proportion over a four year period, but had nevertheless succeeded in finding foster rather than residential placements for a ‘more difficult’ care population. Far from being castigated for its falling boarding-out proportion over this period the authority deserves congratulation.
National Frameworks and the Implementation of Local Policies: is a European model of integration identifiable?
Authors: Nanton Philip
Published: November 2007

This paper examines the notion of integration in the five main migrant receiving countries of the European Community, namely, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. I argue that the term ‘integration’ is used in these countries primarily as a political concept of convenience to manage migrant relations. The result has been the diverse application of the term from one country to another. This is illustrated at the economic level by different degrees of economic integration, different strategies to develop social cohesion and politically through different arrangements for consultation and political participation.

The paper then argues that integration also involves a longer term and universal process of adaptation. It is suggested that nation states might more usefully build their integration policies around the latter processes and identifies a number of minimum conditions for integration.
Immigration After 1992
Authors: Baldwin-Edwards Martin
Published: November 2007

This paper outlines the recent trends of immigration in Europe, including the rise of asylum-seekers and illegal migrants. The rights of established immigrants in twelve EEC countries are examined, and the concept of four types of immigration ‘policy regime’ advanced — semi-peripheral or Mediterranean, ‘Schengen’ or Continental, Scandinavian and UK. Transnational arrangements aiming at common border policies for 1992 are elaborated at both the EC and Schengen (6) levels. It is concluded that, so far, the only common policies derive from a European consensus on the need to limit external immigration: the major policy decisions have yet to be addressed.
Educational Performance Assessment: a new framework of analysis
Authors: Mayston David J. , Jesson David St J.
Published: November 2007

The recent widespread introduction of devolved financial management for schools in England and Wales has increased the importance of there being an appropriate analytical framework within which the performance of individual schools can be assessed. This paper examines one such framework that can combine economic insights into the multidimensional activity of transforming resource inputs into desirable educational outcomes for a school’s given pupil intake, with an enhanced role for the school inspectorate in quality control and the assessment of each school’s economic and educational effectiveness.
The Paradox of Rising Incomes and Increasing Hardship
Authors: Baker John
Published: November 2007

Official statistics show that the real incomes of the poorest households, and of those living on social security, have risen in recent years. If so, their hardships should be easing. In fact they appear to be continuing or even worsening.

This article looks at six possible solutions to this paradox. There is insufficient evidence to prove or disprove any, but some are more plausible and better supported by evidence than others. The solution may itself be paradoxical. Hardships like lacking heat, shelter or even food may be the result of incomes that are low compared with other incomes, rather than to the cost of fuel, rent etc.
Reinterpreting Locational Conflicts: NIMBY and nuclear waste management in Sweden
Authors: Lidskog Rolf , Elander Ingemar
Published: November 2007

Starting with a description of national policies for nuclear energy and nuclear waste management in Sweden, the paper critically examines the conventional way of interpreting locational conflict with its explanation in terms of not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY). Analysing a very strong and enduring local conflict around the issue of nuclear waste management in Sweden, the paper ends with the conclusion that the local protest in this case should not be dismissed as a purely selfish reaction to a responsible policy in the public interest. Instead, the question is raised whether it may not well be the case that local protest groups, by bringing into focus the issue of the production of waste are contributing to a long-term responsible policy for stopping the production of any form of hazardous waste.
Self-governing Hospitals in a Public Funded Health Care System: NHS trusts in Britain and independent hospitals in Canada
Authors: Rathwell Tom
Published: November 2007

The British National Health Service, in common with many other European countries, is undergoing a period of radical reform. One of the most important and fundamental changes introduced is the right for hospitals and other provider units to apply for self-governing (autonomous) status. Self-governing hospitals are a new phenomenon in Britain and there is little understanding or evidence of how the policy change will impact on health services delivery. This paper explores the likely development in Britain of the self-governing hospital from the perspective of the hospital in the Canadian Health System. Canada has a comprehensive, government funded and regulated system of health care, free at the point of delivery and available to all citizens. Its hospitals operate as autonomous institutions within the overall structure. The paper considers the issue of self governance from four perspectives: management; finance; service provision; and accountability.

The paper concludes that autonomously managed hospitals are compatible with a public funded health care system.
Explaining Different Approaches to Local Labour Market Policy in the FRG
Authors: Blanke Bernhard , Benzler Susanne , Heinelt Hubert
Published: November 2007

The article deals with a central problem of labour market policy in the then Federal Republic of Germany (and in other countries): how to bring different policy levels with their special programmes and the many local actors together to develop programmes against unemployment appropriate to their locality. While facing the financial dilemma of falling tax receipts and rising expenditures due to economic crisis and restructuring and while central government prefers non-decisions, local authorities are obliged to make use of the ‘resources of coordination’ such as financial resources and programmes, for example different policies and their associated implementation measures, and of local actors.

Using the examples of Bremen, Hanover, Dortmund and Munich the article shows which factors and political processes determine the particular local policies to combat unemployment.

