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In order to bring the lives of Gypsy–Travellers in line with the sustainable communities' agenda, there is now a duty for local planning authorities in England to assess the accommodation and related needs of Gypsy–Travellers. As such, there has been an increase in research, which aims to ‘find out’ more about these communities. This article explores some of the issues that researchers should consider when carrying out research with Gypsy–Travellers. It focuses specifically on issues around identifying and engaging with members of the Gypsy and Traveller communities, offering some strategies and solutions based on the experiences of the authors and other researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is argued that for the agenda to ‘personalize’ social care in the UK to be successful, adequate systems of support brokerage need to be in place. Where brokerage is situated organizationally and ideologically is not inconsequential, both in terms of the accountability, profile and quality of the ‘brokers’ and the extent to which service users can feel properly in control of their own care or support. Many involved in support brokerage argue that independence from statutory bodies is a key principle. However, models of support brokerage have been suggested that propose brokerage as a possible function of the statutory social care sector. The paper traces how and why the ‘new’ language of brokerage has emerged in official discourses of adult social care. It also discusses the various ideas about what brokerage is and who is supposed to undertake it. It is considered whether support brokerage should be regarded as a form of social work, which is not currently the case. Were independent support brokerage to expand its role in the adult social care system, the question would arise of where that would leave social work with adults. These developments expose conflicts and tensions in New Labour's modernization agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Social policy is of key importance to contemporary society, accounting for two thirds of public expenditure and, through provision such as the NHS, pensions, benefits, schools, universities and social care, touching on the lives of much of the population on a daily basis. It has also been one of the areas where the Conservative party have sought to change their image, and to some extent policies, under David Cameron. Drawing upon a range of evidence, including interviews with more than ten per cent of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, this article examines the potential challenges for a Conservative government of either stance, focusing on the extent of possible support for the Conservatives' approach to social policy amongst three key groups: the public, MPs, and members of the House of Lords. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shifting national policy in the UK emphasizes choice, independence and social inclusion for older people using social care services through the promotion of healthy, active lifestyles and increasing user involvement (Department of Health, 2006). Older people are a diverse population. Their definition of a ‘life worth living’ and support necessary to achieve this are cited as paramount within public policy formation. Simultaneously, older people coming into contact with social work are primarily conceptualized as ‘a challenge’ within the current social, economic and political environment, in which ageing is perceived as a time of difficulty and loss ultimately leading to increased structured dependency (Townsend, 2006). This paper makes links between discourses on life-long learning within public policy with those in social care. Both are concerned with increasing participation, citizenship and social justice for older people. It highlights contradictions between aspirations towards life-long learning derived from Freirean approaches seeking to promote ‘active ageing’ with negative political rhetoric about the burden of ageing and practice of managed care. Social workers play an important part in facilitating learning opportunities within their relationships with older people. Where and how these might be used to promote more inclusive strategies and approaches within practice for the engagement and further emancipation of service users is explored. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An essay on the importance of public institutions and how they relate to citizen well-being with reference to the public disaffection and disillusionment with political, social and economic institutions in Great Britain under the leadership of the Labour Party is presented. The author explains the factors affecting the erosion of trust and values in society and emphasizes the importance of trust and respect for the relationship between the citizen and state. The author assesses Labour's reforms addressing the decline in public trust in the state.

The author explores the revolution in the modern Conservative Party of Great Britain and examines how political party leader David Cameron has identified poverty as one of the major problems to be addressed and included in the Conservative agenda. It also presents an analysis on how the Conservative Party diagnosed the problem of poverty and their solution for change, based on statements and policy documents as of March 2010. The author offers reasons to be skeptical as to whether there is hope for effective action from the Conservative Party.

