bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Social Security, Equality and Women in the UK
Authors: Millar Jane
Published: November 2007

Policies to promote equal treatment between men and women have been an important part of getting the needs of women recognised in social security provisions. However, the unequal situations of men and women in the labour market have significant implications for policy. This article examines the limits of equal treatment in the context of new labour market trends and hence, new demands on social security. To what extent can a formal equal treatment approach tackle the substantive inequalities between men and women?
The Social Situation and Employment of Migrant Women in the European Community
Authors: Prondzynski Isabelle
Published: November 2007

Migrant women in the European Community (EC) tend to suffer from a cumulation of disadvantages. The highly developed EC legislation on the free movement of workers does not cover migrants originating in Third Countries (i.e. non Member States), and the relevant national legislation does not regard dependants as migrant workers in their own right. Migrant women from within and outside the EC experience numerous practical difficulties in obtaining access to training (particularly to mainstream courses) and to employment (particularly to better paid and more highly qualified jobs). It is vital that the European Community should continue its efforts to improve their situation under the forthcoming Action Programme on equal opportunities, as well as in its preparations for the single market after 1992.
The Impact of Equal Value Legislation in Northern Ireland
Authors: Maxwell Patricia
Published: November 2007

The introduction of the equal value legislation in Northern Ireland in 1984 was welcomed by women as being highly significant. Progress towards wage equality between the sexes had all but ceased by the later 1970s, and the new regulations were regarded as vitally important in that for the first time they would allow comparisons between jobs which were quite different in nature, provided they were of equal value. This article examines the implementation of the regulations in Northern Ireland and highlights their inadequacies together with the practical difficulties to which they have given rise. It contrasts the attitude of the government to the problem of religious discrimination in the Province (in the face of external economic pressure from the United States) with the minimalist nature of its response to the problem of equal pay.
The Proposal for a European Directive on Parental Leave: some reasons why it failed
Authors: Rutherford Françoise
Published: November 2007

The proposal for a directive on parental leave emerged in 1982 as a controversial means of putting child care firmly on the agenda of the European Community. Ina period of worsening economic crisis, other equality law proposals were delayed or watered down. This article reviews the rhetoric behind the parental leave proposal and the institutional and political hurdles encountered. It concludes by emphasising the influence of domestic factors. In particular, the sensitive state of labour relations in Belgium and The Netherlands and the centralised nature of decision-making in the United Kingdom assisted a loss of momentum which led to the isolated UK veto at the Council of Ministers in 1985.
Women and Work: preparing for an independent future
Authors: Whitting Gill , Quinn Jane
Published: November 2007

Positive action in favour of women in the provision of training has helped to identify the practices that discriminate against women and to counter their effects. In the past, the European Social Fund has supported training initiatives run by and for women. In the future, however, because of changes to the allocation of the Fund, women’s training may not receive the same priority. This article examines women’s training needs and argues that naming women as a priority in resource allocation encourages the development of local labour market strategies that address gender and, thereby, make visible the circumstances and needs of women.
How Far is the Poll Tax a ‘Communitv Charge’? The Implications of Service Usage Evidence
Authors: Bramley Glen , Le Grand Julian , Low William
Published: November 2007

The poll tax reform of local government finance in Britain is justified in part by arguments for using a ‘benefit tax’, which relates tax to the use made of local services. We review the theory of local public finance and find some support for this argument, although this is not overwhelming and neither the Government nor the theoretical literature provide any empirical evidence on the actual pattern of service benefits. This article attempts to rectify this omission by drawing on unique new household survey evidence from the County of Cheshire, which enables the cost of services used by each of a representative sample of households to be estimated. The distribution of service usage can then be compared with the distribution of alternative local taxes, specifically the existing rates system and the poll tax. It is argued that the most appropriate comparisons are between income and socio-economic groups standardised for demographicstructure, and the treatment of rebates is also considered. The article concludes that the poll tax incidence deviates systematically from the pattern of service usage and is therefore not a good benefit tax, worse in fact than the current rating system.
Risks, Rights and Secrets: public access to information on industrial major hazards
Authors: Walker Gordon P.
Published: November 2007

