What is a Social Policy - Coursework Example

SOCIAL POLICY Date Social policy is a practice that almost every government practices in a bid to ensure that the welfares of its citizens are adequately addressed. Though these policies change from time to time, in many cases, the changes are intended to keep improving the affairs of the citizens and residents in a particular country. Often, the changes can be a result of a change in administration where elections take place after sometime. Whatever changes are made to these policies affect the public either negatively or positively. The UK has witnessed changed in several social policies as the administration change hands, and this means they have been affected to some extent. In this paper, the aim is to conduct an analysis on the contemporary social policy and the impact it has on the social care organisation’s services as well as the recipients of the services. Context and direction of contemporary social policy Social policies could be accredited for much of the change that is seen in today’s world, especially in Britain. Historically, Britain has seen a number of policies come into effect because of the often change of administrations. However, this does not mean that politicians always agree on the right policy for the UK residents. Instead, there tends to be a division with two factions existing including, the Left and the Right wings. While each of these has their positions, the interesting thing is that they normally argue with the interests of the British people at heart (Annets, 2009; Blakemore and Warwick-Booth, 2013). For instance, the left wing tends to show support for the welfare programs, believes in public provision, embraces institutional welfare and advocates collectionism. Conversely, the right wing is individualistic, residual welfare is their stand, are against welfare and public provision (Cochrane, 2011) While these see to argue as though to have own interests served, it is imperative to understand the intention is just to have that which is helpful to the public. The above statement is anonymous to the genesis of one of the UK’s political party, Labour party to be precise. Even though the Labour party is one of the most popular in the UK’s political arena, the history shows that the party was born out of ideologies. Having held the view that employees deserved better pay, the party started advocating for better services for employees. Trade unions were the catalyst of this party, and the party continued to insist on need for nationalisation of industries. When the party took over power for the first time in 1924, the leadership continued with their views on having trade unions. Nonetheless, the party did not believe that the industries ought to be controlled by the government. Initially, the Labour party was born out of a resolution held in 1899 where it sought to represents the affairs of employees. As a result, the party started attracting a following, and it gained such huge popularity that according to Purdue (2011) it exceeded the support of the then opposition party, Liberal party. History shows that the party initially embraced the Keynesian economics in its policies, wanted the government to intervene in the economy and insisted on wealth-redistribution. Besides demanding better pay for workers and rights, the party’s stand on welfare was that healthcare ought to be publicly funded (Worley, 2005). As a result, the party’s popularity reached a new height in 1974 especially because of the contents of its manifesto. Notwithstanding the past success the party has witnessed in the past, its changed stand on markets has been blamed for its lowered rating. Apparently, the party has since forsaken its stand on the issue of free markets, and this has been noted as the major reason for the party’s dwindling popularity. Additionally, the party’s once-strong relationship with the unions has since been affected because of fronting various policies, which seemed unpopular to the public. From the above findings, it is clear that social policies play an integral role in shaping social care organisation’s services and recipients of services. Currently, the labour party is seeking to emerge victorious in the upcoming elections, and the policies the leadership. For instance, it has been reported that the party intends to raise the minimum hourly working wage from the current £6.5 to £8, improvement of the National Health Service (NHS) are some of the policies the party intends to have. Furthermore, the Labour party has in the past avoided discussing the tricky issue of immigrants, but its candidate, ED Milliband, has come out clearly. Unlike the other candidates, Milliband insists that the country has to re-assess the situation (Stone, 2015). Similarly, the Conservative party is another that has been involved in a number of ways in the shaping of the UK’s various services. Like the Labour party that used social issues to ascend to power, the Conservative party took advantage of societal problems in early 40s. During this time, the Labour party failed to handle the issues facing the country then, which included austerity, food-scarcity as well as a tedious bureaucracy (Worley, 2005). Because of these issues, the Labour party lost the reins of power in 1951 when the Conservatives came back to power. Just like the Labour party, which would occasionally be praised for its policies as well, as receive criticism for the same, the Conservative party was no exceptional. Margaret Thatcher was the party’s leader when the Falklands war began. The leadership demonstrated by Thatcher led an increased popularity of the party, and this increased even further when the party’s policy of allowing tenants to buy council houses at a discount. Nevertheless, Thatcher’s failure to adequately address the social issues such as unemployment saw the party’s lose popularity. Additionally, because of the high