New Labour has defined the problem of security in retirement as one of undersaving and has sought to resolve it both by measures which encourage saving and by improving financial literacy. The article discusses both of these approaches, arguing that each is flawed and that, in addition, New Labour's pension policy exhibits several tensions which threaten to undermine the objective of providing a secure income in retirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestic violence has been recognized as a major contributory factor to homelessness in the UK and elsewhere, with women more likely to be affected. In the UK and other countries undergoing welfare reform, moves toward ‘active citizenship’ increase the complexity of the relationship between states and citizens and open up new strategies for both. However, analysts have noted some strategies can create new forms of inequality, including gender-based ones. This article considers the impact of prevention-centred homelessness policy responses to domestic violence, with specific reference to the ‘Sanctuary’ model. Sanctuary schemes support women facing homelessness due to domestic violence to remain in their current residence, protected against attack from outside the home. Drawing on analysis of the literature and empirical work, we compare the experiences of women who have used traditional forms of support and Sanctuary services. We argue that while the model has the potential to provide greater autonomy to some women in these circumstances, it is not appropriate for all. Increased emphasis on Sanctuary schemes could make it more difficult for women who might prefer to move. We conclude that more attention needs to be paid to addressing the origin of women's homelessness due to domestic violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the way aspects of our approach to social policy in the UK have changed over the last 40 years – one academic lifetime and also, coincidentally, the lifetime of this journal – and the significance of six particular changes. More social problems have come to be seen as having a supra-national dimension: the scale and ramifications of problems are much better appreciated; the accepted territory of social policy has greatly widened; the state has lost people's confidence; we have come to see organizational and management issues as much more important; and the health of the economy has come to be regarded as a greater priority than the development of systems of social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the number of reports of abuse of vulnerable adults increases, healthcare trusts must ensure that strategies are in place to protect this patient population, as well as the staff who care for them. This article describes ho a well-designed business case led to the creation of a clinical lead for vulnerable adults post at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, Somerset, and explains how a new policy for safeguarding adults has been implemented throughout the hospital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers why the family nurse partnership (FNP) has been promoted as a means of tackling social exclusion in the UK. The FNP consists in a programme of visits by nurses to low-income first-time mothers, both while the mothers are pregnant and for the first two years following birth. The FNP is focused on both teaching parenthood and encouraging mothers hack into education and/or into employment. Although the FNP marks a considerable discontinuity with previous approaches to family health, it is congruent with an emerging new approach to social exclusion. This new approach maintains that the most important task of social policy is to identify quickly the most 'at-risk' households, individuals and children so that interventions can be targeted more effectively at those 'at risk', either to themselves or to others. The article illustrates this new approach by analysing a succession of reports by the Social Exclusion Unit. It indicates that there is a considerable amount of ambiguity about the relationship between specific risk-factors and being 'at risk of social exclusion'. Nonetheless, this new approach helps to explain why British policy-makers may have chosen to promote the new FNP now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The welfare state faces a number of challenges. Recent reforms in the UK appear broadly successful in attaining targets and improving cost-efficiency, but are nonetheless confronted by public disquiet and unease. This article argues that one difficulty with the new directions in policy is that they rest on a particular and limited understanding of agency. Reformers tend to operate within a theoretical framework that understands behaviour as driven by individual and predominantly rational incentives and pays little attention to the expressive and normative aspects of social action. The problems that arise in these areas when a competitive market logic is applied in social provision tend not to be recognised. Such a logic may contradict established values of social care and commitment to user interests. A qualitative survey of 48 members of the general public is used to examine perceptions of and responses to the NHS reforms, and to show how public discourse in this area is at variance with the instrumental and individual assumptions of policy-makers. The result is that the reform programme damages the legitimacy of the service and that those responsible for the new policies fail to recognise that the individual instrumental agenda is eroding public trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conceptualizing and measuring choice is problematic both in theory and in practice. Measuring by counting the alternatives seems counter-intuitive as a smaller set of better or more diverse alternatives seems to provide more choice than one that is simply larger. However, concentrating upon better alternatives leads to choice being defined by welfare or utility which is also counter-intuitive. The implications of this paradox are considered in relation to examples drawn from the choice agenda in British social policy. Empirical difficulties in measuring the welfare gains through implementing greater choice at a time of other central-led policy initiatives such as targets are discussed, and the extant evidence discussed. Criteria for judging whether or not choice has been welfare-enhancing are suggested. It is argued that ʹsoft choiceʹ where service providers provide information and explain different options is preferable to ʹhardʹ choice of simplistic targets to increase choice by ticking target boxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the development of the Conservative party's 'broken society' narrative, from its roots in William Hague's early invocations of 'social justice' to the evidence-based approach adopted by David Cameron. It considers relevant social trends over the period since 1970; summarises the Conservative party's attitude to family policy in