Welfare Reform on the Web (June 2004): Social Care - UK

HOW DO WE CARE? THE AVAILABILITY OF REGISTERED CARE HOMES AND CHILDREN'S HOMES IN ENGLAND AND THEIR PERFORMANCE AGAINST NATIONAL MINIMUM STANDARDS 2002/03

National Care Standards Commission

London: TSO, 2004

Report provides information on the availability of care homes, changes in the number of registered services between April 2002 and October 2003 and performance against the full range of national minimum standards for the quality of care. It analyses the size, performance and trends of the care home market.

NCSC: A BOARD MEMBER REFLECTS

G. Hodgson

Caring Times, May 2004, p.16-25

Report of an interview with Prof. John Spiers, a board member of the now defunct National Care Standards Commission. Prof. Spiers emphasizes the need for a different blend of regulation and markets, in which clients, providers and purchasers are empowered, and there is less reliance on state inspection and control.

OPEN TO POSSIBILITY

B. Foster

Professional Social Work, May 2004, p.14

The article argues that recent policy changes are leading to the emergence of generic posts such as youth offending workers and primary mental health workers, which include an element of social work.

THE PERSONAL TOUCH

P. Gosling

Public Finance, May 7th-13th 2004, p.20-23

A major reform of social services for adults is in the offing. It is predicted that this will see the end of "mass production" of services, with the focus shifting to their personalisation. There will be a move to a mixed market in care provision, facilitated by direct payments to clients to enable them to buy in help. Adult services will be split off from children's services. There are serious concerns that treating children outside of the context of their families will lead to the root cause of problems not being detected and relatives not being supported.