inflation rate under the Conservative, the party’s leadership was again questioned (Worley, 2005). The introduction of the poll tax, also known as community charge culminates in the downfall of Margaret Thatcher and subsequent fall of Conservative’s rating. The policy intended to have every adult pay a particular tax as per the regulations of the local authorities. At a time when the country’s recession was rife, this result in many people denouncing the party and preferring the Labour party (Purdue, 2011). When the prime minister resigned, it was expected that the Labour party would reclaim the power. The succeeding candidate, john Major convinced the UK residents that if the Labour party seized power, the two major issues affecting the country then, recession and immigration would worsen. Surprisingly, the candidate successfully convinced the residents in UK on the two issues, and won overwhelmingly (Worley, 2005). Each of these two parties was credited for various policies that positively influenced the society as well as criticised for ones that did not bear fruits. For instance, Prime Minister Tony Blair a Labour Party leader from 1997 to 2007 had an education policy that significantly transformed the education sector. It was noted that the funding for education increased by 48% translating to £1,450 per student annually. In 2007, the figure was expected to rise to 55% and many have accredited Tony Blair for the tremendous results seen in the sector. As of 2007, the figures indicated there was a 35,000-increase of teachers compared to the figures in 1997, which subsequently reduced the pupil-teacher size in both primary and secondary schools. Also, the teachers had their pay increased by 18% and 27% depending on the position with head having the latter increase (Coughlan, 2007). The impact that Blair’s policies had on the society did not stop with the above statistics, as there was an increase if teaching assistants. Further, 1,106 schools were build, and refurbishment on all others that required it. As for the pupils, there was an improvement on the grades as it was reported that good GSCEs increased with maths and English rising from the previous 36% to then 45% (Coughlan, 2007). The health sector was positively impacted by the policies created and implemented by the Labour party under the leadership of Tony Blair as the party increased spending on the sector. Other policies introduced by the party included minimum wage and constitutional reforms. Also, the party refused to increase the income tax as previously thought, and the country’s economy increased significantly during the reign of the party. Poverty levels reduced at a tremendous rate as the party sought to expand on the welfare state. While Tony Blair administration was praised for a number of policies, which had a positive impact on the British people, it was criticised for an increase of tuition fees in higher learning institutions. Also, the decision to support the US invasion of Iraq was seen by many as a costly one. However, the party contested that the decision was in line with the country’s foreign policy (Hennessy, 2009). Again, the move to reduce the lone-parent benefit was sharply criticised, and the opposition responded by abstentions. In a bid to appease the situation, the Blair administration reacted by raising the child-benefit by £2.50. Impact of organisational dynamics and policy requirements Organisations, especially the ones tasked with offering services to the public have a vital role in any government. Thus, any policy that the government light create ought to consider the role these organisations. Often, organisational dynamics and policy requirements do affect these workers both in negatively and positively depending on the contents in a policy. A case in point is the precarious positions organisations might find themselves in case of personalisation of services. In the case of personalisation, receivers of certain services are allowed to make choices on the kind of services to receive from the givers, and this has implications. Personalisation has its limitations since individuals require varied needs and attention, and this could have capacity constraints on the personnel in a particular arena, especially in the healthcare. While some argue that the process enables the care-givers and the receivers to have an integrated relationship, others contend. Have a service tailored to meet individual rather than deliver one-for-all service is often to be not only expensive, but also cumbersome (Beresford, 2011; Beresford et al, 2010). In fact, to some the personalisation policies “have little to do with caring and a lot to do with the presentation of political and economic programmes in the pursuit of government survival and re-election” (Burton et al, 2012 pp.7). An example that shows how flawed a policy could is the Fair Access to Care Services (FACS), which was introduced sometimes in 2003 and later revised early 2010. In the policy, the UK government sought to ensure that adults received care through the personalisation method. Even though the policy was well intended, the outcomes so far paint a picture of a flawed process. According to Challis (2011) the eligibility criteria itself if a hurdle to the givers of this care especially because of lack of clarity in the interpretation. The Autism Act Gordon brown was Tony Blair’s successor in the 2008 elections, and just like the others, Brown received praise and criticism in equal measure. There were many policies that saw Brown are criticised, but the premier was also accredited for a number of policies that benefitted the country greatly. One such a policy was the Autism Act 2009, which sought to have the needs of the adults living with the autism, was adequately addressed (Knapp et al, 2009). The government planned to ensure that none of the adult in the UK living with the mentioned disease lacked the