government between 1979 and 1997; and shows how the Conservatives in opposition from 1997 onwards have become more focused on support for the marriage-based family, now a central tenet of Conservative social policy under David Cameron's leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How genuine is the Conservative party's rediscovery of the environment? Would a Conservative government led by David Cameron implement a wide-ranging and progressive environmental policy? This article explores why Cameron has embraced the environment so enthusiastically when Conservative governments have had a poor record of environmental protection and the Conservative party has traditionally shown little interest in the issue. It assesses the impact of Cameron's strategy both on his own party and on the wider world of environmental politics and it evaluates the continuing commitment of the Conservatives to the issue by assessing what kind of policies a future Conservative government might implement. Although Cameron remains committed to the issue and he has already had a positive impact on Labour government policy, he has not yet convinced his party or its supporters, so a future Conservative government would probably represent continuity rather than significant change in environmental policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Defined in terms of a national security discourse, Britain's asylum policy facilitates a disturbing dissociation of the asylum seeker from the identity of the refugee. The roots of this discourse can, this paper argues, be understood if the asylum seeker is seen as the site of a clash between two conceptualizations of political space—one that sees only the international state system, marked by the rights of sovereign states and exclusive political spaces, and one that sees a more complicated global political structure, marked by spaces of danger and of opportunity, in which human beings, as such, have a right to demand hospitality and inclusion from the state. Aiming to understand this clash, and the possibilities for moving beyond it, this paper analyzes British asylum policy through the lens of Michel Foucault's account of sovereign biopower in Society Must Be Defended, read together with Giorgio Agamben's work on the homo sacer and spaces of exception. These texts point towards the counter-narrative of the asylum seeker who refuses to disappear into discourses of national security, and who suggests a "rival structure" of political space. Understanding this clash requires uncovering the violence, discernible in British asylum policy, which sustains the international state system and in doing so, creates and marginalizes the asylum seeker. This paper draws out the deeply challenging and complex nature of the "problem of asylum," working against the simplification that a national security discourse imposes on the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the public policy environment that underpins the politics of health promotion in England. English health policy from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s was not receptive to health promotion. The new Labour government elected in 1997 claimed to embrace a 'Third Way' between the free market and socialism that would appear to embrace a community-centred approach to health promotion that would through partnership-building promote equity; perversely, however, the election of this government rhetorically committed to healthy public policy was accompanied by a crisis in health promotion delivery. Despite apparent commonalities between the Third Way and health promotion, the Third Way was in many respects a neoliberal ideology and so has contributed to the marginalisation of health promotion. Although some might argue that health promotion has been mainstreamed, it is argued here that in terms of the crucial National Health Service infrastructure underpinning the health promotion movement, that the organisational capacity for health promotion has been significantly weakened. Thus the question is how you revive a movement that has lost its way? The answer must include taking a historically informed approach to analysing the problem and identifying solutions. Wider systems issues in England include the emergence of multidisciplinary public health, the sequence of changes to national health promotion organisations and the wider marginalisation of the public health movement. It is only by critically analysing and addressing these systemic issues that the prospects for health promotion in England can be revived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Registered Social Landlord (an independent housing association in the UK) examined here was widely recognized as providing an example of good governance. The organization was using extensive internal reporting, both corporate and quasi-governmental in language, to try to accurately capture different aspects of performance. This article reveals that reporting sustainable development has boundaries to be overcome, particularly in measuring performance of environmental and community activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1997, Labour has developed a wide range of policies on childcare services, care leaves and flexible working hours. In 2000, the term ‘work-life balance’ was introduced and has been used by Government Departments and by the academic community with very little discussion of its meaning vis à vis the use of ‘family-friendly’ policies, or the promotion of ‘work and family balance’. We explore the introduction of the term work-life balance, the reasons for it, and its significance at the policy level, especially in terms of its implications for the pursuit of gender equality. We find that at the policy level, its use was more a matter of strategic framing than substantive change. Nevertheless, because of the UK Government's largely gender-neutral approach to the whole policy field, it is important to make explicit the tensions in the continuing use of the term work-life balance, particularly in relation to the achievement of gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses an episode in social security policy making that has until now remained unexplored. This is the review, at the request of then Labour Secretary of State for Social Services, Richard Crossman MP, in the latter months of 1969 and early 1970 into the possibility of introducing loans to the Supplementary Benefit system as a replacement for some exceptional needs and exceptional circumstances payments. The paper examines files held at the National Archives to discuss the nature and extent of the proposed scheme and the objections of civil servants to loaning Supplementary Benefit. The paper demonstrates how the worst-case scenario outlined by civil servants in 1970 was introduced some 15 years later as Social Fund loans. The paper then discusses economic, ideological and social change that provided the context for the introduction of loans as part of the Social Fund in the 