The article was written in Spring 1991.
An Evaluation of Neighbourhood Decentralisation Part 1: Customer and citizen perspectives
Authors: Lowndes Vivien , Stoker Gerry
Published: November 2007

This article presents an evaluation of a radical decentralisation initiative under-taken by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It considers the degree to which the initiative has improved service delivery and involved residents in decision-making. Decentralisation emerges not as a ‘cure-all’ for the problems of local government but as presenting some advantages. A second article to be published in the next issue of the journal will examine decentralisation from the perspective of staff and councillors.
Auditing Social Needs
Authors: Percy-Smith Janie
Published: November 2007

The idea of social auditing has attracted considerable interest in recent years. This paper outlines a model of a social audit that has at its heart the concept of social needs as both a basis for policy formulation and a criterion for policy evaluation. The author presents the arguments in favour of regular social audits, describes the processes involved in conducting a social audit and, finally, outlines a practical example of an audit of health and welfare needs. While the auditing of social needs is not without its difficulties, the author concludes that, nevertheless, it is a vital component in the policy process.
Changes and Challenges Facing the Uk Welfare State in the Europe of the 1990s
Authors: Benington John , Taylor Matthew
Published: November 2007

This article explores three dimensions of change facing the welfare state in the UK. In the first instance it discusses the economic context and the changing resource base of the British welfare system. Secondly, it explores the emergent constituency for welfare services that arises as a consequence of demographic change and social polarisation. Finally it looks at the culture of governance as a result of the Europeanisation of policy making. The authors conclude that the future of the UK welfare state in Europe will be determined by a number of critical moments marked by the attempt to resolve the contradictions between the core features of contrasting welfare regimes.
Calling the Tune Without Paying the Piper? Social policy regulation: the role of the Commission in European Community social policy
Authors: Cram Laura
Published: November 2007

Regulatory policy is presently the principal form of European Community (EC) social policy legislation affecting European citizens. One possible explanation of this trend is that the Commission, far from being a neutral bureaucracy, has been an active force in pushing outward the frontiers of Community social policy. Expanding its skills, and learning from past experience, the Commission makes maximum use of its limited powers in the social sphere. One important aspect of the Commision’s opportunistic role may be its ability to prepare the ground for future regulatory action. The relatively costless nature of regulatory policy-making, from the point of view of the Commission’s budget, increasingly allows the Commission to call the proverbial tune without incurring the costs of paying the piper.
Welfare Policy: the dynamics of European integration
Authors: Cochrane Allan , Doogan Kevin
Published: November 2007

In the current period the process of European integration is beset with major political and economic difficulties and consequently any discussion of change in European welfare regimes must proceed cautiously. In this vein this article sets out an editorial context for this special issue of Policy and Politics. It outlines key factors that constitute the dynamics of European welfare change, exploring constraints and suggesting possible outcomes. On the one hand economic and monetary convergence procedures suggest a common set of pressures on welfare regimes, whereas institutional differences in member states dictate that responses will vary significantly. In these circumstances the extent to which integration can be usefully described as ‘transnational’ or ‘supra-national’ is explored.
Child Support in Lone-Parent Families: policies in Australia and the UK
Authors: Millar Jane , Whiteford Peter
Published: November 2007

Under the provisions of the Child Support Bill of 1991, a new system of child maintenance is currently being implemented in Britain in order to increase the coverage and level of private support for children whose parents have separated or divorced. When the scheme was introduced, the government indicated that the recent Australian system of child support had been one model for this initiative. This paper compares the main features of the Australian and UK systems and reviews the early evidence concerning the effectiveness of the Australian arrangements. The paper notes that there are significant differences between the design of the schemes and argues that the UK system may only have a very limited impact on the poverty experienced by lone parents and their children.
Subsidiarity and European Union: Beyond the Ideological Impasse? An analysis of the origins and impact of the principle of subsidiarity within the politics of the European Community
Authors: Green Paul
Published: November 2007

Over the last decade in European Community politics the principle of subsidiarity has increased in significance as a political value in the debate between federalists, regionalists and sovereign nationalists. This significance culminated in a statement of policy, built around the principle, written into the Treaty of European Union. The statement was agreed on both sides of the political spectrum, not as a symbol of a new ideological convergence but on the basis of the belief, held by all, that the principle would serve their own aims. Clearly, this is not possible, and as a result, a useful political concept which promises so much in fact delivers little, remaining impotent in practical terms and of little consequence, as things presently stand, to future Community developments.
Income Distribution and Social Policy Under a Reformist Government: the Australian experience
Authors: Whiteford Peter
Published: November 2007

