Examining veterans’ interactions with the UK social security system through a trauma-informed lens

This paper uses the principles of trauma-informed care – safety, collaboration, choice, trustworthiness, and respect – to reflect on the quality of veterans’ treatment within the UK social security system. Drawing upon new data from qualitative longitudinal research with veterans in four geographical locations across England, UK, it explores their experiences within the social security system, highlighting specific issues relating to their interactions with the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) but also the conditionality inherent within the UK benefits system. Overall, it is evident that there is a lack of understanding of the impact of trauma on people’s psychosocial functioning and, as a result, veterans are treated in ways which are variously perceived as disrespectful, unfair or disempowering and in some cases exacerbate existing mental health problems. We propose that the application of trauma-informed care principles to the UK social security system could improve interactions within this system and avoid re-traumatising those experiencing on-going or unresolved trauma. The paradigm of trauma-informed care has been used internationally to examine health, homelessness, prison and childcare services, but ours is the first exploration of its application to the delivery of social security

Investigating the Rotational Phase of Stellar Flares on M dwarfs Using K2 Short Cadence Data

We present an analysis of K2 short cadence data of 34 M dwarfs which have spectral types in the range M0 - L1. Of these stars, 31 showed flares with a duration between $\sim$10-90 min. Using distances obtained from Gaia DR2 parallaxes, we determined the energy of the flares to be in the range $\sim1.2\times10^{29}-6\times10^{34}$ erg. In agreement with previous studies we find rapidly rotating stars tend to show more flares, with evidence for a decline in activity in stars with rotation periods longer than $\sim$10 days. The rotational modulation seen in M dwarf stars is widely considered to result from a starspot which rotates in and out of view. Flux minimum is therefore the rotation phase where we view the main starspot close to the stellar disk center. Surprisingly, having determined the rotational phase of each flare in our study we find none show any preference for rotational phase. We outline three scenarios which could account for this unexpected finding. The relationship between rotation phase and flare rate will be explored further using data from wide surveys such as NGTS and TESS.Comment: Accepted main Journal MNRA

Housing works : assessing the impact of housing association employment support

Social housing providers in the UK have a long history of delivering support to their residents beyond housing, including providing employment related assistance. A small but growing area of research investigates the role of employment support outside the mainstream welfare system. However, little is known about the support provided, the impact it has on individuals’ prospects in the labour market, and related outcomes for housing providers, the taxpayer and wider society. As increasing numbers of people are expected to engage in work search and other work preparation activities in exchange for continued receipt of welfare benefits, the impact of housing provider employment support needs to be better understood. The membership of Give us a Chance (GUAC) have, as housing associations, been involved in a range of initiatives to improve the employment and life chance outcomes of their residents, including working with employment support organisations and the voluntary and community sector. However, there is considerable variation in the way that housing association employment support is currently provided, and a wide range of tools and measures are used to show the value of these initiatives, from specific organisational measures through to more generic approaches, such as the Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust (HACT) measures and the New Economy Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) model. Hence, it is often difficult to compare the value of projects based on different approaches and measured using different tools. This research had two key aims: to contribute to an understanding of what helps people to move closer to, enter or sustain employment and to demonstrate the value of housing association investment in employment related support for residents. The project had the following linked objectives: 1. Provide a review of housing association employment related support activity; 2. Undertake a review of the impact measures currently used for employment related support across the social housing sector; and 3. Provide an understanding of ‘what works’ in terms of employment related support and the measures used among GUAC members

Ultrashort PW laser pulse interaction with target and ion acceleration

We present the experimental results on ion acceleration by petawatt femtosecond laser solid interaction and explore strategies to enhance ion energy. The irradiation of micrometer thick (0.2 - 6.0 micron) Al foils with a virtually unexplored intensity regime (8x10^19 W/cm^2 - 1x10^21 W/cm^2) resulting in ion acceleration along the rear and the front surface target normal direction is investigated. The maximum energy of protons and carbon ions, obtained at optimised laser intensity condition (by varying laser energy or focal spot size), exhibit a rapid intensity scaling as I^0.8 along the rear surface target normal direction and I^0.6 along the front surface target normal direction. It was found that proton energy scales much faster with laser energy rather than the laser focal spot size. Additionally, the ratio of maximum ion energy along the both directions is found to be constant for the broad range of target thickness and laser intensities. A proton flux is strongly dominated in the forward direction at relatively low laser intensities. Increasing the laser intensity results in the gradual increase in the backward proton flux and leads to almost equalisation of ion flux in both directions in the entire energy range. These experimental findings may open new perspectives for applications.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, 3rd EAAC worksho

Sanctions, support & service leavers : social security benefits and transitions from military to civilian life

Research report presenting findings from the first UK research focusing on the experiences of veterans in the social security system

Work, welfare and wellbeing? The impacts of welfare conditionality on people with mental health impairments in the UK

The personal, economic and social costs of mental ill-health are increasingly acknowledged by many governments and international organisations. Simultaneously, in high income nations the reach of welfare conditionality has extended to encompass many people with mental health impairments as part of on-going welfare reforms. This is particularly the case in the UK where, especially since the introduction of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in 2008, the rights and responsibilities of disabled people have been subject to contestation and redefinition. Following a review of the emergent international evidence on mental health and welfare conditionality, this paper explores two specific issues. First, the impacts of the application of welfare conditionality on benefit claimants with mental health impairments. Second, the effectiveness of welfare conditionality in supporting people with experience of mental ill health into paid work. In considering these questions this paper presents original analysis of data generated in qualitative longitudinal interviews with 207 UK social security benefit recipients with experience of a range of mental health issues. The evidence suggests that welfare conditionality is largely ineffective in moving people with mental health impairments into, or closer to, paid work. Indeed, in many cases it triggers negative health outcomes that make future employment less likely. It is concluded that the application of conditionality for people with mental health issues is inappropriate and should cease

