research report

Social networks: their role in addressing poverty

Paper commissioned to inform the work of the JRF poverty and ethnicity programme, which aims to understand the underlying reasons for variations in low income and deprivation among different ethnic groups in the UK and the problems caused. It also aims to contribute towards solutions to these problems.

The report explains what social networks are, and their benefits; explores how social networks can help address poverty and be made more accessible; and discusses the impacts of government spending cuts on social networks.

The Munro review of child protection: final report – a child-centred system

Final report which sets out proposals for reform which, taken together, are intended to create the conditions that enable professionals to make the best judgments about the help to give to children, young people and families.

This involves moving from a system that has become over-bureaucratised and focused on compliance to one that values and develops professional expertise and is focused on the safety and welfare of children and young people.

Welfare reform bill: universal credit provisions

Bill No 154 of Session 2010-11. RESEARCH PAPER 11/24 published 7 March 2011. The Welfare Reform Bill provides for the introduction of a “Universal Credit” to replace a range of existing means-tested benefits and tax credits for people of working age, starting from 2013. The Bill follows the November 2010 White Paper, Universal Credit: welfare that works, which set out the Government’s proposals for reforming welfare to improve work incentives, simplify the benefits system and tackle administrative complexity.

Funding adult social care over the next decade: who cares?

Council cut backs could see the loss of 81,000 care home beds over the next 10 years. The anticipated increase in the UK’s ageing population would, at the same time, increase demand by 18,000 in the same period. Therefore, almost 100,000 older people could be unable to access the care home places they need and, because of their frailty, many would have to be admitted to hospital, creating a bed blocking crisis for the NHS.
This report makes a number of recommendations for central and local government action.

Early intervention, using the CAF process, and its cost effectiveness: findings from LARC3

The LARC3 research findings provide important "real time‟ evidence about the cost effectiveness of early intervention. At a time when there is increasing interest in promoting sector-led models of service improvement, the LARC model, in which local authorities and national agencies undertake collaborative research, has potential as one of the "improvement tools‟ available to local authorities and government.

Parents at the centre

Report undertaken to understand why some parents who are entitled to use early years services don’t normally do so. More specifically, the research seeks to understand how parents access information that shapes their decision-making about early years provision, and how service providers can better engage with and support parents to meet their families’ needs. On the basis of the findings, the case is made for a number of key policy changes, to ensure that early years provision enables children from low-income families to break out of the inter-generational cycle of disadvantage.