An article examined social housing policy-making in Northern Ireland. The period 2007-2011 marked the beginnings of a trend away from 'technocratic domination' by officials towards greater intervention and policy ownership by politicians.
Source: Jenny Muir, 'The dynamics of policy-making under UK devolution: social housing in Northern Ireland', Housing Studies, Volume 28 Number 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Dec
A survey examined how policy-makers and practitioners used evidence to inform their work, and whether there was demand for better evidence sharing across the United Kingdom. The report said that university research was the most trusted form of evidence, but it could not be accessed by many potential users. It said there was a case for greater sharing of good quality, timely, and relevant information.
Source: Jim McCormick, Evidence Exchange: Learning from social policy from across the UK, Carnegie UK Trust
Links: Report | Carnegie press release
Date: 2013-Dec
A new book examined how governments, non-profit and private organizations, and local networks understood the connexions between public values and social issues.
Source: Peter Leisink, Paul Boselie, Maarten van Bottenburg, and Dian Marie Hosking (eds), Managing Social Issues: A public values perspective, Edward Elgar Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Sep
A report by a committee of MPs said that effective early action by government could help to deal with a variety of social problems: but the Treasury was far too focused on the short term, meaning that it risked missing the opportunity to help stabilize the public finances over the longer term, improve outcomes for citizens, and get better value for money. There was a shortage of good evidence on the effectiveness of early action, and existing incentives did not seem to be working. Most early intervention grants were not ring-fenced. Despite some encouraging evidence of joint working among departments and at the local level, 'silo behaviour' still predominated. The Treasury needed to adopt an integrated, long-term, preventative approach to public spending.
Source: Early Action: Landscape Review, Second Report (Session 2013-14), HC 133, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Committee press release | EATF press release | Civil Society report
Date: 2013-Sep
An article examined said that government interventions ought to be more overt than was traditionally advocated by adherents of a behavioural economics approach. Governments should principally attempt to influence behaviour if the acts of those targeted were causing harm to others. Behavioural economics might be used more appropriately in the public sector to help inform regulation that 'budged', rather than 'nudged', harmful private sector activities.
Source: Adam Oliver, 'From nudging to budging: using behavioural economics to inform public sector policy', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 42 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
A think-tank report said that much so-called 'evidence-based policy' was in fact grounded in poor scientific reasoning and even worse economics. Frequent errors included: ignoring the costs resulting from a policy; failing to take account of substitution effects; relying on highly uncertain estimates of the external costs of harmful activities; failing to recognize the tendency of scientists to exaggerate levels of confidence in their findings, and to overstate the credibility and importance of their ideas; and a tendency by one set of experts to defer to those in another field. The report looked at four policy areas as case studies – minimum alcohol pricing, passive smoking, global warming, and the promotion of happiness.
Source: Jamie Whyte, Quack Policy: Abusing science in the cause of paternalism, Institute of Economic Affairs
Links: Report | IEA press release
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined the factors that affected the decision by government to terminate a specific policy, based on a case study of regional policy in England. It assessed whether the changes after 2010 amounted to a case of policy termination, and explored the factors that had influenced policy change.
Source: Martin Ferry and John Bachtler, 'Reassessing the concept of policy termination: the case of regional policy in England', Policy Studies, Volume 34 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jul
A report highlighted a range of social questions on which the general public were found to have extremely inaccurate knowledge. People thought (for example) that £24 out of every £100 of benefits was claimed fraudulently (true figure 70p); that black and Asian people made up 30 per cent of the population (true figure 11 per cent); that 24 per cent of the population of England and Wales was Muslim (true figure 5 per cent); that 15 per cent of girls under 16 got pregnant every year (true figure 0.6 per cent); and that 36 per cent of the population was over 65 (true figure 16 per cent).