For most of the past decade, the Australian Government has developed its social policies within the framework of a consensual incomes policy. While this has led to a fall in the real average earnings of Australian workers, until 1990, the employed workforce grew at nearly the fastest rate of all OECD countries, and female labour force participation increased markedly. At the same time, there were constraints on public expenditure, under which eligibility for social security payments was restricted. This was accompanied by targeted increases in benefit levels for low income families with children, as part of an explicit programme to reduce child poverty. These and other policies have been characterised as indicating that the Australian Labor Party has followed economic rationalist policies, similar to those of Conservative governments in the UK and other English-speaking countries. Using a micro-analytic simulation model, this article provides estimates of trends in living standards, poverty and income inequality in Australia between 1983 and 1990, and assesses the extent to which Australia has had a ‘New Right’ government.
Homelessness Policy in Britain
Authors: Somerville Peter
Published: November 2007

This paper reviews the history of homelessness policy in Britain, with special emphasis on the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977. The structural changes in society which made the 1977 Act possible are identified, and the immediate causation of the Act itself is examined in detail. The consensus view that pressure groups played the main part in bringing about the legislative change is criticised, and instead it is argued that the Department of the Environment took the lead from start to finish.

The paper then goes on to argue that the Department of the Environment has retained the initiative in homelessness policy from 1977 up to the present day. Further structural shifts in British society are identified, which have had the cumulative effect of undermining the 1977 Act’s main provisions. Specific influences on the Department which have led to its current proposals for legislative change are then outlined, and used to explain the nature and timing of these proposals. Issues of centralisation, depoliticisation and privatisation are argued to be of particular importance in explaining the overall pattern of change.
Affordability, Home Ownership and the Middle Class Housing Crisis in Hong Kong
Authors: Lee James
Published: November 2007

While the housing markets in the western world suffer from problems centring around falling demand and negative equities, Hong Kong stands in stark contrast to this development. Rising affluence and conflicting government policy have led to a phenomenal growth in house prices and a general increase in home ownership. This situation has triggered off two different but related social processes. First, home ownership has created substantial wealth and life chances for established home owners and there are indications that social division is being gradually restructured. Second, the same process has also residualised a sector of the middle class – classified as the ‘sandwich class’ in Hong Kong – who are trapped in the housing system because of an affordability problem. This paper attempts to trace (1) the genesis of this middle class housing crisis through an examination of house price inflation and the growth of owner-occupation for the last two decades; and (2) the contradictions within the present housing policy which contribute towards the current housing crisis. It is argued that housing research should take special note of the restrictive nature of housing systems such as in Hong Kong where over population and shortage of land could severely limit policy choice.
Enforcing Child Support Obligations: the attitudes of separated fathers
Authors: Burgoyne Carole , Millar Jane
Published: November 2007

In the UK the 1991 Child Support Act has introduced major changes to the way in which the state intervenes in the financial support of children when their parents separate. The new approach requires much higher payments from separated parents (in most cases fathers) and enforces these payments much more rigorously than in the past. However, although research shows that most separated fathers did not pay regular child maintenance under the old system, there is little information available on the reasons for this non-payment. The research reported here deals with the attitudes of separated fathers, drawing on in-depth interviews with a small sample of men in order to explore their attitudes towards child maintenance payments. These interviews pre-date the implementation of the Child Support Act but suggest that many of the issues which are now emerging reflect a complex set of attitudes about the nature and extent of the financial responsibility of parents towards their children.
Between Whitehall and Town Hall: the realignment of urban regeneration policy in England
Authors: Stewart Murray
Published: November 2007

Urban policy in England can be characterised on the one hand as a fitful succession of discontinuous initiatives, the latest being a phase of competition and place marketing, but on the other hand as a continuity of centralisation, fragmentation and organisational proliferation. Policy integration and interdepartmental collaboration at central and local government levels has been weak. Proposals for a new Cabinet Committee, Ministers appointed with responsibility for individual cities, an integrated Regeneration Budget, and decentralised regional administration offer the potential for a reversal of centralist trends. At the same time, however, they embody a managerial, competitive and corporatist policy culture which runs counter to the spirit of a new localism in regeneration policy.
The Creation and Evolution of Quasi Markets in the Public Sector: early evidence from the National Health Service
Authors: Ferlie Ewan
Published: November 2007

The paper seeks to develop a more behavioural understanding of new style ‘quasi markets’ in the public sector. Theoretically, the paper critiques transaction cost based approaches and argues that the ‘new economic sociology’ can be fruitfully applied in these settings. Case study evidence is presented from the National Health Service (NHS). The evidence suggests that the internal market in health care should be seen as relational and as socially and institutionally embedded.
Place, Personal Characteristics and Councillor Roles: a multivariate analysis of survey data
Authors: Rao Nirmala , Young Ken , Lynn Peter , Hurrell Philippa
Published: November 2007

The government proposals on the structure and internal management of local government put forward in 1991 raise important questions for the representative and decision-making roles of councillors. A re-analysis of data collected for the Widdicombe committee in 1985 was conducted, using multiple regression. The findings suggest that the time councillors spend on different council activities is significantly affected by a number of locality variables, including party control, authority type and representative ratio, and by personal characteristic variables, including income and party affiliation. Representative ratio also appears to have an influence upon the characteristics of the councillors themselves. The implications for the reorganisation of local government are explored.