Producing new welfare spaces: local labour market policies in the UK and Denmark

One of the significant features and characteristics of the 'post Keynesian' shift in the welfare state or settlement is the emergence of 'workfare' as a dominant policy regime. Workfare involves supply side economic and social policy in the management of the unemployed and reserve army of labour. Social benefits are increasingly conditional on the unemployed participating in employment and training programmes. These policies are related to a dominant neo liberal politics whereby the market, including 'employability' and work, is seen as a route out of social exclusion. The thesis explores this theme through a comparison of two diverse welfare systems - the UK and Denmark. Through a comparative analysis, the thesis explores how far workfare is in fact a new 'mode of social regulation' or constitutes just a key element of restructuring of the contemporary welfare state. Two central elements of welfare restructuring are explored. First relates to the decentralisation of policies to different spatial scales: localities, cities and regions. Two case studies are chosen, Sheffield (UK) and Aalborg (OK), to explore the dynamics of spatial resealing of welfare and the politics of geographical uneven development, revealing that the local is a site for innovation and adaptation and as a consequence plays a crucial role in mediating national policy production. Second, as welfare is a social construction, political agency and actors within welfare-work policy regimes such as trade unions, community and social movements are of central importance to contesting and negotiating workfare at different spatial scales, including the locality. The central argument of the thesis is that 'localisation' as such involves the production of new welfare spaces which is inherently contradictory, unstable, prone to crisis and contested. The research argues that an understanding of the role of the 'local' as such is of importance to any assessment of future welfare trajectories

Local authority policies, industrial restructuring and the unemployment crisis: an evaluation of the formation and impacts of local economic initiatives in Cleveland 1963 - 1982

There is a conspicuous absence in the literature on local authority economic policies of any wide searching analysis of local Government as an institution of the state and component of the overall State structure. This research on economic policy development in Cleveland has arisen from the need to undertake a more in depth critical approach to understanding the mechanisms of local economic policy formation in relation to State intervention in the economy. The major objectives of this research are:(1) Analyse and evaluate State economic policy initiatives in the Teesside and Cleveland economy with particular emphasis upon the development of local government policies;(2) From the above analysis, identify central constraints upon the formation and implementation of policies and consider the underlying reasons for there being a gap between policy objectives and outcomes as well as the existence of conflicts and tensions which arise in the course of policy development. The Study concentrates upon two major components of local government economic policy: industrial land allocation (in relation to steel and chemicals), industrial estate provision and urban renewal in Middlesbrough - the latter two policies forming a central plank in achieving objectives for diversifying the local economy. After discussing the emergence of consensus policies about perceived problems and solutions the Thesis concentrates upon the impacts of these policies. These impacts can be identified in the restructuring operations of ICI and BSC which have been facilitated by local authority infrastructural provision, land management policies and Regional Development Grant expenditures. The Thesis argues that with the failure to attract new service and other types of 'growth' industry to compensate for job losses in the base manufacturing industry the local economy is undergoing a severe structural crisis giving rise to unemployment rates the highest in mainland Britain. The current situation owes much to the forces of international competition and changes in the international division of labour in petro-chemical production, the mobility of capital and general responses to the crisis in profitability (in the case of BSC, crisis in financial structure). This crisis has sharpened the conflict of interests over policy objectives - between the environmental lobby, interests representing 'capital intensive' industries, community groups, small businesses, central Government etc. The Thesis concludes by analysing how these developments raise critical questions about whether there is still a consensus around policy objectives and about the possibilities of local and central State economic planning

A disappearing safety net: post Covid-19 crisis and its impact on poverty and disadvantage in Stoke on Trent - Report to Stoke Hardship Commission

The report analyses the employment and welfare system in Stoke -on -Trent arguing that the Stoke economy had been badly hit by the 2008 crisis with large numbers of people reliant on in and out of work benefits. So, even before the current crisis, Stoke-on-Trent was experiencing major structural economic problems, exacerbated by austerity and cuts to welfare and social expenditure, giving rise to extensive poverty and deprivation. The Covid 19 crisis has produced a rapid increase in unemployment, significant reductions in household income and large numbers vulnerable to impoverishment and destitution reflected in the rise in the use of foodbanks. The Government Rescue packages are insufficient to guarantee a safety net for those who will have to rely on benefits and other forms of social protection – The basic rate of universal credit is worth around a sixth of average weekly pay (17 per cent). Furthermore, low paid and insecure work is a dominant feature of the local labour market. The report argues for a more pro-active and inclusive approach to employment policy which should include job and training guarantees for unemployed people and job rotation and skills investment for workers to promote growth and productivity.

