Participation in the Social Security System
Experiments in Local Consultation
Published on 6. January 1994
Book
Hardback
192 pages
978-1-85628-533-9 (ISBN)
Description
The 1980s witnessed a fundamental shift in thinking about the nature of participation public services. The commitment to forms of collective user involvement and representation has been challenged by the Thatcherite agenda with its emphasis on individualistic consumerism. Within the social security system there have been concerted efforts to mount customer surveys and service quality audits but running in parallel have been interests in consulting more directly with the customer constituency as a vehicle for improving the quality of the local service. This book provides a detailed and absorbing account of innovations in consultation about the delivery of local social security services which took root in the late 1980s. It makes a valuable contribution to policy debates about the status of and scope for user participation, representation and citizenship in the 1990s. Guidelines are presented about the establishment of effective consultation in public sector services. The book should have particular appeal to students of politics and social policy, community organisations and all those involved in the delivery of public services.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
figs.tabs.
Dimensions
Height: 157 mm
Width: 224 mm
Weight
350 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-85628-533-9 (9781856285339)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Content
I The background to consultation Participation and politics Participation and representation Consultation in public sector services Social security and consultation Analysing consultation Research objectives and methods The process of establishing committees The operation of committees The effectiveness of committees Research methods The development of consultative committees First steps - the Sandybank initiative Greenlow (1986-1988) Northton - first attempt Northton - second attempt Summary 4 The shape of consultation The role of consultative committees Operational arrangements Publicity DSS involvement Summary 5 The substance of Consultation The source of issues considered Environmental issues Administrative issues Informational issues Other issues Summary 6 Outcomes of consultation Committee achievement - the substantive record Committee achievement - self assessments Personal outcomes Departmental perspectives Summary 7 Claimant perspectives About the group discussions To be a claimant Importance of the DSS to claimants Knowledge of the system Visiting offices( Dealings wit i staff Perception of DSS rules and regulations Complaints Representing claimant views Claimant representatives Summary Ripple effects: the emergence of oilier consultative committees Llanfair consultative committee Brynglas DSS consultative committee 9 Discussion of main findings and recommendations The process of establishing committees The operation of committees Outcomes and effects of the work of the committees Guidelines 10 Retrospect: participation, citizenship and public policy Introduction Citizen John What future for participatory schemes?