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the transformation of state social work over the past two decades. During this period, it is argued that a steady yet radical process of privatization has ensued which has had a considerable impact upon the experiences of 'service users', informal carers and social work practitioners. Not only does the private sector now dominate key sectors of social care, but it has also transformed the culture of state social work practice and many of the accepted beliefs and ideals of the social work profession. It is also argued that many of the promises made about privatization, including that it would create a more efficient and effective structure for the delivery of social care,' have never materialized. On the contrary it is suggested that the current organization of social care is highly bureaucratic, exploits labour and is deeply ineffective at responding to the needs of vulnerable adults and children. Finally, it is proposed that, as a political project, the privatization of state social work is far from complete, and further radical reforms appear likely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a (re)consideration of antisocial behaviour control informed by an analysis of the seminal work of sociologists of 'reflexive modernity' (Beck, 1992, 1994; Giddens, 1990, 1991; Lash, 1994). It is hoped that the arguments advanced within this article will prompt further consideration of the following questions: What does the relative neglect of the reflexive modernity thesis tell us about the domain conjecture(s) of sociological theory on antisocial behaviour policy and the use of ASBOs? And can a focus upon reflexive modernity theory help to construct a more proportionate account of ASBOs as a form of social control? Hence, it is the purpose of this article to consider critically the implications of Beck's risk society' to our understandings and explanations of antisocial behaviour, ASBOs and social control, by linking the late modem (re)formatting of antisocial behaviour(s) and the creation of ASBOs to the new parameters of the 'risk society'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will explore the idea of the local authority as a reluctant parent. It will consider the extent to which this reluctance is produced by the care proceedings system and its consequences for children. Local authorities are both expected to refrain from intervening (care proceedings are a measure of last resort) and to be fully prepared for intervention (whilst leaving children with their parents). Amongst the themes which will be developed here are the impact of the juridification of social work and the emphasis on the courts for holding local authorities to account; the balance between voluntary accommodation and compulsory care; and the problems of resourcing care services. Its main focus will be on children who enter care because of abuse or neglect. Its thesis is that the conflicting expectations on local authorities, resource constraints, and considerations of legal process make them reluctant parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports emerging findings from a qualitative research study about lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people at work in the UK. The research focuses on the personal experiences and strategies of LGB people amidst changing organisational responses to sexuality within a new legal and political landscape following the introduction of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003. The article draws specifically on the perceptions of lesbian respondents about a range of issues concerning social inclusion and exclusion in the workplace including coming out at work, treatment by managers and colleagues, workplace and organisational culture and participation in LGBT groups and networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since April 2005, individuals donating sperm, eggs or embryos for the treatment of others in the UK have been required to agree to the disclosure of their identity to any child conceived as a result of their donation on reaching the age of 18. The main arguments advanced against the removal of donor anonymity are: first, it is responsible for a dramatic decline in the number of donors; second, it causes particular problems for donors in egg sharing programmes; and third, that it will increase the unwillingness of parents of donor-conceived children to tell their children about their conception. This paper analyses these arguments and points to flaws in both the evidential base and the argumentative strategies of these claims. The authors argue for a proactive approach to donor recruitment that reflects the contemporary context for the provision of donor conception services in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few decades social identities have grown in importance, 'sexual orientation' and 'national identity' being the latest to join the fold. While all jostle for official recognition, which of these identity groups is monitored - and in what settings - is of practical importance. Respondent burden, concerns about confidentiality and disclosure, and the lack in some cases of benchmark data raise issues around the feasibility of monitoring multiple 'equality strands'. As most organisations have limited capacity to undertake such analysis, a broader repertoire of approaches needs to be considered if this process is to be more than a meaningless bureaucratic exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key trend in home care in recent years in England has been movement away from "in-house" service provision by local government authorities (e.g.. counties) towards models of service commissioning from independent providers. A national survey in 2003 identified that there were lower levels of satisfaction and perceptions of quality of care among older users of independent providers compared with in-house providers. This paper reports the results of a study that related service users' views of 121 providers with the characteristics of these providers. For the most pan, characteristics associated with positive perceptions of quality were more prevalent among in-house providers. Multivariate analyses of independent providers suggested that aspects of the workforce itself, in terms of age and experience, provider perceptions of staff turnover, and allowance of travel time, were the most critical influences on service user experiences of service quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a discussion on forced marriage in Great Britain. The author states that the British government has increasingly sought to prevent forced marriages and so-called honor killings in its immigrant communities. The author contends that this concern for primarily South Asian Muslim women reveals a bias against Muslims and a racism against South Asian patriarchal practices. The author further argues that legislation against forced marriages betrays a lack of concern for women at risk of domestic violence.

