Older people receiving family-based support in the community: A survey of quality of life amongst users of ‘Shared Lives’ in England

Shared Lives (adult placement) is a model of community-based support where an adult who needs support and/or accommodation moves into or regularly visits the home of an approved Shared Lives carer, after they have been matched for compatibility. It is an established but small service which has been used mainly by people with learning disabilities but which has the potential to offer an alternative to traditional services for some older people. However, there is little research on the outcomes for older users of Shared Lives. This paper presents findings from a survey of 150 older people using Shared Lives support across 10 Shared Lives schemes in England which took place between June 2013 and January 2014. The aim was to identify outcomes for older users of Shared Lives and compare these to outcomes for older users of other social care services. In the absence of an ideal study design involving randomised allocation, statistical matching was used to generate a comparison group from the Adult Social Care Survey (ASCS) from 2011/12, with 121 cases matched to 121 Shared Lives cases. The main outcome measures were Social Care-Related Quality of Life (measured by the ASCOT) and overall quality of life. Findings indicated that Shared Lives can deliver good outcomes for older people, particularly for overall quality of life. In comparison to the matched group of older people using other forms of support, there was some evidence that Shared Lives may deliver better outcomes in some aspects of quality of life. Limitations to the research mean, however, that more work is needed to fully understand the role Shared Lives could play in supporting older people

Birmingham: A "Locality Approach" to Combating Worklessness

The locality approach to worklessness in Birmingham is an approach to tackling worklessness developed by the city. It was locality driven and focused on areas where worklessness was high. Detailed consultation took place to agree neighbourhood employment and skills plans and services commissioned on that basis. It also had a strong client focus adopting an integrated employment and skills model. The aim of the model was to offer a continuous service, incorporating the provision of targeted action and support that each individual required no matter which provider they accessed. It enabled an in-depth understanding of issues for local residents where worklessness was high, which provided the opportunity for provider organisations to work together for the first time and to develop small-scale innovative projects. Key was the agreement of the major players in the local welfare system and their signing up to the model

Birmingham, Priority to Economics, Social Innovation at the Margins

The governance system in Birmingham over the decades has been rooted in a pro-growth strategy. This has resulted in an environment not typically conducive to large-scale social innovation. The impact of history is of significance, with the impact of recession and deindustrialisation that started in the 1980s, and that still continues today, influencing the policy and practice of actors in the city. The major, lasting innovation in the city is partnership working seen as essential to deliver the economic regeneration agenda. Until recently this was a ‘closed’ form of partnership comprising existing local political and economic power holders, but this has evolved to more inclusive engagement. The city council has focused over the years on the promotion of local economic development and employment growth, and to a lesser extent on the provision of services. However, the council has always seen economic development as also serving the objective of improving the quality of life of its citizens and therefore policies do not always show an obvious divide between social and economic policy. Using analysis of local labour market and housing and regeneration policy, the situation in Birmingham can be described as a case of urban governance where solutions to social problems are stated in terms of economic priorities. Innovation does occur but is marginal, through opportunistic and short-term support for small-scale projects, largely through national funding streams. Looking to the future, enhanced devolved decision-making was seen by local actors as a potential vehicle for innovation at the (very) local level

Birmingham: The Youth Employment and Enterprise Rehearsal Project

Youth Employment and Enterprise Rehearsal (YEER) was set up by The Future Melting Pot, a community interest company, to provide business support to black and minority ethnic young people who were not in employment, education or training. The main aim was to enable participants to set up their own enterprises. The project included training, support and access to accredited advisors. The approach was innovative in that it offered young people an alternative to the conventional focus on getting a job by providing the opportunity to explore the option of self-employment in an environment which was needs led. The approach could be described as intensive, personalised support to stimulate entrepreneurialism and an example of integrating economic and social domains

The English voluntary sector: How volunteering and policy climate perceptions matter

This paper considers the situation of the English voluntary sector in relation to austerity-driven social policies. Existing characterisations are outlined and it is argued that the quantitative evidence used to represent the situation of these organisations to date has been partial because it relies too narrowly on financial resource input measures. We argue that the situation of these organisations needs to be conceptualised in a more holistic way and, to initiate a move in this direction, we identify and explicate two relevant dimensions: the perceived capacity of organisations to rely on volunteers for support (a non-financial resource input); and their perception of the effect of the policy climate in shaping their capacity to flourish, including their ability to perform multiple roles beyond service provision alone. We draw on an original mixed methods empirical study undertaken in England in 2015 to operationalise these dimensions, combining qualitative interviews with national ‘policy community’ members with a large scale on-line survey of social policy charities. We find a complex and variegated situation that, while acknowledging the fundamental importance of financial resource pressures, also points to the salience of the volunteering situation, and to the relevance of the challenging policy climate that these organisations have to navigate

English voluntary organisations: subjective perceptions and financial realities

The financial position of English social policy charities has received much attention, with a particular focus on the difficulties that small- and medium-sized organisations are experiencing. However, in this article we show that the evidence base has a number of limitations. We then demonstrate, analysing data from a survey of more than 1,000 charities, that organisational size, per se, is only one dimension of the problem: perceptions that the operating and financial environment is challenging are related to other organisational characteristics. We then add to the survey data indicators of financial vulnerability to investigate whether there is a relationship between perception (responses to questions about the resources available to charities) and financial reality (the recent financial history of these charities). Somewhat reassuringly, however, we demonstrate that there is a degree of consistency between the perceptions that organisations report and we discuss the implications of the findings

What shapes national responses to EU public procurement policy? The case of health and social services in Norway, Germany and England

This article investigates responses to EU public procurement directives in Norway, England and Germany, with a particular focus on health and social services. We used a comparative national patterns approach to analyse parliamentary debates, consultative statements, the media and interviews with stakeholders. The literature contains prominent arguments suggesting that health and social service governance regimes are converging on the liberal model. Some authors argue that with its focus on policies which create markets, the EU is a driving force with an increasing relevance for market-based governance practices. However, the role of EU legislation is unclear as procurement regimes in relation to the governance of health and social services constitute a highly ambiguous terrain. Our study enabled us to show that the form of the debate is highly dependent on path-dependent mechanisms and the degree of openness of the national political system that provides channels for interests to be articulated. Indeed, the Norwegian case study serves as an excellent example of why marketisation has not advanced to the degree predicted in the literature: an inclusive and open political system and a strong non-profit health and service sector meant that the non-profit groups managed to turn the debate in their favour