Social Policy Case Study

Social Policy

Background

Social policy has been described as an attempt to change a given social order, which may involve the modification of market forces and the redistribution of resources. What we currently view as social policy has its origins in the development of the state welfare system in the 1940s, when William Beveridge identified the five pillars of the welfare state:

For many who study and write about social policy, it is primarily concerned with the state provision of social welfare in the form of health and social care services. The study of social policy focused on the analysis of social problems, which needed some form of intervention, for example, poverty, inequality in educational achievement, or homelessness. The concentration was on problems considered to be socially constructed, so that the cause of the problem could be traced to society rather than the individual.  Social Policy was traditionally concerned with citizens’ social rights as opposed to other rights such as political, civil, legal rights etc.  However it has developed further and it is widely acknowledged that government policy also impacts on other social aspects of modern life such as publicly funded housing and education, the provision of a minimum level of income, and employment and consumer legislation. 

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What do we mean by a Social Policy issue?

The advice sector has taken on this broader meaning of Social Policy incorporating rights of the individuals as consumers, debtors, tenants, employees, healthcare users, those subject to the legal or immigration system and those in receipt of benefits.   A Social Policy ‘issue’ is a problem considered to have arisen as a result of inadequate policies, services or legislation adversely affecting these individuals.  As you can see social policy issues can affect us all.

As well as working with policy makers to influence policy, Social Policy work has developed to include making suggestions for improvements to services which people receive, highlighting general problems faced by people living in the UK, contributing to public debate, influencing regulation of services and informing legislation.

Identifying Social Policy Issues

As advisers work with people in need of advice and those experiencing problems we are naturally in the prime position to identify issues and contribute to Social Policy work.  It could be argued that most clients who come in with a problem could be associated with a Social Policy issue but we have to strike a sensible balance between helping clients with problems and being involved in work which will prevent future problems occurring.   In order to identify which issues should be highlighted and pursued it might be helpful to ask the following questions:

Social Policy Work

A number of principles underpin successful social policy work including:

What can we do to influence Social Policy?

It is often more effective to pursue an issue as part of an organised campaign – strength in numbers.  Citizens Advice have headed numerous successful campaigns over many years, these and their current projects are detailed on the ‘Campaign for Change’ page of their website http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/campaigns.htm

Citizens Advice have developed a well-established method of collecting evidence and lobbying for change. Each member Bureau collects anonymised details of issues that have caused particular difficulties for clients.  More recently this system has been opened up to the other Not for Profit partners within the advice sector; so that now members from the Institute of Money Advisers and AdviceUK can also submit evidence and present joint evidence.

Members of the above agencies are able to set out details of the policy issues which have raised concern on a prescribed form and sent to a central point.  The National office of Citizens Advice, collates these with others on the same issue. The examples are then used in reports, which will be sent to Government departments and other relevant agencies. As well as highlighting issues which the advice agencies believe are important, the evidence is also used in responses to consultation and briefings to Ministers and Members of Parliament. Evidence is also submitted to Select Committee enquiries, and contributes to debates on Bills going through Parliament.

As well as national lobbying, advice agencies also campaign locally, for example they may lobby local authorities or local businesses.

Advisers may therefore find themselves performing a dual role: to resolve individual problems, and to campaign for social change. Many advice agencies set out to do both by having both as equal aims; organisations like Child Poverty Action Group, on the other hand, place more emphasis on the campaigning role. It is of course more efficient to effect a change which assists a large number of people, rather than help people individually.

If you are interested in pursuing a particular issue you should consider following these steps:

  1. Research to identify an area of policy, law or practice to focus on (is it a national or local issue? Is it a new or proposed change? Are there established methods of review that you can tap into? Is it of particular interest to your organisation?)
  2. Understand the policy, law or practice, and know what people’s rights and entitlements are
  3. Understand how the policy, law or practice may adversely impact on people
  4. Identify what changes would remove the disadvantage you have identified
  5. Identify what actions would best achieve the desired changes; is it desirable to work in partnership with other agencies?
  6. Gather and record evidence
  7. Analyse the evidence: to what extent are people disadvantaged? Is it strong enough to be effective?
  8. Take and then review action