Dr Tim Bickerstaffe

This report presents the findings from the evaluation of the Working Neighbourhoods Pilot (WNP). The WNP was established in April 2004 to test new approaches to offering intensive support to help people to find and remain in work. The pilot was targeted towards people who are without work, including claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income Support (IS), Incapacity Benefit (IB), partners of claimants and workless non-claimants. The pilots, which have operated in 12 sites in England, Scotland and Wales, were selected because of very high levels of worklessness and deprivation, and have been delivered by a combination of Jobcentre Plus and private Employment Zone (EZ) contractors (WNP/EZ). Essentially, the pilots have tested very local approaches to overcoming worklessness: delivery organisations, Jobcentre Plus and WNP/EZ providers were charged with working within the framework of Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) to determine how best to overcome barriers to work, and move local people into jobs.

Purpose This conceptual paper focusses on climate change as a social issue and therefore as a social scientific problem. According to young climate activists, Greta Thunberg being the most widely known, climate change is specifically a problem of generations. Typically, the discourse on responsibility focusses on the technical and philosophical questions posed by the study into “intra-” and “inter-generational justice”. It is the purpose of this paper to present sociological conceptual tools with which to both analyze and propose solutions to specific social problems caused by current generations that will affect future generations. Design/methodology/approach Figurational process sociology develops and tests models of long-term, unplanned developments, which produce the conditions in which short-term practices of informing and planning social interventions are bound up. Findings The paper reveals the significance of sociological models that can describe and explain social processes and long-term developments in human habitus that have important explanatory value for understanding contemporary social problems such as human-caused climate change. Originality/value The concepts and analytical frames of reference provided by figurational process sociology provide crucial insights into the problem of generations and can help reveal how this social dynamic contributes to challenges facing young climate activists calling for rapid “ecologization” processes and increased human restraint with regard to the natural environment

This study explores the Nigerian healthcare system through the theoretical framework of the social contract, examining the reciprocal relationship between citizens and the government in healthcare provision. The social contract refers to the implicit agreement in which citizens relinquish certain rights to the government to protect their remaining rights and maintain social order. The thesis explores the government's responsibility in fulfilling this duty and the people's expectations within this agreement. A constructivist-interpretivist approach formed the philosophical basis of the research, focusing on the subjective experiences and interpretations. Using a qualitative methodology, data was predominantly collected through focus group discussions with 27 diverse stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, policymakers, and outpatients in Agbor, Delta State of Nigeria. Thematic analysis revealed that the Nigerian government’s failure to provide adequate healthcare infrastructure, accessibility, and quality services has eroded citizens’ trust in the healthcare system, leading to a perceived breach of the social contract. The overall outcome of the study is that Nigerians generally do not know their healthcare rights and the Universal Healthcare tools aimed at fulfilling the social contract are not judiciously implemented, especially in the rural areas. The research outcomes highlight the need for policy reforms, increased healthcare funding and community engagement to revitalize the social contract and improve healthcare delivery. The findings provide a foundation for future research and policy direction, including the development of context-specific healthcare policies and interventions that prioritize citizen needs and expectations. This study contributes to the discourse on healthcare reform in Nigeria, emphasizing the importance of reconstituting the social contract to ensure a more equitable and responsive healthcare system.

This item is a registered and embargoed component of a systematic review hosted on the Open Science Framework (OSF). The DOI has been assigned but will not resolve until the embargo period ends, in accordance with OSF’s data protection and peer review confidentiality policies. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/KGHA4 (not yet active) For access during the embargo period, please contact the corresponding author or use the anonymous view-only link available that can be made available for peer review upon request.

Between the mid-1990s and the onset of the 2007/08 economic crisis a strong labour demand appeared to coexist with high levels of worklessness, especially concentrated in deprived areas. Area-based discrimination by employers is one suggested cause of spatially concentrated worklessness, but there is currently limited evidence to support this. This research was commissioned to investigate whether area-based discrimination exists and is part of the explanation for worklessness in deprived areas. The work also considers the value of using employer information networks to combat inaccurate stereotypical perceptions by employers. The project involved a literature review as well as qualitative fieldwork and an analysis of quantitative data.

