Annual Report By The Secretary Of State For Work And Pensions On The Social Fund 2013 14

Presents the 20th annual report on the operation of the Social Fund, which complements mainstream social security provision in two forms: a regulated scheme of maternity, funeral, cold weather and winter fuel payments; and a discretionary scheme for Community Care Grants and repayable budgeting and crisis loans.

The United Kingdom is at a critical juncture in welfare policy, as the current government delivers on the previous regime's austerity-driven reforms while simultaneously cutting an additional ₤38 billion from benefits spending over the next five years. Broken Benefits is a straightforward guide to the UK welfare system, correcting misunderstandings and exposing some of the less-understood problems. Sam Royston argues that the current government's twin goals of cutting spending and creating work incentives will ultimately fail to deliver a better system. Drawing on original research and high-profile debates, this much-needed book offers solutions: pragmatic ideas about how the system should be reformed and put into practice, including real-life case studies, models of household budgets, projections of welfare budget spending, and a free online benefits calculator. Accessibly written and offering a blueprint for how welfare should work, Royston presents an alternative vision of a fair, effective, and coherent benefits system for the future.

In Defence of Welfare 2 brings together nearly fifty short pieces from a diverse range of social policy academics and commentators, policy makers and journalists that focus on developments in ‘welfare’ over the last five years of Coalition Government. Following on from the successful publication In Defence of Welfare, (Social Policy Association 2011) published in response to the government's first Major Spending Review), this second volume reflects on the impact of recent welfare reforms and explores how inequalities in income, wealth and well-being have become firmly entrenched in society. It considers how welfare can and should develop going forward in order to promote a more equal society.

Annual report by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the Social Fund 2010/2011

Approximately half of the total UK population are in receipt of one or more welfare benefits, giving rise to the largest single area of government expenditure. The law and structures of social security are highly complex, made more so by constant adjustments as government pursues its often conflicting economic, political and social policy objectives. This complexity is highly problematic. It contributes to errors in decision-making and to increased administrative costs and is seen as disempowering for citizens, thereby weakening enjoyment of a key social right. Current and previous administrations have committed to simplifying the benefits system. It is a specific objective of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, which provides for the introduction of Universal Credit in place of diverse benefits. However, it is unclear whether the reformed system will be either less complex legally or more accessible for citizens. This book seeks to explain how and why complexity in the modern welfare system has grown; to identify the different ways in which legal and associated administrative arrangements are classifiable as 'complex'; to discuss the effects of complexity on the system's administration and its wider implications for rights and the citizen-state relationship; and to consider the role that law can play in the simplification of schemes of welfare. While primarily focused on the UK welfare system it also provides analysis of relevant policies and experience in various other states.

The study of death has the capacity to bring together a range of policy areas. Yet death is often overlooked within policy debates in the UK and beyond, and within gerontology. Bringing together a range of scholars engaged in policy associated with death, this collection provides a holistic account of how death factors in social policy. Within this, issues covered include inheritance, palliative care, euthanasia, funeral costs, bereavement support, marginalised deaths and disposal practices. At the heart of the book, the volume recognises that the issues identified are likely to intensify and expand over the next twenty years, as death rates continue to rise.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this book describes the social security regime in Ireland. It conveys a clear working knowledge of the legal mechanics affecting health care, employment injuries and occupational diseases, incapacity to work, pensions, survivors’ benefits, unemployment benefits and services, and family benefits. The analysis covers the field of application, conditions for entitlement, calculation of benefits, financing, the institutional framework, and relevant law enforcement and controls. Allowances for retirees, employees, public sector workers, the self-employed, and the handicapped are all clearly explained, along with full details of claims, adjudication procedures, and appeals. Succinct yet eminently practical, the book will be a valuable resource for lawyers handling social security matters in Ireland. It will be of practical utility to those both in public service and private practice called on to develop and to apply social security law and policy, and of special interest as a contribution to the comparative study of social security systems.