Recent developments in public access to information on environmental risk concerns are discussed in relation to the regulation of major hazard industry. Confidentiality has traditionally been part and parcel of the ‘consensual’ approach to risk regulation in the UK. However, in response to a number of pressures, including the wider repercussions of accident events at Seveso and Bhopal, moves towards greater openness have been seen. This paper describes and analyses these significant changes in policy, identifies the practical and political basis for the public’s right to know about industrial hazards, and assesses the limits to openness now in place.
Non-Decision Making in Pollution Control in Britain: nitrate pollution, the EEC Drinking Water Directive and agriculture
Authors: Hill Michael , Aaronovitch Sabrina , Baldock David
Published: November 2007

This article looks at the development of the politics of nitrate pollution control in Britain between its emergence on the agenda in the early 1970s and 1988. Using and adapting Blowers’ development of the key approaches to policy analysis it explores the way in which the issue, which was for a long while treated as a minor one, of concern only to the experts within the water industry, has moved towards the centre of the political stage as a consequence of British difficulties in complying with the requirements of the EEC Drinking Water Directive, the privatisation of the water industry and a decline in the political influence of agriculture. It suggests, however, that this shift has been slow and tentative, and that it remains unclear to what extent actual controls will be imposed upon farmers and who will bear the cost of those controls.
The ‘New Right’ and Social Policy
Authors: Flynn Norman
Published: November 2007

There has been a debate about whether the Conservative governments since 1979 have pursued a continuation of previous social policies or have followed a more radical set of policies. In this article aspects of housing, health, social security and personal social services policies are examined and an assessment made of the principles underlying recent changes. The article concludes that there has indeed been a radical change, following ‘new right’ ideas but that developments have happened at different speeds in the various areas.
The Hidden Face of Public Expenditure: trends in tax expenditures in Britain
Authors: Hagwood Brian W.
Published: November 2007

Tax expenditures (the cost in tax forgone through reliefs or exemptions from taxes) are effectively substitutes for public expenditure. The largest tax expenditures in Britain are comparable in scale to major public expenditure programmes. However, the government does not publish information about trends over time in tax expenditures. This article examines some of the political and fiscal considerations arising from the use of tax expenditures in Britain, including the important side effects and distributional impacts. The article then examines trends in a number of major tax expenditures as part of an examination of hypotheses about what expected trends would be under the Conservative government elected in 1979. It is shown that, with the exception of some ad hoc reductions, a tax reform approach of reducing tax expenditures to enable cuts in tax rates has been confined to corporate taxation.
Local Autonomy, Accountability and a New Local Tax: the Italian debate
Authors: Fraschini Angela
Published: November 2007

The purpose of this paper is to debate the main proposals for giving back to the Italian communes greater fiscal autonomy. First, the present system of local finance is briefly described. Then, the proposals to assign to the local governments a property tax and a communal services tax (TASCO) are discussed on the basis of the two principles (accountability and benefit principle) associated with the widening of local fiscal autonomy.
Resource Management in the National Health Service: a first case history
Authors: Packwood Tim , Buxton Martin , Keen Justin
Published: November 2007

In policy terms Resource Management (RM) is something of an exception. At a time when the government has attracted criticism both for the substance of its health service policies and for its reluctance to proceed by formal experiment, RM has attracted widespread (if guarded) support and has been the subject of a three year experiment. This paper, which is based upon an interim evaluation of the RM experiments in acute hospitals in England, examines the nature of RM. lt is suggested that its origin shows the influence of a number of distinct strands that appeal to different constituencies within the health service. Each of these strands presents its own specific characteristics and issues as RM is implemented. These are considered in turn before suggesting that RM can usefully be thought of as a management process that combines and integrates the different strands. The paper concludes by examining how the changes associated with introducing RM are being handled and why the process of change is taking longer than first thought.
Skills Mismatch and Policy Response
Authors: Haughton Graham
Published: November 2007

Skills shortages and skills mismatch in Britain have intensified recently. Explanations for these problems from central government have tended to be only partial. Some of the basic tenets of offical explanations are subject to closer scrutiny, especially the notion of a demographic time-bomb. An alternative analytical framework is outlined.
The Charity as a ‘Firm’: implications for public policy
Authors: Jones Philip R. , Cullis John G.
Published: November 2007

The formulation of public policy with respect to the charitable sector requires that both policy objectives and underlying assumptions as to the behaviour of charities be made explicit. For example, when charities act as a necessary fund-raising intermediary between donors and donees, is it reasonable to consider tax expenditures as the ‘best’ incentive for the increase of charitable expenditure in the voluntary sector? An analysis of potential conflicts which can characterise decision making within a charity acts as a framework within which alternative public policy responses may be examined.
Ideology, Control and the Teaching Profession
Authors: Shaw K. E.
Published: November 2007