This study is shaped by the recognition that while there has been a great deal of policy development around the transition from unemployment and inactivity to employment over the last decade, policy has not been sufficiently informed about how best to nurture sustainable employment for those at risk of labour market exclusion. The review focused on evidence from 2005: it provides a review of data, UK and international literature and, incorporates findings from four international case studies ( Australia, Germany, Denmark and the United States. The report provides an overview of the economic context for low pay and low skilled work and highlights the need for a continuing commitment to promoting opportunities in the labour market as a means of progression and alleviating poverty and encouraging social mobility. The report argues that there is an inextricable link between skills and ‘better jobs’. The authors conclude that a long-term view is required to decide how best to support someone at the point of worklessness: to address employability barriers in the short-term; and prepare the individual to retain, and progress in, employment. The concept of career is explored as a framework for progression: a combination of career guidance, a career / personal development plan and career management skills are identified as tools to raise aspiration and enable individual’s to take action once they are in work to support their own progression. Thinking about the workplace, the report reviews the evidence on the role of job design, line management and progression pathways in facilitating workplace learning as a route to progression.

This report presents the findings from a literature review which explores how other Public Employment Services (PES) across Europe use performance measurement in support of their organisational objectives in order that Jobcentre Plus can learn from this when considering future improvements to its performance measurement regime. The main aim of this review was to understand existing labour market targets and whether these would be appropriate for Jobcentre Plus. This aim is underpinned by a number of objectives: - to determine what labour market targets other PES use to measure their performance of moving people into work; - to understand whether other PES use off flow measures; - to determine what evidence exists to demonstrate why these targets are used in other countries, i.e. how they help move people into work; - to investigate whether there are other organisations who have labour market targets and what these targets are; - to understand if there are differences between public, private and voluntary sector targets, where appropriate.

This report is a follow up to the First Contact Customer Survey (Research Report 504). As a result of ongoing difficulties accessing data for sampling purposes, the initial plan to undertake qualitative follow-up research with customers was abandoned in favour of research with staff to explore process-related issues which might explain customer responses. The research was undertaken in September and October 2008 and included telephone interviews with senior staff combined with face-to-face interviews and structured observations with staff in Contact Centres, Jobcentres and Benefit Delivery Centres in four Jobcentre Plus regions. Findings relate specifically to staff perceptions of customer satisfaction with first contact.

This report investigates the early effects of the recent economic downturn on the ‘welfare to work infrastructure’ in deprived areas, in particular how it is able to continue to provide support to the most disadvantaged groups. The report provides context that will inform the Department for Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus’ response to the recent (and future) recessions in relation to support for disadvantaged areas and groups. The evidence presented also functions as a qualitative baseline against which the perceived success, within deprived areas, of measures to minimise the long-term impacts of the recession (e.g. the Young Person’s Guarantee) canbe considered.

A synthesis of findings from social research on the District of Bradford. This report synthesises the findings from a wide range of social research undertaken on the District of Bradford, primarily between 1995 and 2005. The researchers reviewed almost 200 pieces of work. The key results are summarised under thematic headings: - The social, economic and institutional context - Community cohesion - Housing, neighbourhoods and regeneration - Business and enterprise - Health, disability and social care - Children and young people - Education, skills and the labour market - Crime and community safety It also identifies a future research agenda. The main purpose of the review was to provide the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and local organisations in Bradford with a firm basis upon which to build future work in the District.

This report presents the findings of a qualitative study of the operation and impact of the Multiple Provider Employment Zone (MPEZ) initiatives that have operated in four cities (London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Glasgow) since 20041. The study builds on earlier work by Cambridge Policy Consultants (Hirst et al. 2006), which concentrated on issues related to the early establishment of the MPEZ initiative and the initial experiences of Providers, Jobcentre Plus districts and customers. The Phase 2 research took place approximately one year on from the Phase 1 study and focused on tracking developments in the operation of MPEZ as the initiative became more established. The study involved interviews with EZ Providers (managers and Advisers), Jobcentre Plus representatives (managers and Advisers) and customers (young people (aged 18-24) claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), who would otherwise have returned to New Deal for Young People (NDYP)2, lone parents receiving Income Support and early entrants – see section 1.6 for full details). In order to gain a wider perspective, researchers also spoke to representatives of organisations that have employed MPEZ participants and a number of stakeholder organisations with a broad interest in local labour market policies and programmes in the MPEZ areas. In total, the research involved interviews or group discussions with over 300 individuals, providing a range and depth of qualitative information that allows a detailed picture to be established of the way that MPEZs developed between mid- 2005 and mid-2006, including the experiences of employers and the labour market destinations of MPEZ participants. A central issue addressed in the research and in this report is the ‘multiple’ element of the initiative and the value that is added through the existence of more than one Provider in each MPEZ area. Questions of allocation, choice, specialisation, competition and innovation are considered from the perspectives of Providers, Jobcentre Plus, customers, employers and stakeholders and the final sections present some conclusions and issues for consideration in relation to these topics.