Retirement communities are a relatively new long-term accommodation and care option in the United Kingdom. Policy makers and providers endorse the proposition that they are suited for the accommodation of both 'fit' and 'frail' older people, although comparatively little is known about what it is actually like to live in such communities, about whether they eater adequately for older people with a wide spectrum of needs and abilities, or if they provide acceptable solutions to older people's housing or care needs. This paper addresses these questions by reporting the findings of an independently funded three-year study of a new retirement village, Berryhill, in the north Midlands of England. The paper examines the background to this and similar developments, details how the study was carried out, and then examines what it was like to live at Berryhill. It focuses on the housing and care aspects, and explores the residents' motivations for moving to the village ; their views about the accommodation ; and their use of and satisfaction with the social and leisure amenities. The health and care needs of residents and the formal and informal supports are also featured. The conclusion discusses whether the village can truly be a 'home for life' in the face of increasing frailty, and whether or not these new models of accommodation and care can indeed cater for both 'fit' and 'frail' older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of extrinsic political policies on the National Gallery's practices of display, exhibition and interpretation through the lens of the purchase in 2004 of Raphael's 'The Madonna of the Pinks'. It is recognised that since 1997 government policy and funding for museums and galleries has been primarily predicated on their current and potential function in the promotion of social inclusion, cultural access and diversity and, as a result, museum practice has been explicitly harnessed to the delivery of social policy objectives. Similarly, funding for acquisitions from the Heritage Lottery Fund has been harnessed to the objective of widening participation in both the production and consumption of heritage practices. Analysis of the historical and contemporary contexts for the purchase of 'The Madonna of the Pinks' reveals both continuities and disjunctions in the National Gallery's production of art history, the management of its interpretative regimes and its engagement with actual and target audiences. The resulting complexities characterise a site that today accommodates connoisseurship and populism, exclusivity and diversity, incongruity and contradiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the trajectory in England and Wales towards greater criminal justice multi- and inter-agency cooperation with the objective of reducing crime. In particular we focus on the potential for the emergence of new forms of offender supervision that combine the close monitoring of specified groups of offenders with supportive resettlement programmes. We examine whether a new criminal justice practitioner is developing within this context, offering an ‘endto-end’ service that blends and merges the operating practices of the participating agencies. We draw on Nash's concept of ‘polibation’, extend this to ‘prisi-polibation’, and consider these in relation to data derived from our evaluation of an inter-agency project that involved the joint agency (police/ probation/ prisons) management of street crime offenders in the English West Midlands. We suggest that although the cases for polibation and prisi-polibation are not proven, these conceptual models should not yet be dismissed and we conclude by speculating on their place in the future development of joint agency offender management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports findings from part of an evaluation study of the Communication Aids Project (CAP), a government-funded project in England which provided communication aids to school-aged children. The paper focuses on parents' views of the CAP process and the impact of the aid. Fourteen parents were interviewed twice over the telephone: once before or just as their children received communication aids and again six to eight weeks later. Parents expressed satisfaction with the impact of the aid on their children's lives and showed they had realistic expectations concerning potential short- and long-term benefits. They raised two main concerns regarding the provision of aids, namely the timescale involved and access to accurate information and advice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is increasingly impossible to understand and explain the shape and delivery of contemporary social policy unless we consider the role of business. Several factors have been at work here. First, many of the changes in social policy introduced since the 1970s have been in response either to business demands or more general concerns about national competitiveness and the needs of business. Second, globalisation has increased corporate power within states, leading to transformations in social and fiscal policies. Third, business has been incorporated into the management of many areas of the welfare state by governments keen to control expenditure and introduce private sector values into services. Fourth, welfare services, from hospitals to schools, have been increasingly opened up to private markets. Despite all this, the issues of business influence and involvement in social policy has been neglected in the literature. This article seeks to place corporate power and influence centre-stage by outlining and critically reflecting on the place of business within contemporary welfare states, with a particular focus on the UK. Business, it argues, is increasingly important to welfare outcomes and needs to be taken into account more fully within the social policy literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the implications of the European Court of Justice judgment on the case "Brian Francis Collins v. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions". Rights of persons who are not employed, due to the newly inserted provisions on citizenship; Collins as a U.S. citizen who also possesses Irish nationality; Claim for a "jobseeker's allowance" in Great Britain.