Teaching work is being reorganised, but detailed empirical work on how this is happening is rare. The post-Braverman labour process debate has provided insights that are useful in gaining an understanding of these developments, and which are relevant to other mass professions. What are the strategies used to organise and control work? What is happening to teachers’ skills? What about their control over their own work? Changes in the ideologies of central government rather than in the technologies-in-use are proposed as major causes of acceleration in the reorganisation of teaching work, since they lead to new forms of control such as more detailed task specification, the introduction of local management of schools, and inappropriate contractualisation. Suggestions are made about directions fieldwork based studies might take.
Implementing a Meta-Policy: the case of decentralisation in the Netherlands
Authors: Hupe Peter L.
Published: November 2007

The prevailing view on decentralisation policy in Western European countries like the Netherlands is that it is stagnating. People who see this stagnation as a problem ask what can be done about it. It appears that from the literature on policy implementation insights and lessons can be drawn that can be applied to the organisation of the administrative system. Application of these insights assumes a reality that is less one-sidedly hierarchical and centralistic than the prevailing view on decentralisation might suggest. On the basis of that application suggestions are made regarding the way decentralisation policy can be given a new impulse. One of these suggestions concerns the use of financial cutbacks, and the associated reductions in personnel, at the departmental level, as an opportunity to strengthen the role of the provinces and municipalities. In this respect the Ministry of the Interior, formally responsible for the implementation of the government’s policy on decentralisation, could play a role of intermediary instead of central ruler, guiding and stimulating decentralisation.
Decentralisation and Control: central-local government relations in Sweden
Authors: Elander Ingemar , Montin Stig
Published: November 2007

Divergent conclusions have been drawn from research about whether or not local government in Sweden has become more independent of central government during the post-war expansion of the Swedish welfare state. By using a multi-dimensional resource perspective it is argued that local government could be viewed as potentially strong with regard to constitutional–legal, political, financial and professional resources. However, during the 1980s as several decentralist and deregulative programs were being implemented, central government strengthened its financial control over local government. An increasing interdependency between local government agencies and private institutions could also be observed. Thus, the current relations between central and local government in Sweden can be summarised in the formula: centralising (financial) power — decentralising responsibility.
Housing Policy, Deprivation and Space: the case of stress areas
Authors: Kearns Ade
Published: November 2007

This paper examines the Housing Corporation’s stress area investment policy, which attempts to tackle multiple deprivation through housing instruments. Doubts are expressed about the theoretical underpinning of the policy’s approach, and about the lack of appropriate output measures. In addition, the political factors influencing the detailed construction and manipulation of the policy, the methodological problems involved in trying to operationalise it, and the difficulties which inhibit its implementation are described. Finally, the circumstances of the stress area policy are related to the Housing Corporation’s position as a Non Departmental Public Body, and a solution of regional Housing Corporations is suggested.
The Youth Training Scheme: regional policy in reverse?
Authors: Peck Jamie
Published: November 2007

This article draws out some of the regional consequences of the operation of the ‘employer-led’ Youth Training Scheme (YTS). The scheme, although nationally uniform by design, is found to produce different effects in different places, due to the nature of its articulation with the labour market. In depressed local labour markets, the predominant function of YTS is identified as the containment of youth unemployment, while in buoyant local labour markets its job substitution function is most prominent. Consequently, regional economic inequalities stand only to be exacerbated by the operation of the scheme.
Dependency, Decline and Development: the case of West Belfast
Authors: Gaffikin Frank , Morrissey Mike
Published: November 2007

The article examines the difficulties of developing strategies to counter severe urban deprivation in the context of Belfast. It first identifies the scale and components of urban decline, focusing on how it is unevenly experienced both spatially and by religious affiliation. Within this framework, it presents a critical appraisal of the main statutory programme designed to redress the major problems, Making Belfast Work. Finally, it suggests an alternative approach to regenerating the most deprived sections of Belfast.
Policy Processes in Planning
Authors: Healey Patsy
Published: November 2007

This paper discusses the significance of the processes through which policy is formulated and implemented, and in particular explores the argument that different types of policy process produce different distributive consequences. The paper first briefly reviews the discussion of policy processes in planning theory and in the political economy literature. Process forms are then defined, and different types of process outlined, with particular reference to their manifestation in British town and country planning. The discussion then moves to the level of the decision rules which constitute process forms. The dimensions of these decision rules are presented as a series of questions, through which a clearer view of the potential distributive effects of policy processes may be identified. The paper concludes with a discussion of the analytical and normative implications of the approach outlined.
Inequality and Occupational Sick Pay
Authors: Dean Hartley , Taylor-Gooby Peter
Published: November 2007