Source: Ipsos MORI, Perils of Perception, Royal Society
Links: Report | RSS press release | Guardian report | New Statesman report
Date: 2013-Jul
A new book examined some of the most challenging social developments as they were understood by policy-makers and by academics. Academic debates identified a range of ways in which issues could be understood and tackled: but policy was typically based on a narrow subset of possible approaches. This was illustrated by discussion of issues such as: climate change; demographic shifts; the response to greater ethnic and religious diversity; the debate about community and local area politics; democratization; 'nudge'; and the growth of popular disillusion with politics and politicians.
Source: Peter Taylor-Gooby (ed.), New Paradigms in Public Policy, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Jul
A new book examined the normative and legal evolution of the 'social dimension' – labour law, social security law, and family law – in both the European Union and its member states.
Source: Ann Numhauser-Henning and Mia Ronnmar (eds), Normative Patterns and Legal Developments in the Social Dimension of the EU, Hart Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Jul
A new book examined thinking about risk in a range of social policy and practice contexts, including: special needs education; digital exclusion; domestic violence and abuse; and child protection and youth work. It considered how risk agendas could be used to justify and normalize the rationing and targeting of services, and even to redefine what counted as social problems. But the use of risk as a 'negative organizing discourse' was not inevitable: in different contexts, it could create positive outcomes for service users, practitioners, and society.
Source: Jeremy Kearney and Catherine Donovan (eds), Constructing Risky Identities in Policy and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Jun
A report by a committee of MPs said that insights into the views and values of the public offered by deliberative polling would make an important contribution to developing national strategy.
Source: Engaging the Public in National Strategy, Fourth Report (Session 2013–14), HC 435, House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Committee press release
Notes: Deliberative polling works by repeatedly asking sets of respondents the same questions on a particular issue. Before the set of questions is posed again, participants are presented with additional information and alternative arguments about the issue.
Date: 2013-Jun
An article said that the concept of evidence-based policy served as a convenient device for governments to present policy-making to a wider public, gaining legitimacy through an appeal to technical rationality and shielding underlying ideologies and politics from scrutiny. It illustrated this by reference to developments in housing policy, including public housing stock transfer, the housing market renewal programme, and the 2011 Localism Act. Although policy-makers continued to promote evidence-based policy, actual policy decisions were best explained by factors largely unrelated to 'evidence'; for example, the relative power and influence of interest groupings both within government and beyond.
Source: Keith Jacobs and Tony Manzi, 'Modernisation, marketisation and housing reform: the use of evidence based policy as a rationality discourse', People, Place & Policy, Volume 7 Issue 1
Links: Article
Date: 2013-Jun
A report by a committee of MPs called for greater public engagement in policy-making, with public opinion, ideas, and contributions sought and welcomed at all stages of the policy cycle.
Source: Public Engagement in Policy-Making, Second Report (Session 2013-14), HC 75, House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Committee press release | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Jun
A report examined what could be done to mobilize research knowledge more effectively across social policy and practice. It highlighted: the importance of high-quality initial research; translation of research into meaningful materials for practice; network-based brokerage; research partnerships in professional settings; evidence-based professional development; and (above all) the power of drawing these elements together as part of a functioning 'evidence ecosystem'.
Source: Jonathan Sharples, Evidence for the Frontline, Alliance for Useful Evidence
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Jun
A new book examined social policy developments under the coalition government across a range of key policy areas. It included chapters dealing with health policy, pensions, fuel poverty and climate change, unemployment and activation policies, precarious employment, and the proposed new universal credit.
Source: Gaby Ramia, Kevin Farnsworth, and Zoe Irving (eds), Social Policy Review 25: Analysis and debate in social policy, 2013, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Jun
A special issue of a journal examined the role of evidence and evaluation in social policy.
Source: Social Policy and Administration, Volume 47 Number 4
Links: Table of contents
Notes: Articles included:
Christopher Deeming, 'Trials and tribulations: the "use" (and "misuse") of evidence in public policy'
Katherine Smith, 'Understanding the influence of evidence in public health policy: what can we learn from the "tobacco wars?"'
