benefits and personal finance

The expert working group on welfare

The Expert Working Group on Welfare was established to review the Scottish Government's work on the cost of the current benefits system, their plans for delivery of benefit payments in an independent Scotland, and provide views on transitional issues that would be relevant to the continued delivery of benefit payments in the event of independence.

This report presents a preliminary forecast of benefit spending in Scotland through to 2017-18 that covers the actual costs of the payments to individuals, and the costs to government of administering these payments.

Counting the costs 2010: the financial reality for families with disabled children

Counting the Costs 2010 was a survey carried out between February and April 2010 and completed by 1,113 UK respondents. All respondents are parents of disabled children. It comprises open and closed questions and is s a repeat of a survey carried out by Contact a Family in 2008. Additional questions were added to the 2010 survey on the benefits system, working and childcare.

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.

A study into local authority charging for non-residential social care services

A stakeholder task and finish group was formed to advise Welsh Assembly Government Ministers on options for introducing consistency to non residential social care charges. This report begins with a summary of the consultation activity and an overview of stakeholder views. The main focus of the report is identifying and assessing policy options aimed at achieving greater consistency in charging for non residential social care services in Wales.

Hand to mouth: the impact of poverty and financial exclusion on adults with multiple needs

People who have a range of needs including homelessness and mental health and substance use problems, and are involved with the criminal justice system, often live at the margins of our society. This research aimed to examine this group’s abilities to access financial services, their financial management skills and the interplay between key life events, mental health and offending.