This article presents a critical commentary upon a research report on Occupational Sick Pay Schemes recently commissioned and published by the Department of Social Security. The authors argue that evidence of increasingly widespread occupational provision conceals a growing disparity between the conditions of service enjoyed by higher paid ‘core’ workers and those endured by more vulnerable ‘peripheral’ workers.
The Ackroyds, The Osbornes and The Welfare State: the impact of the welfare state on two hypothetical families over their life-times
Authors: Woolley Frances , Le Grand Julian
Published: November 2007

This paper is a study of fiscal incidence, but a rather unusual one. Instead of attempting to determine the impact of the welfare state on a representative sample survey, it attempts to assess that impact on two hypothetical families over their life-times: the working class Ackroyds and the middle class Osbornes. It examines the amounts the families receive in cash benefits, the costs of the social services they use and the value of the taxes they pay to finance those benefits. It concludes that, while cash benefits except old age pensions benefit the Ackroyds more than the Osbornes, pensions and social services overwhelmingly favour the Osbornes. However, when finance is taken into account, the system as a whole may redistribute income.
Compulsory Screening: advertising AIDS in Britain, 1986-89
Authors: Rhodes Tim , Shaughnessy Robert
Published: November 2007

Since 1986 we have witnessed a succession of mass media campaigns that have aimed to provide information about HIV infection and AIDS. From the now notorious Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) iceberg and tombstone motifs designed to imprint the word ‘AIDS’ on the ‘general public’ consciousness, to the Health Education Authority’s (HEA’s) attempts to address the ‘realities’ of heterosexual sexual behaviour, the campaigns have been widely criticised both for their reliance upon fear tactics and for not meeting their ostensible aims of changing behaviour. In this paper we will propose that not only is this due to inherent contradictions in the use of the advertising media for the purposes of health education, but also that the real impetus of the campaigns has not been educational at all.
Need and Provision in the National Health Service: an inverse care law?
Authors: Powell Martin
Published: November 2007

The inverse care law, which states that good medical care varies inversely with need, has become the conventional wisdom in a number of disciplines. However, studies which examine the spatial relationship between need and provision suffer from a number of weaknesses. These are outlined and then a number of studies are critically reviewed. It is concluded that the problems of measuring need and provision across areas make any firm conclusion about their relationship premature.
The Children Act 1989 and Community Care: comparisons and contrasts
Authors: Hallett Christine
Published: November 2007

This paper compares and contrasts the Children Act 1989 with the contemporaneous developments in the field of community care and considers their likely impact upon social services departments in the 1990s. The contrasting processes of reform are analysed and related to broader changes in social policy. Specific attention is paid to the different roles envisaged for the state in the provision of services for children and families compared with those for elderly people and people with disabilities, and to issues of assessment, budgets, and user choice and participation. The implications of implementing the changes in unified social services departments are addressed.
Quality and Decentralisation: are they connected?
Authors: Gaster Lucy
Published: November 2007

This article brings together the author’s own research and management experience of front-line local government service and ideas from a wide variety of other sources to explore two fashionable trends: decentralisation and quality. It argues that both imply a shift towards consumer oriented service delivery and that they are interconnected. Some important factors — notably, issues of organisational change and culture — can impede the successful implementation of either policy. However, using the definition of quality synthesised here, the article suggests a rule of thumb for local authorities (and possible other public sector bodies) to use when deciding whether — and what services — to decentralise in the name of improved service delivery.
Charting the Grey Economy in the 1990s
Authors: Bosanquet Nick , Propper Carol
Published: November 2007

The paper reviews evidence on the main changes which have affected elderly households in the 1980s and presents an assessment of likely trends in the 1990s. Changes in income, wealth, employment and housing are assessed to contribute to an integrated approach. The evidence suggests that demographic and other changes are likely to increase the variability of income and resources in the 1990s. This has implications for the role of state and private sectors in contributing to the welfare of elderly persons in the next decade.
A New Management in the Public Sector?
Authors: Hoggett Paul
Published: November 2007

