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The opportunities and challenges of the changing public services landscape for the third sector in Scotland: a longitudinal study year three report (2009-2012)

Report that outlines findings from the first three years of a longitudinal research project examining The changing public services landscape in Scotland: opportunities and challenges. This work was commissioned by the Scottish Government and, using qualitative case studies and focus groups, has been tracking the way in which a selection of third sector organisations (TSOs) have responded to the changing opportunities and challenges over a period of three years starting from 2009/2010.

Progressing personalisation: a review of personal budgets and direct payments for carers

Review that explores implementation of personalisation for carers, focusing specifically on personal budgets and direct payments in relation to support provided to carers. It reviews evidence on current implementation and identifies areas for further policy and practice development in view of proposed changes to the law in the draft Care and Support Bill.

It examines:

  • What personalisation should mean for carers
  • Assessment and eligibility
  • Resource allocation
  • Support planning and how personal budgets are spent

Evidence and practice review of support for victims and outcome measurement

Research that aims to review the existing evidence and practice surrounding victims' support needs, outcome measurement and quality assurance in the victim support sector, to assess:

  • the support needs of victims
  • the effectiveness of interventions to support victims
  • how to develop victim outcome measures or indicators
  • how to measure victim outcomes
  • how to measure and assess quality in support service provision.

Analysis of responses to the Children and Young People Bill Consultation

The Children and Young People Bill will be introduced to Parliament in 2013 and will set out fundamental reforms to the way services for children and young people are designed, delivered and reviewed.

The Scottish Government conducted a large-scale series of national engagement events to discuss the proposals for reforms with a wide range of stakeholders. In addition, it published a consultation document on 4 July 2012 which invited views on key areas of proposed reform: children’s rights; early learning and childcare; getting it right for every child; and the care system.

The business case for social work with adults: a discussion paper

The care and support White Paper, Caring for our future, says: "Social workers have a crucial role to play in the reformed care and support system". The College of Social Work agrees, but believes that in a climate of austerity social work must be able to show not just that it makes a unique contribution to the lives of service users but that it makes financial sense too.

This discussion paper indicates where social workers fit into modern models of care and sketches the outlines of an argument that the cost-benefit analysis comes out in their favour.

Health inequalities in Scotland

Audit that aims to assess how well public sector organisations are working together to tackle health inequalities. Given the scale and complexity of the problem, the detail the impact of wider policies such as education, employment and housing on reducing health inequalities, is not examined.

Instead it focuses on how bodies work together to identify need, target resources and monitor their collective performance in reducing health inequalities. The report: