In many industrialised countries information and communication technology (ICT) is now being seen as a ready means through which governments can address issues of social exclusion. Indeed, in the UK this perspective has been quickly translated into a multi-billion pound policy agenda aimed at using ICT for socially inclusive purposes. Yet, beyond rhetorical concerns over bridging the perceived ‘digital divide’ and alleviating disparities between the information ‘rich’ and ‘poor’, little critical consideration has been given to how technology is being used by governments to achieve socially inclusive aims. This paper therefore examines the UK government’s ICT-based social policy drive through official documentation, policy statements and political discourse – considering the ‘problems’ that it sets out to address, the substance of the policies, and the perceived rationales and benefits for doing so. Having explored the official construction of these policies, the paper then examines how well founded this policy framework is in terms of achieving its stated aims of widening access to ICT and effectively facilitating ‘social inclusion’. The paper concludes by developing a critical perspective of such ICT policies which reveals deeper economic rationales informing this ostensibly ‘social’ policy programme.

Mutual obligation – the idea that those who receive assistance in times of need should be required to ‘give something back’ – is the driving force behind the current social security reform agenda in Australia. After more than a decade of intense reform, the Australian Government is considering a reform blueprint based on the recommendations of a Welfare Reform Reference Group. These include proposals to increase mutual obligation requirements on the unemployed and that sole parents and disability support pensioners should be required to demonstrate some form of social or economic participation in return for receiving income support. Results from a national survey of public opinion are used to explore community views on a range of mutual obligation requirements for the unemployed. The analysis indicates that there is support for mutual obligation for the young and long-term unemployed, but not for others, such as the older unemployed, those caring for young children and those with a disability. Most people also see mutual obligation as implying action on the part of government to reduce unemployment and ease the plight of the unemployed.

Although the policy network approach has moved to the forefront of the debates around the formulation and development of policy, there is a paucity of methodological and reflexive literature which explores how policy networks and the actors within these arenas are actually studied. Researching powerful individuals within such networks generates a unique set of dilemmas and complexities for the researcher. Drawing on my experiences of researching the policy networks involved in the development of prison drugs policy, this paper provides a methodological and reflexive account of the key processes and issues involved in my research. In particular, it explores the political dimensions of the research problem and the importance of switching the research gaze from the ‘objects’ of policy to those who are in the powerful positions of ‘making’ policy. In order to understand the interactions within the policy process, it is argued that the qualitative approach offers distinct advantages in studying policy networks. The paper examines my attempts to uncover and understand the role and influence of policy networks in the development of prison drugs policy and the ways in which I grappled with the dilemmas of access, knowledge and power which emerged during the course of the fieldwork. Although the importance of transparent methodologies and reflexivity are highlighted, the paper concludes by suggesting that the resistance on the part of researchers to providing such accounts is related to the pressures and constraints of the current academic climate.

There has been a raft of policy changes in the UK that are intended to help low-income families engage with the labour market. Drawing in part upon the findings of a small-scale qualitative study of the experiences of low-income working families, this article infers that the secular trend to working parenthood may, as matters stand, be experienced rather differently by secure middle-class families than by poor families. It may be that the former will benefit from policies to improve access to formal childcare, career breaks and time off when needed. The latter are more likely to remain dependent on informal childcare from other family members or friends and receive minimal concessions granted by reluctant employers. While benefits such as working families tax credit will help to secure the material needs of low-income working families, low-paid employment will remain no less precarious and it is possible that the insecurity experienced by low-income working families will increase.

The passing of the Carers (Recognition and Services Act) 1995 was a step forward in trying to ensure that people who provide informal care to disabled, sick or elderly relatives or friends are properly recognised and properly supported. The Carers Act gave informal carers the right to an assessment of their own needs, and this article is based on a study into the impact of the legislation in four local authority social services departments. It is argued that the vision of supporters of the Carers Act, namely to achieve real benefits for many carers, has yet to be realised. The analysis draws on Klein et al.’s (1996) framework of service rationing strategies to demonstrate that decisions about priority setting and different forms of rationing of social care took place at three different levels: national government, local authority and front-line practitioner. Evidence is presented to show that some carers chose to impose rationing on themselves by reducing their demands. The article concludes with comments on the implications of rationing decisions for policy and practice.

This article analyses the pre-reform Polish healthcare system, the theory of the recent reform, the early experiences, and the likely future developments. The reform aims to preserve a state-guaranteed egalitarian healthcare system while ensuring optimal use of resources by the introduction of market-type mechanisms. These mechanisms cannot function as intended while sub-national governments, which have little incentive to support restructuring, remain a vital part of the system. An even greater impediment to the proper functioning of the system is the practice of informal payments. Therefore, smaller than expected gains in efficiency and equity, together with demographic and technological pressures on health costs and a political and economic climate which is unlikely to deliver large increases in public spending, are likely to result in a more privatised and unequal health system than is intended.

Contents

1 Social security and income maintenance

2 Health (formerly Health care)

3 Education

4 Housing and environment

5 Personal social services

6 Law and the treatment of the offender

7 Unemployment and the labour market

8 Race relations

9 The voluntary sector

10 Government (formerly Local government)

11 Gender

12 Demography