This paper examines the crisis of the bureaucratic mode of organisation within public and private sectors and the emergence of new forms of organisational control within which maximal operational decentralisation occurs alongside the further centralisation of strategic command. It is suggested that the new basic principle of post bureaucratic management corresponds to the idea of giving managers ‘freedoms within boundaries’ and leads to the development of much more horizontal contractual forms of control. ‘The New Public Management’ is considered within this framework and it is suggested that trends towards much more internally devolved forms of organisation are indeed noticeable within the civil service, local government, education and elsewhere in the UK. Finally it is suggested that the new organisational forms are compatible with the full range of political values and examples are given to show how one Labour and one Liberal London local authority have shaped these forms in differing fashions.
Coordination: A problem in public sector management
Authors: Webb Adrian
Published: November 2007

Coordination is a perennial problem for public services — most especially the human and social services. British policy towards community care and de-hospitalisation is examined as a case study of governmental attempts to improve inter-organisation relations. Three questions are addressed: do the theoretical approaches within the public policy literatures offer policy makers a coherent guide to action; have successive government policies been influenced by these theoretical approaches; has British empirical research on joint planning offered additional insights of help to policy makers? The need to link theories of trust — and the micro dynamics of inter-organisational relations — to the public policy tradition is emphasized, as is the need for a reflexive governmental concern for problems of implementation and governance.
Community Care in a Multi-Racial Society: incorporating the user view
Authors: Atkin Karl
Published: November 2007

Recent policy debates are beginning to recognise the potential significance of race in formulating social care policy. This occurs within a wider policy context that emphasises user views. Community service provision, however, has not been responsive to the views of the black user. This paper, by exploring current policy and practice, argues that successful community care cannot rely merely on an understanding of black user views. It must also appraise the organisation and delivery of community services to people who form black minorities.
The Politics of Race and Housing
Authors: Solomos John
Published: November 2007

This paper analyses the formulation, implementation and impact of race equality policies in relation to public sector housing. It argues that the development of such initiatives at the local state level is an important feature of the contemporary politics of race. It focuses specifically upon policies developed in two radical local authorities over the past decade, and looks at how these policies fared in practice. It is argued that the lessons learned over the past decade should be used to inform policy debate during the 1990s.
The Indian Economic Success: a challenge to some race relations assumptions
Authors: Modood Tariq
Published: November 2007

British race relations thinking includes the assumptions that the black-white divide is the decisive determinant of the sociology of each of the non-white groups, who consequently have a worse socio-economic profile than whites, and that the remedy lies in political action. The Rushdie affair and the retreat from the concept of Black are referred to as counter-examples to these assumptions and it is argued that there are indications of a socio-economic mobility amongst Indians which, if true, challenge assumptions about the link between discrimination and disadvantage, and about the ends and means of racial equality.
Is There a Future for Local Authority Race Advisers?
Authors: Baker Jim
Published: November 2007

This article is intended to provide a starting point for debate. It is my intention to challenge the most basic assumption that has traditionally held true within the race relations field, i.e., the race adviser is the conduit for all work on race equality and therefore unless decision making power is vested in that adviser the community will inevitably be disadvantaged even further. The argument is simply that the race adviser cannot act for communities and is too tied into local government to challenge racism. The race adviser should become a different creature and the communities are the only ones able to fight racism in an effective way.
The Concept of ‘Reasonableness’ in Relation to Residential care and Nursing Home Charges
Authors: Gibbs Ian , Corden Anne
Published: November 2007

The present arrangements for providing financial support for people in residential care and nursing homes unable to pay their own fees have evolved in a piecemeal way with little attempt to consider whether the charges the public purse is asked to make are reasonable. The article argues that reasonable is a relative not an absolute concept which, from the view point of those with responsibility for public funds in this area, will be determined by the weight given to different policy objectives. This will become increasingly important once local authorities implement recent legislation which makes them responsible for administering a ‘unified’ community care budget.
The Changing Face of Home Ownership: building societies and household investment strategies
Authors: Doling John , Ford Janet
Published: November 2007

In the 1980s home ownership in Britain expanded rapidly under the impact of central government policy. From some perspectives this expansion has meant the unproblematic achievement of a variety of objectives. But the nature and significance of home ownership, and the objectives which it can fulfil, are no longer what they were in 1980, and the actors in the market no longer face the same market conditions. This is particularly so at the onset of the 1990s when the market is very depressed with falling prices, decreasing numbers of transactions and widescale default. This paper identifies ways in which two of the principal actors — households and building societies — are adapting their behaviour not only to the specific conditions at the start of the present decade, but also to other developments in the previous one. The paper also speculates about the political significance of these developments.
The Social Fund and Territorial Justice: experience in the first year of the fund
Authors: Huby Meg , Walker Robert
Published: November 2007