This paper describes and briefly evaluates the major “New Deal“ activation policies introduced by the UK New Labour government since 1997. It outlines the ambitious project to modernize the UK economy and welfare state and, within this overall strategy, to end child poverty and to tackle social exclusion by encouraging movement from welfare benefits into work, and by making work pay. Three sets of New Deal programmes are discussed: those targeted on unemployed claimants, lone parents and people with disabilities. The paper concludes that real change has been achieved with measurable beneficial effects but that there are threats to the further elaboration and extension of the New Deal model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Examines the effectivity of work-based welfare policies in Great Britain and the United States, by comparing the changes in the poverty rates from 1979 to 1999 between the two countries. Absolute and relative poverty rates; Impact of demographic characteristics, work patterns and government social policy changes on the poverty rates; Need for a work-based policy that will reduce relative poverty.

The Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC), introduced in 1998/9, was regarded as the most important and easily the most redistributive measure introduced by the New Labour administration elected in 1997. WFTC is, however, scheduled to end, and to be replaced by another tax credit in 2003. This paper reviews the birth, brief life and "death" of WFTC in the period 1998-2000 and examines the structure of eligibility for WFTC in one UK region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the analysis of polices for lifelong learning, the gap between the rhetoric and reality has become the focus for much debate and concern. Reality is compared with rhetoric and both are found wanting. In this paper, we argue that such critiques misconceive the significance of rhetoric and we outline the form a rhetorical analysis of lifelong learning policy could take. Using the UK government's 1998 Green Paper and 1999 White Paper on lifelong learning as illustrations, we suggest that rhetorical analysis helps to point to the politics of discourse that is at play in policy-making processes. This is a politics – often dismissed as spin-doctoring – with which we need to engage if our own attempts to develop lifelong learning are to be persuasive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on British Conservative Party Leader David Cameron's arguments against redistributing income setting income and parenting against one another as competing factors which he believes are backed up by social science evidence. The author explains how income poverty is an important factor in the quality of parenting, based on parenting research and explained how financial difficulties result to psychological distress which can make parents less effective. The author also points out a study which shows that redistribution works.

The article reports that the Royal Society in Great Britain has issued a statement that the British government's implementation of reform for science education is unscientific. The initiative was designed to counter the declining number of students who study mathematics and science in their last four years at school. However, the society noted that the reforms have come one after another at too fast a pace so that it has been impossible to determine if any has been effective. Moreover, new measures are being implemented without proper testing.

The article reports on 2007 mental health legislation in Great Britain. The author focuses on the 1983 Mental Health Act and two murders in 1996 that caused Parliament to revise the legislation in accord with mental health science. The author outlines the challenges of reform, including mental health advocates who want to avoid stigmatizing patients, a treatment method called community treatment orders (CTO) for patients who repeatedly commit crimes, and the role of a patient's doctor while a patient is incarcerated. INSET: Panel: The Clunis case.

The article focuses on professor R.A.B. Leaper and his contribution to the journal "Social Policy & Administration." Under his leadership, the achievements have been profound. This was the first of the British social policy journals. It came into being when British departments of social policy were few and mainly small. He increased the focus on applied policy analysis, though the journal continued to reflect the influence of basic social sciences. The content of the journal and membership of the Board increasingly reflected the broadening and deepening of the study of social policy: particularly in the increasing sophistication of much of the published scholarship, the internationalization of the foci of study, and of the networks created around them. Like the subject and its research, the journal acquired the virtues of greater professionalism, while in all respects maintaining balance. And the journal showed the benefits of Leaper's hard, patient work. All this was done with infinite tact, indeed, that great diplomatic finesse which has characterized all his contributions to British social policy.