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Going from bad to worse? Social policy and the demise of the social fund
- Authors:
- DRAKEFORD Mark, DAVIDSON Kirrin
- Journal article citation:
- Critical Social Policy, 33(3), 2013, pp.365-383.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This paper considers the origins and traces the history of the Social Fund, an ideologically-motivated social policy departure of the Thatcher era. It identifies the controversy, in research communities amongst others, which surrounded the establishment of the Fund, and considers the evidence of recurring difficulties in its practical operation over a thirty-year period. It then turns to the Coalition administration in Westminster’s decision to divest itself of responsibility for key parts of the Fund, devolving such obligations to local authorities in England, the Parliament in Scotland and the Assembly in Wales. The paper sets out a comparison of the approaches being developed to discharge the Fund’s prior responsibilities in the three nations. It concludes that the essential policy thrust lies in a determination to roll back central state obligations in poverty relief and income maintenance which had hitherto been accepted by all post-war administrations. (Publisher abstract)
Wales in the age of austerity
- Author:
- DRAKEFORD Mark
- Journal article citation:
- Critical Social Policy, 32(3), August 2012, pp.454-466.
- Publisher:
- Sage
The emergency budget in June 2010 and Comprehensive Spending Review in October 2010 had consequences for Wales which outstripped those of the other UK nations. The combined impact was to reduce the Welsh Government’s overall budget by £1.8 billion, or 12%, by 2014-15. This paper argues that the age of austerity did not come out of the blue in Wales, with the rate of growth in public spending declining in each Assembly term and containing real term reductions by the 2011/12 budget. The paper considers the basis on which devolved budgets are derived, particularly the impact of the Barnett redistribution formula on Wales and the current debates about the ways in which devolved functions should be funded in the future. This paper identifies the key measures which successive administrations have taken in support of an essentially Keynesian, counter-cyclical approach to countering recession in Wales. It traces the outcomes of the May 2011 Assembly election and the emerging policy and legislative agenda of the minority Labour administration which that election produced. The paper ends by placing these developments within the wider austerity agenda pursued by the Westminster coalition and its deleterious impact on Wales.
Transforming time: a new tool for youth justice
- Authors:
- DRAKEFORD Mark, GREGORY Lee
- Journal article citation:
- Youth Justice, 10(2), August 2010, pp.143-156.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This article introduces the idea of time banks and argues for its relevance to youth justice workers. Time banking allows the exchange of goods and services in communities where money is in short supply but where skills, talents and time are plentiful. Voluntary actions carried out by community members generate a practical reward, time credits. Once earned, time credits can be used to access goods and purchase services. This article outlines the purpose and functions of time banks before considering 3 practical ways in which they can be put to use in contemporary youth justice practice in England and Wales. The first deals with early and preventative work; the second concentrates on young people who find themselves before the Courts; the last discusses a project which links people in custody to time bank activity. The article argues that time banks offer a new possibility for local action by youth justice workers which both improves the immediate circumstances of users and alters the nature of services themselves.
Ownership, regulation and the public interest: the case of residential care for older people
- Author:
- DRAKEFORD Mark
- Journal article citation:
- Critical Social Policy, 26(4), November 2006, pp.932-944.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This commentary deals with recent, rapid developments in the field of private residential care of older people. It traces changes in the pattern of ownership and regulation, and explores the extent to which these impact upon the protection of the public interest. It concludes that the nature of ownership continues to matter in social welfare, and that regulation has proved of limited effectiveness in securing the interests of older people in private care.
Health policy in Wales: making a difference in conditions of difficulty
- Author:
- DRAKEFORD Mark
- Journal article citation:
- Critical Social Policy, 26(3), August 2006, pp.543-561.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Devolution in a Welsh context has transferred social policy responsibilities to the National Assembly. Health has a dominant presence amongst these responsibilities, both in terms of budget commitment and political salience. This paper explores the context in which Assembly health policy making has taken place, looking at economic, administrative and political dimensions, identifying elements of continuity and change in the Assembly Government's approach to health matters. The paper argues that while policy making has been far-reaching, the implementation of that policy agenda has proved problematic. It concludes that both social policy academics and politicians have underestimated the ways in which barriers to reform can be mobilized, including the way in which health policy debates are presented in the media, even when radicalism has been established in policy intent.
Wales and a third term of New Labour: devolution and the development of difference
- Author:
- DRAKEFORD Mark
- Journal article citation:
- Critical Social Policy, 25(4), November 2005, pp.497-506.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This brief article looks forward to the prospects for devolved government in Wales under the third term of a New Labour administration at Westminster. Four different strands are discussed in what follows: the development of devolution itself, including the prospects of a second Government of Wales Bill, the state of the Welsh economy, the development of a distinctively Welsh social policy agenda and the future leadership of the Welsh Assembly Government itself.
New Labour and the 'problem of men'
- Authors:
- SCOURFIELD Jonathan, DRAKEFORD Mark
- Journal article citation:
- Critical Social Policy, 22(4), November 2002, pp.619-640.
- Publisher:
- Sage
The New Labour government has arguably broken new ground by making `masculinity policy'. Whereas the policy process is always inevitably gendered, with implications for men as well as women, it is only in the last few years that a government has made quite such explicit references to men in some areas of policy. The most high-profile initiatives have been in relation to fathering and the education of boys. In this article, we make out a case that New Labour proceeds with policy optimism about men in the home and pessimism about men outside the home. In contrast, there has been policy pessimism about women in the home and optimism about women outside the home. Where New Labour is optimistic, it tends to produce policies that are encouraging and facilitative, and where New Labour is pessimistic, it can produce policies that are authoritarian.
Which Blair Project? communitarianism, Social authoritarianism and social work
- Authors:
- BUTLER Ian, DRAKEFORD Mark
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work, 1(1), April 2001, pp.7-19.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This article provides an analysis of the current ideological and political context through which the nature and identity of social work are being constructed. The analysis briefly traces the development of social policy during the Conservative administrations in the UK between 1979 and 1997: and then a more detailed analysis is undertaken of the period since 1997 under the New Labour government of Tony Blair. Finds that social work has, under the New Labour government (1997- ), become part of an incorporative agenda whereby the function of social work is predominantly to ensure that difficult and troublesome individuals are made to accept prevailing social norms, rather than inclusive in a way that permits a radical practice to better serve the recipients of social work services. This article suggests a series of principles based upon the promotion of an emancipatory ideal that might help shape a worthwhile and productive future for social work.
Children, rights and welfare: towards a new synthesis
- Author:
- DRAKEFORD Mark
- Journal article citation:
- Youth Justice, 1(1), July 2001, pp.40-44.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This article was originally presented as a paper at the National Association for Youth Justice annual conference in September 2000. its aim was to address two of the key themes of the conference: children's rights and children's welfare. Four main areas are addressed. Firstly, the article argues that it is now possible to outline some of the chief features of the present government's policy in relation to children's rights and welfare. Secondly, it attempts to relate these general considerations to current policy-making. The third part narrows the focus of the argument to look at how these rights apply to children and young people in trouble with the law. Finally, the article looks at how these policies will affect those providing front-line services.
Tough enough? Youth justice under New Labour
- Authors:
- BUTLER Ian, DRAKEFORD Mark
- Journal article citation:
- Probation Journal, 48(2), June 2001, pp.119-124.
- Publisher:
- Sage
The author asses the impact of some key New Labour policies.