The social fund in Great Britain is intended to provide financial help for people experiencing exceptional needs which cannot be met by basic social assistance rates. Although it forms part of the national system for social assistance, patterns of social fund spending show geographical variation which cannot wholly be attributed to regional variation in levels of local need. Some of this variation can be explained by reference to patterns of expenditure on the earlier single payment system which provided the basis for allocation of social fund budgets to different local offices. Other sources of variation, however, relate to differences in applicant behaviour and in differences in the way the fund is administered at local level.
Reflections on the New Local Political Economy: resignation, resistance and reform
Authors: Moore Chris
Published: November 2007

The article reflects upon the fundamental changes which have affected British local government in the 1980s and upon the responses to these changes by local authorities. The processes of restructuring affecting localities are summarised to provide a context in which to analyse the responses of local government to change. The main part of the article looks at the range of responses. The typology of responses identified are: resignation, resistance, radical reform and pragmatic reform. The article concludes by arguing that despite political centralisation and processes of national and international economic restructuring individual local authorities exhibit a variety of responses not only between each other but within the organisation over time or between different services.
Models of Ageing and their Relation to Policy Formation and Service Provision
Authors: Wilson Gail
Published: November 2007

This paper relates commonly held models of ageing to the assumptive worlds of policy makers and service providers. Different models of old age are related to culture (class and ethnicity), gender and the age of the beholder. The common western European view that old age is a time of inevitable and increasing dependence is mirrored by a system of service provision that emphasises dependency rather than rehabilitation. A ‘terminal drop’ model is closer to the majority experience of ageing today, but it does not appear to be part of the assumptive worlds of policy makers or service providers, or even of old people themselves. The paper concludes with a brief assessment of the possibilities for change in assumptive worlds.
Protective Legislation in Britain, 1870-1990: equality, difference and their implications for women
Authors: Lewis Jane , Davies Celia
Published: November 2007

Protective legislation sets special conditions around women’s participation in the labour market and involves consideration of hours, wages and reproductive hazards. From the late nineteenth century, arguments have been couched in what contemporary feminist theory calls the equality versus difference debate — the call, on the one hand for identical treatment of the two sexes and on the other for recognition of women’s special needs. This paper examines the positions of feminists and anti-feminists and of men — as employers and employees, as trade unionists and politicians — and reviews the legislative developments at the turn of the century and again more recently. Arguing that all have ignored the structural determinants of women’s inferior position in the labour market, it calls for a reforumulation based on the notion of diversity.
Inter-Generational Relations: conflict or consensus in the 21st century
Authors: Phillipson Chris
Published: November 2007

This article reviews the likelihood of inter-generational conflict arising from population ageing in the twentieth century. The evidence used to support the idea of inter-generational conflict is critically examined. The article puts forward an alternate scenario based on different projections about trends in employment, productivity and future economic growth. Finally, the paper reviews evidence that changes in preferences for care within the family will help to reduce generational tensions over the allocation of resources.
Part-Time Work, Social Security Protections and Labour Law: an international comparison
Authors: Maier Friederike
Published: November 2007

One of the changes in the structure of the labour markets of the industrialised Western countries has been the increase of part-time working. Examining the situation in seven OECD countries the article shows to what extent part-time workers are protected and covered by labour law and social security regulations, the barriers and incentives set by these regulations and the effects these regulations have on the structure of part-time work and the gender-specific segregation of labour markets.
Income Maintenance and Institutional Forms: a comparison of France, West Germany, Italy and Britain 1945–90
Authors: Chamberlayne Prue
Published: November 2007

This article undertakes a comparative analysis of income maintenance policies in France, West Germany, Italy and Britain, highlighting pensions policies in the period 1945–75 and responses to ‘new poverty’ from 1975–90. Patterns of growth in social security expenditure in the two periods are compared, and the Titmuss typology of institutional, industrial achievement and residual systems of welfare is used to trace through shifts in institutional forms of welfare administration. Attempts to debureacratise welfare delivery in the 1980s are also compared.
Accountability and Local Budgetary Policy: unitary principles?
Authors: Barnett Richard R. , Knox Colin
Published: November 2007

