This paper reviews the evidence which suggests that the coercive aspects of UK unemployment and social security policies have not been implemented as rigorously as policy statements and commentators have implied. The analysis explores the tension between policing benefits and the duty to provide genuine assistance to job seekers. It suggests that policy ambiguity leads to the exercise of informal discretion, which in turn facilitates the non-implementation of the least favoured policy objectives. The introduction of managerialist practices does not appear to have had a beneficial effect on the administration of active labour market policies, in terms of either achieving policy objectives or providing a better service for unemployed people. Rather, it would appear that the additional stresses imposed on staff by resource constraints, work intensification and the pressure to meet performance targets have led to a lowering of morale which cannot help but be reflected in the standard of service available to the unemployed.
The implementation of the NHS and Community Care Act, the greatly
increased use of voluntary sector providers and the switch from grants
to
contracts form the background to this study. The article brings together
two main themes in current social policy debate in the personal social
services: regulation and quality assurance. Contracts are seen as increasingly
significant forms of input, process and output regulation, although
their impact depends upon their type and specificity and upon the capacity
of purchasers to monitor contract compliance, and the sanctions
available to them. Clarification of the conceptual framework is followed
by the report of an empirical study of the position in a single large county.
The results from this study are then discussed in the context of evidence
from other parts of Britain and the United States. The main issues
identified in this discussion are competition, consumer choice, user
involvement, the dangers of excessive and inappropriate regulation, the
importance of trust and risk, and the relationship of resources to quality.
In June 1993 a Task Force within the Citizen's Charter Unit of the Cabinet Office initiated a review of complaints procedures in public sector organisations.
The research on which this paper is based is part of a wider study of quality assurance and the voluntary sector. The focus of this paper is on complaints procedures, as part of quality assurance mechanisms, where voluntary agencies are the contracted service providers. The authors argue that, with the introduction of contracting and particularly with its further development, the way in which complaints mechanisms currently operate will need to be revised if they are to be an effective part of the quality assurance process.
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