Re-stating the post political: Depoliticisation, social inequalities, and city region growth,

This paper argues that city-region building debates and relatedly ‘‘post-political’’ literatures are missing critical perspectives on the state, particularly the state’s continued existence as a social relation and an arena for politics, its role in the regulation of uneven development and the conflicts and struggles that arise from this. The paper brings the state centrally into ‘‘post-political’’ debates via a critical analysis of the interrelationships between depoliticization and neoliberalism. Focusing on Sheffield (South Yorkshire, England) in the context of devolution and deal-making public policy, the paper explores the seemingly consensual vision-making dynamics of this city region and dissects the tensions around economic governance, welfare austerity and social inequalities to get a handle on the ‘‘post-political’’ depoliticized state in, and of, contemporary capitalism

WORK AND PENSIONS INQUIRY APRIL 2020 Universal Credit: the wait for a first payment. WPC benefit delay response 6 April 2020

This submission draws from the above work carried out for the SSAC submission and from recent research projects on welfare reform in the North of England conducted by Professor David Etherington and Professor Martin Jones between 2016- 2019. We have undertaken work on the implications of the Stoke-on-Trent Hardship Commission work on poverty in Stoke (concurrent), the impact of austerity and welfare reform in Greater Manchester (2017) and the role of welfare reform in relation to precarious work in Sheffield (concurrent)

Maternal Factors and the Emotional and Behavioural Functioning of Adolescents With Chronic Health Conditions

Purpose: This study investigated the association between mothers’ mental health and education and the emotional and behavioural functioning of adolescents with chronic health conditions over time. Methods: Data were drawn from an ongoing study. Study participants (N¼363) were recruited through eight children’s rehabilitation centres. Logistic regression models were estimated. Results: There were significantly reduced odds that girls would display clinical signs of hyperactivity/inattention one year later compared to boys when a maternal mental health condition was present (OR¼0.10; p50.01). Where low maternal education was present, girls were more likely to display peer relationship problems one year later (OR¼3.72; p50.01). For both genders, having a mother with less than a high school education was also associated with conduct problems one year later (OR¼2.89; p50.01). Conclusions: Findings support a link between maternal factors and emotional and behavioural functioning in adolescents with chronic conditions. A holistic and family-centred approach to assessment and service delivery is indicated

Functional analysis of Arabidopsis DOA10-like E3 ligases

The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) performs the bulk of targeted protein degradation within eukaryotic cells. As such it is crucial for regulating protein abundance, destroying harmful misfolded proteins and for facilitating responses to stimuli. UPS substrates are identified by E3 ligase enzymes, which catalyse their ubiquitination through recognition of degrons (sequences of amino acids encoding degradation signals). ScDoa10 is an E3 ligase of the yeast endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD) system that has been reported to recognise acetylated N-termini as degrons, as part of the Ac/N-degron pathway. It is shown here that one Arabidopsis thaliana homolog of ScDoa10 (AtDOA10A) can functionally complement the yeast E3 both in the response to hygromycin and in the degradation of a substrate (AtSQE1), demonstrating conservation of function. A second homolog, AtDOA10B, which is specific to Brassicaceae, was unable to complement ScDoa10 despite sequence and structural similarities. Despite evidence of functional conservation for AtDOA10A, multiomic analyses, including transcriptomics, quantitative proteomics and N-terminal (Nt-)acetylomics, of seedlings with reduced levels of AtDOA10s revealed no evidence of an accumulation of Nt-acetylated substrates, suggesting that an AtDOA10-mediated Ac/N-degron pathway is not a significant contributor to global protein degradation in Arabidopsis. Similarly, targeting of AtSQE1, the first identified likely substrate of AtDOA10A, was also independent of its Nt-acetylation status, although, interestingly, disruption of Nt-acetylation machinery did indirectly affect AtSQE1’s stability. This supports other recent investigations which suggest that Nt-acetylation does not act as a universal degradation signal but also highlights the significant indirect impacts of this post-translational modification on proteostasis