The desire to improve local accountability has been at the heart of recent reforms to local government finance in Britain. Local government in Northern Ireland remains immune from these reforms with the government arguing that the same problem of lack of accountability does not apply there. The government’s arguments are reviewed and measures of local accountability are developed. The claim that local government in Northern Ireland is different, and hence that unitary principles of accountability in local government do not apply through out the United Kingdom is then examined. Measures of accountability are developed using the government’s own — essentially public choice based arguments — and thus the government’s claim is examined in the context of its own analytical frame work. It is found that in this respect, at least, unitary principles do apply throughout the United Kingdom.
Official Statistics and Problems of Inappropriate Ethnic Categorisation
Authors: Nanton Philip
Published: November 2007

This article highlights the problem of inappropriate ethnic categorisation in official statistics. Ethnic categories are inappropriate, I argue, because they are static and fail to reflect the reality of group boundaries which tend to change and overlap. The paper demonstrates that one of the most dynamic and expanding categories has been redefined in ways which make the issue of race relations more difficult to address. Building on these themes the paper draws attention to a number of implications for policy making and points the direction towards improved classificatory schema.
Helping Home Owners to Help Themselves? Recent developments housing renewal policy in housing renewal policy
Authors: Leather Philip , Mackintosh Sheila
Published: November 2007

This paper reviews developments in private sector housing renewal policy in England and Wales in the 1980s, and looks forward to the 1990s in the light of new legislation which came into operation in July 1990. Initially the paper looks at evidence on the condition of housing stock and at demographic, economic and social trends affecting dwelling stock condition and the ability of households to repair, improve or maintain their dwellings. It then examines government policies to privatise both the administration of housing renewal and the financing of investment during the 1980s and examines the reasons for the failure of these policies. The paper discusses the provisions of the 1989 Local Government and Housing Act relating to housing renewal and concludes that the new framework is too limited in the help which it provides and that the resources available are inadequate. If low income home owners trapped in poor housing conditions are to be helped with the repair and maintenance of their home sit will be necessary to develop a range of other measures. These may include subsidised loans, equity sharing mechanisms, savings and insurance schemes, and the provision of practical help through home improvement agencies. A better understanding of how people make investment decisions is also needed. Finally the government should take steps to regulate the building industry and to increase the supply of skilled labour and competent firms working in the housing renewal sector.
British Public Policy and the Health of Homeless People
Authors: Shanks Nigel , Smith Susan J.
Published: November 2007

There is growing concern among policy makers and the public about the well-documented increase in homelessness in late twentieth century Britain. This concern is fuelled by accumulating evidence that homelessness is hazardous to health, and by the discovery that homeless people often have limited access to primary medical care. There are, moreover, many very real ways in which homelessness is a public health issue and a source of health inequalities. Nevertheless, the aim of this paper is to argue that the health profile of homeless people is substantially a housing issue: one whose urgency may be compromised by the increasing tendency to ‘medicalise’ the problem of homelessness and health.
Research and the Local Planning of Services for Elderly People: an interactive approach
Authors: Nies Henk
Published: November 2007

The assessment of need and the vested interests of powerful actors constitute two major problems in the local planning of services for elderly people. In this article the contribution of applied research to these planning processes is explored by means of a case study into care delivery to long term elderly patients.

The case study design appears to be well suited for this type of research. Triangulation, a focus on person-environment dynamics and a close interaction between the researchers and significant actors in the policy process, enhance the applicability of the research. In the current study these strategies failed to resolve completely the central policy question, but they certainly brought more rational elements into the policy process. The latter is a valuable contribution in itself.
Performance Assessment and Accountability in British Housing Management
Authors: Clapham David , Satsangi Madhu
Published: November 2007

This paper looks at performance assessment in the management of public housing in Britain within the context of the liberalisation of housing policy undertaken in the last decade. In particular, the focus is on the impact of appraisal systems on the accountability of housing management. The paper concludes that appraisal systems have enhanced accountability to government but done little to enhance the legitimate accountability to the consumer of the management service.
Ireland and the European Welfare State
Authors: Cinnéide Séamus Ó
Published: November 2007

Although Ireland is one of the ‘poor four’ countries for the purposes of cohesion within the EC, this paper argues that the Irish have a highly developed welfare state with an extensive range of citizen’s rights within the field of social policy. The author describes a ‘pay related’ welfare state with only limited commitment to universalism and egalitarianism whose policy agenda is enhanced by EC membership, not least because the Irish traditions of constitutionalism and centralisation fit well with the EC emphasis on employment and social rights and social dialogue.
The Nordic Welfare State Under Pressure: the Danish experience
Authors: Andersen Bent Rold
Published: November 2007