Trude Sundberg and Peter Taylor-Gooby, 'A systematic review of comparative studies of attitudes to social policy'
Ray Pawson and Geoff Wong, 'Public opinion and policy-making'
Tina Haux, 'Understanding employment barriers for lone parents in Great Britain: research gaps and missed opportunities'
Liz Richardson, 'Putting the research boot on the policymakers' foot: can participatory approaches change the relationship between policymakers and evaluation?'
Date: 2013-Jun
A new book examined the emergence of the behaviour change agenda in public policy-making since the late 1990s, drawing on examples from finance, transport, health, and environment.
Source: Rhys Jones, Jessica Pykett, and Mark Whitehead, Changing Behaviours: On the rise of the psychological state, Edward Elgar Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-May
A new book examined how individualist ideas shaped contemporary approaches to public policy. It argued for a concept of individualism based on rights, human dignity, shared interests, and social protection.
Source: Paul Spicker, Reclaiming Individualism: Perspectives on public policy, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Apr
A new book examined the relationship between research, policy-making, and practice, against the background of the evidence-based practice movement. It considered what counted as evidence for evidence-based practice; whether social measurement was possible, or necessary; and the criteria by which qualitative research should be judged. It also discussed the case for action research, the nature of systematic reviews, proposals for interpretive reviews, and the process of qualitative synthesis.
Source: Martyn Hammersley, The Myth of Research-Based Policy and Practice, SAGE Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Apr
A new textbook examined key concepts in social policy and related disciplines.
Source: Peter Dwyer and Sandra Shaw, An Introduction to Social Policy, SAGE Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Apr
The coalition government announced the creation of a network of centres providing evidence-based policy-making to guide decision-making on public spending. The 'What Works Network' would consist of two existing centres of excellence – the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, and the Educational Endowment Foundation – plus four new independent institutions covering crime prevention, promoting active and independent ageing, effective early intervention, and fostering local economic growth.
Source: What Works: Evidence centres for social policy, Cabinet Office | Geoff Mulgan and Ruth Puttick, Making Evidence Useful: The case for new institutions, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts
Links: Report | Cabinet Office press release | NESTA background paper | RSS press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Mar
A think-tank report examined attempts to promote a 'civil dialogue' between the European Union and the general public. It said that instead of being consulted directly, people had been 'ventriloquized' through 'sock puppet' charities, think tanks, and other civil society groups that were selected and financed by the European Commission. These organizations typically lobbied for closer European integration, bigger EU budgets, and more EU regulation.
Source: Christopher Snowdon, Euro Puppets: The European Commission's remaking of civil society, Institute of Economic Affairs
Date: 2013-Mar
A new book examined research techniques and standards for the evaluation of policy – and whether they amounted to an evaluation 'science'.
Source: Ray Pawson, The Science of Evaluation: A realist manifesto, SAGE Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Mar
A new textbook provided an introduction to the key concepts used in social policy.
Source: Patricia Kennedy, Key Themes in Social Policy, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Feb
The government responded to a critical report by a committee of peers on changes to official consultation procedures. It said that the issues raised would be referred to an independent review panel.
Source: The Government's New Approach to Consultation: Government Response, 29th Report (Session 2012–13), HL 124, House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, TSO
Links: Response
Notes: Peers report (January 2013)
Date: 2013-Feb
A report advocated an approach to decision-making in Europe based on shared social responsibilities. It said that it was essential to reformulate existing social choices, ensuring that social, intergenerational, and environmental justice lay at their heart.
Source: Shared Social Responsibility: Putting theory into practice, Council of Europe
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Feb
An article examined which European Union-level characteristics of the open method of co-ordination (OMC) were most likely to result in pressure on national governments to reconsider their policies as a result of OMC-related parliamentary activities and media coverage (drawing on evidence from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands). The findings indicated that, when an OMC was adopted in a policy field without any other type of EU-level activity already present, or did not include indicators/benchmarks or peer learning activities, the OMC would not increase the pressure on a national government.