necessary medication for lack of financial requirements. As a result of this policy, many of the patients have reportedly benefitted from the Act, and even the healthcare practitioners found it somewhat easier (Levy, 2009). Apparently, before the enactment of this Act, the people with autism did not have a specified way of seeking medical attention, and this proved to be a bit hectic for the practitioners. The policy is today accredited for offering care to the patients unlike the previous case where the lack of working systems complicated the situation. Similarly, the health workers in this area have also expressed satisfaction on the policy though more improvements are still needed. Autism patients are no longer secluded, and instead can be employed like everybody else, awareness and training is conducted often and support extended to anyone in need. Besides, diagnosis is done on several parts of the country and, there has been a significant response. This information underlines the fact that some policies can indeed influence the society positively especially when the individuals or sectors tasked with the dispensation are well trained on the same (Knapp et al, 2009). Today, autism patients have the Gordon Brown to thank for the policy, and healthcare practitioners for embracing it. Clearly, this policy influenced delivery to the users by first availing necessary legislation followed by engagement of the key stakeholders. Analysis of the current proposed policy reforms The current government has proposed to have the welfare reforms where a number of changes are expected to take effect. First, the government sates that the current situation in regard to welfare benefits is rather too complex. It has been noted that the system discourages people from seeking jobs because the incentives and wages are pretty low yet the transport cost could see the little earnings reduce even further. As a result, the government aims at “making the benefit system more affordable and fairer, reduce fraud and error levels as well as reduce poverty, welfare dependency, and work-lessness” (“Welfare Reforms”, 2015). To achieve the above aims, the government has come up with various reforms including the introduction of Universal credit, which seeks to encompass the various working-age benefits into a one-unit payment. With this policy, it is expected that the people relying on benefits will starting working and even increase their working hours. On the other hand, the government will ensure this work pays these people properly. The result is that the government will find it both easier and cheaper to manage the people as well as significantly reduce the people still in poverty. In addition to the above, the UK government has introduced Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which replaced the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in 2013. In the previous policy, the people aged between 16 and 64 would receive assistance to cater for the costs associated with the long-term condition. The reformed one enables the government to clearly understand the condition a patient suffers from and the effect it has on their health as opposed to simply knowing the condition. According to the reforms of this policy, the people whose effects are of great magnitude will receive more benefits in comparison to others (“Welfare Reforms”, 2015). Overall, the UK government hopes to improve the benefits systems in order to ensure that people work more, do not depend mainly on benefits and that in order to receive benefits one has to show the willingness to work. If implemented, these reforms would more positive impact than negative ones. Bibliography Annetts, J. (2009). Understanding social welfare movements. Bristol: Policy Press. Burton, J., Toscano, T., & Zonouzi, M. (2012). Personalisation for social workers: opportunities and challenges for frontline practice. Maidenhead, Open University Press. Blakemore, K., & Warwick-Booth, L. (2013). Social policy: an introduction Maidenhead : Open University Press, Beresford, P. (2011). Supporting people. Bristol: Policy Press/Joseph Rowntree Foundatoion. Beresford et al 2010, Supporting People: A Person-Centred Approach, Bristol: Policy Press, 978- 1-84742-762-5 Challis, T. (2011). Help or Hindrance? The Use of Fair Access to Care Services Eligibility Criteria within a Primary Care Trust Setting. The British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72(2), pp.87-89. Cochrane, C. (2011). The asymmetrical structure of left/right disagreement: Left-wing coherence and right-wing fragmentation in comparative party policy. Party Politics, 19(1), pp.104-105. Coughlan, S. (2007). Education | 'Education, education, education'. [online] BBC NEWS | UK |. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6564933.stm [Accessed 20 Apr. 2015]. Gov.uk, (2013). Welfare reform - Policy - GOV.UK. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/simplifying-the-welfare-system-and-making-sure-work-pays [Accessed 20 Apr. 2015]. Hennessy, P. (2009). The Blair Style and the Requirements of Twenty-first Century Premiership. The Political Quarterly, 72(4), pp.316-318. Knapp, M., Romeo, R. and Beecham, J. (2009). Economic cost of autism in the UK. Autism, 13(3), pp.317-319. Levy, D. (2009). Oncologists must act now to prevent ‘crunch’ impact on patients. Oncology Times UK, 6(9), p.5. Purdue, A. (2011). Speak for Britain! A New History of the Labour Party. Labour History Review, 76(3), pp.281-282. Stone, J. (2015). This is what Britain would look like under Prime Minister Ed Miliband. [online] The Independent. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-policies-what-ed-miliband-says-a-labour-government-would-do-if-the-party-wins-in-2015-9957919.html [Accessed 20 Apr. 2015]. Worley, M. (2005). Building the Party: Labour Party Activism in Five British Counties Between the Wars. Labour History Review, 70(1), pp.73-95. Read More