Velocity Response of the Observed Explosive Events in the Lower Solar Atmosphere: I. Formation of the Flowing Cool Loop System

We observe plasma flows in cool loops using the Slit-Jaw Imager (SJI) onboard the Interface Region Imaging Spectrometer (IRIS). Huang et al. (2015) observed unusually broadened Si IV 1403 angstrom line profiles at the footpoints of such loops that were attributed to signatures of explosive events (EEs). We have chosen one such uni-directional flowing cool loop system observed by IRIS where one of the footpoints is associated with significantly broadened Si IV line profiles. The line profile broadening indirectly indicates the occurrence of numerous EEs below the transition region (TR), while it directly infers a large velocity enhancement /perturbation further causing the plasma flows in the observed loop system. The observed features are implemented in a model atmosphere in which a low-lying bi-polar magnetic field system is perturbed in the chromosphere by a velocity pulse with a maximum amplitude of 200 km/s. The data-driven 2-D numerical simulation shows that the plasma motions evolve in a similar manner as observed by IRIS in the form of flowing plasma filling the skeleton of a cool loop system. We compare the spatio-temporal evolution of the cool loop system in the framework of our model with the observations, and conclude that their formation is mostly associated with the velocity response of the transient energy release above their footpoints in the chromosphere/TR. Our observations and modeling results suggest that the velocity responses most likely associated to the EEs could be one of the main candidates for the dynamics and energetics of the flowing cool loop systems in the lower solar atmosphere.Comment: In Press; The Astrophysical Journal; 14 Pages; 9 Figure

Claiming but connected to work : Welfare at a (Social) Distance Rapid Report #1

This report presents the first findings from the Welfare at a (Social) Distance project, a major national research project investigating the benefits system during the COVID19 pandemic, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council as part of UK Research and Innovation’s rapid response to COVID-19. It draws upon a new survey of 2,364 new Universal Credit (UC)/Jobseekers’ Allowance (JSA) claimants (carried out between 25th May and 3rd June) to look at how far benefit claimants are connected to the world of work, helping to better understand the emerging picture from recent UK labour market statistics

Vulnerability of tropical forest ecosystems and forest dependent communities to droughts

Energy captured by and flowing through a forest ecosystem can be indexed by its total Net Primary Productivity (NPP). This forest NPP can also be a reflection of its sensitivity to, and its ability to adapt to, any climate change while also being harvested by humans. However detecting and identifying the vulnerability of forest and human ecosystems to climate change requires information on whether these coupled social and ecological systems are able to maintain functionality while responding to environmental variability. To better understand what parameters might be representative of environmental variability, we compiled a metadata analysis of 96 tropical forest sites. We found that three soil textural classes (i.e., sand, sandy loam and clay) had significant but different relationships between NPP and precipitation levels. Therefore, assessing the vulnerability of forests and forest dependent communities to drought was carried out using data from those sites that had one of those three soil textural classes. For example, forests growing on soil textures of sand and clay had NPP levels decreasing as precipitation levels increased, in contrast to those forest sites that had sandy loam soils where NPP levels increased. Also, forests growing on sandy loam soil textures appeared better adapted to grow at lower precipitation levels compared to the sand and clay textured soils. In fact in our tropical database the lowest precipitation level found for the sandy loam soils was 821 mm yr−1 compared to sand at 1739 mm yr−1 and clay at 1771 mm yr−1. Soil texture also determined the level of NPP reached by a forest, i.e., forest growing on sandy loam and clay reached low-medium NPP levels while higher NPP levels (i.e., medium, high) were found on sand-textured soils. Intermediate precipitation levels (>1800–3000 mm yr−1) were needed to grow forests at the medium and high NPP levels. Low thresholds of NPP were identified at both low (∼750 mm) and high precipitation (>3500 mm) levels. By combining data on the ratios of precipitation to the amount of biomass produced in a year with how much less precipitation input occurs during a drought year, it is possible to estimate whether productivity levels are sufficient to support forest growth and forest dependent communities following a drought. In this study, the ratios of annual precipitation inputs required to produce 1 Mg ha−1 yr−1 biomass by soil texture class varied across the three soil textural classes. By using a conservative estimate of 20% of productivity collected or harvested by people and 30% precipitation reduction level as triggering a drought, it was possible to estimate a potential loss of annual productivity due to a drought. In this study, the total NPP unavailable due to drought and harvest by forest dependent communities per year was 10.2 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the sandy textured soils (64% of NPP still available), 8.4 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the sandy loam textured soils (60% available) and 12.7 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the clay textured soils (29% available). Forests growing on clay textured soils would be most vulnerable to drought triggered reductions in productivity so NPP levels would be inadequate to maintain ecosystem functions and would potentially cause a forest-to-savanna shift. Further, these forests would not be able to provide sufficient NPP to satisfy the requirements of forest dependent communities. By predicting the productivity responses of different tropical forest ecosystems to changes in precipitation patterns coupled with edaphic data, it could be possible to spatially identify where tropical forests are most vulnerable to climate change impacts and where mitigation efforts should be concentrated