Source: Rik de Ruiter, 'Full disclosure? The open method of coordination, parliamentary debates and media coverage', European Union Politics, Volume 14 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Notes: The open method of coordination (OMC) is an intergovernmental means of governance in the European Union, based on the voluntary co-operation of member states rather than the application of legislative measures.
Date: 2013-Feb
A paper examined the development of a crucial component of the European Union's social open method of co-ordination (OMC) – its benchmarking toolbox. It considered how benchmarking actually worked through each of its elements, including stakeholder networks, peer reviews, and joint reports. The social OMC's learning tools were more dynamic and diversified than was usually acknowledged.
Source: Peter Lelie and Bart Vanhercke, Inside the Social OMC s Learning Tools: How 'benchmarking social Europe' really worked, Opinion Paper 10, European Social Observatory (Brussels)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Feb
An article said that there was a tension between conducting comprehensive systematic reviews and completing them in time to meet policy-making deadlines. The 'rapid evidence assessment' had been proposed as a solution to this: but this mode of reviewing presented considerable challenges in social policy. There were situations in which it might not be feasible to embark on a rapid review, and caution should be exercised when selecting this method.
Source: James Thomas, Mark Newman, and Sandy Oliver, 'Rapid evidence assessments of research to inform social policy: taking stock and moving forward', Evidence & Policy, Volume 9 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Feb
A new book examined attempts at social policy reform in a range of European countries.
Source: Liesbet Heyse, Sandra Resodihardjo, Tineke Lantink, and Berber Lettinga (eds), Reform in Europe: Breaking the barriers in government, Ashgate Publications
Links: Summary
Notes: Chapters included: Francesca Gains, 'Modernizing English Local Government: Voice, loyalty, and exit in the demise of the committee system'
Date: 2013-Feb
An article identified three levels of transposition outcomes for European Union Directives: conformable, partially conformable, and non-conformable. Preference-related factors, in particular the disagreement of a member state and the Commission regarding a Directive's outcome, played a much more strategic role than had to date been acknowledged. Whereas disagreement by a member state delayed conformable transposition, it speeded up non-conformable transposition. Disagreement by the Commission only prolonged the transposition process. A stronger focus on an effective sanctioning mechanism was warranted for safeguarding compliance with Directives.
Source: Thomas Konig and Lars Mader, 'Non-conformable, partial and conformable transposition: a competing risk analysis of the transposition process of directives in the EU15', European Union Politics, Volume 14 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Feb
An audit report said that 'early action' – early deployment of resources by public bodies to prevent problems occurring or getting worse in service provision – had the potential to result in better outcomes and greater value for money. But there was little evidence that the coalition government had shifted significant resources to early action projects, or of cross-government co-ordination. Determined leadership was necessary to divert resources away from pressing and highly visible existing needs, in line with public expectations, towards long-term early action programmes, particularly at times of fiscal austerity.
Source: Early Action: Landscape Review, HC 683 (Session 2012–13), National Audit Office, TSO
Links: Report | NAO press release | Action for Children press release | Nursery World report | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Jan
A report by a committee of peers said that the new consultation principles introduced by the coalition government in July 2012 carried a risk that the resulting statute would be less robust, because 'rushed' consultation processes made it too difficult for external interests to provide expert critique at the right time. It called on the government to recognize that the principles were failing to provide the consistency and transparency that others looked for in consultation exercises. The government should launch an independent, external review of their new approach to consultation without delay.
Source: The Government's New Approach to Consultation – 'Work in Progress', 22nd Report (Session 2012–13), HL 100, House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Jan
A review examined how central government departments made use of 'horizon scanning'. It assessed the capabilities and structures used by the civil service to anticipate risk and identify opportunities over the medium-to-long term. It made recommendations on how best to enable effective, shared strategic analysis across government on the future challenges facing the country. The focus of the review was on the civil service, but it presumed that horizon scanning would often be undertaken in partnership with others in the public and private sectors.
Source: Review of Cross-Government Horizon Scanning, Cabinet Office
Links: Report | Annexes (links)
Date: 2013-Jan