This paper emphasises the specifically Nordic origins of the Danish welfare state. Traditionally this model attributes a positive role to the state in the provision of free or low cost social services to all citizens, based on a deep seated commitment to the principles of equality and equity. However, the assumption that this system of welfare provision is costly by comparison with other member states is strongly challenged by reference to data which explore the range of statutory and employers’ contributions to welfare services. Consequently when looking at the economic and monetary convergence criteria, necessary for further progress to European integration, the author argues the Danes are better placed than many to make the necessary fiscal adjustments.
Introducing New Stakeholders — User and Researcher Interests in Evaluative Research. A discussion of methods used to evaluate the Birmingham Community Care Special Action Project
Authors: Barnes Marian
Published: November 2007

This paper argues that public service evaluation should be considered a value-driven activity which has the objective of contributing to change. Researchers undertaking this type of work have legitimate interests to pursue through it and should be regarded as stakeholders in their own right. Reflecting a commitment to changing the balance of power between those who provide and those who receive services, the interests of service users as stakeholders should be enhanced through the research process. This requires a different type of relationship between the researcher and research ‘subjects’. An attempt to put these principles in practice in the context of the evaluation of a major initiative to enable users to have their say in the development of community care services is described.
The Politics of Cultural Policy in Urban Regeneration Strategies
Authors: Griffiths Ron
Published: November 2007

It has become common to find arts and culture-related policies playing a key part in the urban revitalisation strategies pursued by city authorities in Europe and North America. This article has three main purposes. First, it considers the factors which have led city authorities to place emphasis on culture-related policies, looking in particular at the way cities have been affected by changes in the organisation of production and in their class composition. Second, it examines arguments that have been advanced about the effectiveness of cultural projects as tools of urban regeneration. Finally, it examines alternative visions of how ‘cultural planning’ might contribute to social and political change in cities.
The UK Citizen’s Charter: Origins and Implementation in Three Agencies
Authors: Doern G. Bruce
Published: November 2007

The article examines the political and managerial origins of John Major’s Citizen’s Charter initiative and assesses its early implementation in three governmental agencies: the Employment Agency; Inland Revenue; and British Rail. Six managerial and implementation issues are explored including: changes in awareness of the exact business an agency is in; early issues in defining service standards; performance pay; recruitment and training; the empowerment of front-line personnel; and the codetermination of services between citizen and public servant. The inherent tensions between improved services and public investment are also reviewed in the context of John Major’s political need to show both continuity with, and departures from, Thatcherism.
Tracing the Contours of Women’s Citizenship
Authors: Lister Ruth
Published: November 2007

The starting point for this analysis of women’s relationship to citizenship is the ‘public-private’ divide which underpins the very meaning of citizenship. Using a tripartite division of the public sphere, the article analyses women’s position in relation to the paid economy, the state and the polity.

It focuses, in particular, on the implications of the sexual division of paid and unpaid labour for citizenship rights and obligations.

The article concludes by asking whether the route to women’s citizenship lies through equality or difference, or whether this very formulation represents a cul-de-sac. It argues that radical changes in both the ‘private’ sphere and each of the public spheres, as well as a challenge to the rigid separation of the two, are required.
Reframing Urban Policy
Authors: Solesbury William
Published: November 2007

The inner city as a political issue has had a rare longevity. From Harold Wilson’s expansion of the Urban Programme in 1968, through the new economic perspective embodied in the 1977 White Paper, to Margaret Thatcher’s declaration of having ‘a big job to do in those inner cities’ on election night in 1987 — the issue has always been prominent.

This paper examines ways in which the issue has been ‘framed’ over the last decade. It draws on contrasts between state and market mechanisms, the relationships between central and local government and emerging ideologies of the city itself. The author concludes by proposing a new regulatory framework for the development of a national urban policy.
The Definition of Parliamentary Constituencies in England: searching for principles in the work of the Boundary Commission for England
Authors: Johnston R.J. , Rossiter David J. , Pattie Charles J. , Russell Andrew T.
Published: November 2007

The definition of Parliamentary constituency boundaries in the United Kingdom is undertaken by independent Commissions, which operate within a framework of ambiguous Rules laid down by Act of Parliament. In its work, each Commission has to take account of public opinion, which involves various interest groups making often conflicting representations to the Commissions. The operation of this system is analysed with respect to the operation of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England.