welfare state

Advocacy

Part of the Glasgow School of Social Work Research series, Professor David Donnison from the University of Glasgow, speaks about advocacy services in Scotland.

Now it's personal: personal advisers and the new public service workforce

Providing tailored one-to-one support to help people back into work has been central to the UK Government's reform of the welfare system. This report argues that a new examination is needed on the role of personal advisers. The report is based on focus groups with service users, in-depth interviews with advisers, surveys of personal advisers and employment providers and a review of the literature. Qualitative analysis is presented to show changes in the ratio of Job Centre Plus advisers to the number of interviews they conducted since the recession began.

Managing resources in later life

This report explores the changing lives of older people and shows how resources are used to manage change and maintain stability. An ageing population continues to be of policy concern, in relation to meeting the needs of older people now, and for future welfare provision. This research explores how older people plan, use and value the different resources available to them. Resources are broadly defined, to explore the relative value of different structural, social and individual resources and how they interlink.

Welfare that works : beyond the New Deal

Paper offering a critique of the New Deal scheme for the unemployed in the UK. It argues that the policy can be made more effective if the structure of the welfare-to-work system is changed to more closely reflect economic realities. It recommends aligning the institutions of the welfare-to-work system with the needs of employers and the disadvantaged which should have the effect of providing better jobs for the low-skilled and better workers for the private sector.