government policy

The incarceration of drug offenders: an overview

This report published by the Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme in partnership with the International Centre for Prison Studies at Kings College London, revisits the topic of the incarceration of drug offenders [IDPC, UK].

Most governments make strong statements about the need to maintain, and often increase, police activity and penal sanctions for drug users. This approach, it was claimed, is based on the idea that strong enforcement, and widespread incarceration, will deter potential users and dealers from becoming involved in the illegal drug market.

Families in Britain : the impact of changing family structures and what the public think

Report tracing the changing nature of the family and what that means for parents, children and society with a view to stimulating debate on family policy. It explores the changing face of families in Britain and the impact of these changes on society, public opinion and the role of government. It also highlights the opportunities for policymakers created by the changing demographic, social and attitudinal terrain.

Practical guide to preparing for mental health payment by results

Mental health payment by results is a funding methodology which aims to predict mental health need and cost more accurately. The methodology involves identifying service users with similar characteristics (they are to be grouped into 21 "clusters") and will be allocated to groups using an assessment tool.

This practical guide contains 10 actions to help local areas prepare for mental health payment by results policy. The guide also contains a glossary of common terminology and a check-list to help commissioners of services.

Bringing it home : community-based approaches to counter-terrorism

Paper arguing that local communities are well placed to be an integral part of counter-terrorism activities. It contends that communities can be important sources of information and intelligence, can act to divert young people from extremism, can take the lead in tackling problems which cause grievances and fully legitimise the work of police and security services by consenting to their activities.

Living well with dementia: a national dementia strategy: a briefing from a housing perspective

'Living Well with Dementia' sets out the government’s strategy for helping people with dementia and their carers over the next five years. Its aim is to ensure that significant improvements are made to dementia services across three key areas: awareness and understanding; earlier diagnosis and intervention; and quality of care. This briefing summarises the key points of the strategy, covering in greater depth elements which are relevant to the housing sector.

Cost-effectiveness and mental health

This report asks why cost-effective analysis is useful in the field, considers it in relation to other evaluations, and discusses depression treatment, intervention for child and adolescent mental health problems, hospital closure and helping decision makers connect with the evidence, ending with recommendations on stakeholder relevance, expanding the evidence base, expanding and adapting existing evidence, methodological challenges and improving linkages and exchange between research and policy-making.

Breakthrough Britain: ending the costs of social breakdown

This report from the Social Justice Policy Group, chaired by Iain Duncan Smith, identifies five 'pathways' to poverty and makes proposals for tackling them. These pathways are: educational failure, family breakdown, economic dependence, indebtedness and addictions. A sixth section considers how the third sector might be better supported to help people escape poverty.

Towards a popular, preventative youth justice system

In 1998 Labour made significant reforms to the youth justice system. A decade later these have failed to reduce offending. This report proposes ways in which the youth justice system could reduce offending, as well as ways of creating public confidence in the system. Contents include: why we need a new approach to youth justice; a tale of two targets - why a new approach is needed; objectives, barriers to, and new principles of youth justice; can a new direction be preventative?; will the public support popular preventionism?