Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-d5ftd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-27T14:01:00.611Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Beyond Modernisation? Social Care and the Transformation of Welfare Governance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2008

JANET NEWMAN ,
CAROLINE GLENDINNING  and
MICHAEL HUGHES
JANET NEWMAN
Affiliation:
Professor of Social Policy, Open University email j.e.newman@open.ac.uk
CAROLINE GLENDINNING
Affiliation:
Professor of Social Policy, University of York
MICHAEL HUGHES
Affiliation:
Honorary Professor of Public Policy, University of Birmingham
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article reflects on the process and outcomes of modernisation in adult social care in England and Wales, drawing particularly on the recently completed Modernising Adult Social Care (MASC) research programme commissioned by the Department of Health. We begin by exploring the contested status of ‘modernisation’ as a descriptor of reform. We then outline some of the distinctive features of adult social care services and suggest that these features introduce dynamics likely to shape both the experiences and outcomes of policy ambitions for modernisation. We then reflect on the evidence emerging from the MASC studies and develop a model for illuminating some of the dynamics of welfare governance. Finally, we highlight the emerging focus on individualisation and on user-directed and controlled services. We argue that the current focus of modernisation involves a reduced emphasis on structural and institutional approaches to change and an increased emphasis on changes in the behaviours and roles of adult social care service users. This focus has implications for both the future dynamics of welfare governance and for conceptions of citizenship.

Information

Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , October 2008 , pp. 531 - 557
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

6, P. and Peck, E. (2005), ‘Modernisation: the 10 commitments to New Labour's approach to public management?’, International Public Management Journal, 7: 1, 1–18.Google Scholar
Age Concern (2007), The Age Agenda 2007, London: Age Concern.Google Scholar
Audit Commission (2003), All Our Lives – Social Care in England 2002–2003, London: Audit Commission.Google Scholar
Audit Commission (2006), Audit Commission Review of the NHS Financial Management and Accounting Regime, London: Audit Commission.Google Scholar
Baldock, J. (1997), ‘Social care in old age: more than a funding problem’, Social Policy and Administration, 31: 1, 73–89.Google Scholar
Barnes, M., Newman, J. and Sullivan, H. (2007), Power, Participation and Political Renewal, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Bevir, M. and Rhodes, R. A. W. (2003), Interpreting British Government, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bevir, M. and Rhodes, R. A. W. (2005), Governance Stories, London: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
de Bruijn, H. (2002), Managing Performance in the Public Sector, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Cabinet Office (1999), Modernising Government, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Cabinet Office (2005), Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People, London: Cabinet Office.Google Scholar
Campbell, J. and Oliver, M. (1996), Disability Politics: Understanding our Past, Changing our Future, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Carers, UK (2002), Without us. . .? Calculating the Value of Carers' Support, London: Carers UK.Google Scholar
Clarke, J. (2005), ‘New Labour's citizens: activated, empowered, responsibilized, abandoned?’, Critical Social Policy, 25: 4, 447–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, J. and Newman, J. (2004), ‘Governing in the modern world’, in Steinberg, D. L. and Johnson, R. (eds), Blairism and the War of Persuasion: Labour's Passive Revolution, London: Lawrence & Wishart.Google Scholar
Clarke, J., Smith, N. and Vidler, E. (2006), ‘The indeterminacy of choice: political, policy and organisational dilemmas’, Social Policy and Society, 5: 3, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, J., Newman, J., Smith, N., Vidler, E. and Westmarland, L. (2007), Creating Citizen-Consumers: Changing Relationships and Identifications, London: Sage.Google Scholar
Comas-Herrera, A., Wittenberg, R. and Pickard, L. (2004), ‘Long-term care for older people in the United Kingdom: structure and challenges’, in Knapp, M., Challis, D., Fernández, J.-L. and Netten, A. (eds), Long-Term Care: Matching Needs and Resources, Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) (2004), Direct Payments: What Are The Barriers? London: Commission for Social Care Inspection.Google Scholar
Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) (2006a), Time to Care, London: Commission for Social Care Inspection.Google Scholar
Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) (2006b), State of Social Care in England, London: Commission for Social Care Inspection.Google Scholar
Curry, N. (2006), Preventive Social Care: Is It Cost-Effective? Wanless Social Care Review, London: Kings Fund.Google Scholar
Daly, M. and Lewis, J. (2000), ‘The concept of social care and the analysis of contemporary welfare states’, British Journal of Sociology, 51: 2, 281–98.Google Scholar
Dean, M. (1999), Governmentality: Power and Rule in Modern Society, London: Sage.Google Scholar
Department for Education and Skills (2003), Every Child Matters, Cm 5860, London: Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2005), Opportunity Age: Meeting the Challenges of Ageing in the 21st Century, London: Department for Work and Pensions.Google Scholar
Department of Health (DH) (1998), Modernising Social Services, Cm 4169, London: Department of Health.Google Scholar
Department of Health (DH) (1999), National Service Framework for Mental Health: Modern Standards And Services Models, London: Department of Health.Google Scholar
Department of Health (DH) (2001), National Service Framework for Older People, London: Department of Health.Google Scholar
Department of Health (DH) (2002), Fair Access to Care Services: Guidelines on Eligibility Criteria for Adult Services [LAC 2002 (13)], London: Department of Health.Google Scholar
Department of Health (DH) (2005), Independence, Well-being and Choice, Cm 6499, London: Department of Health.Google Scholar
Department of Health (DH) (2006), Our Health, Our Care, Our Say – A New Direction For Community Services, Cm 6737, London: Department of Health.Google Scholar
Dowling, B., Powell, M. and Glendinning, C. (2004), ‘Conceptualising successful partnerships’, Health and Social Care in the Community, 12: 4, 309–17.Google Scholar
Dwyer, P. (2006), Understanding Social Citizenship, Bristol: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Eborall, C. (2005), The State of the Social Care Workforce 2004, London: Skills for Care.Google Scholar
Ellis, K. (2007), ‘Direct payments and social work practice: the significance of “street-level bureaucracy” in determining eligibility’, British Journal of Social Work, 37: 405–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fernández, J.-L., Kendall, J., Davey, V. and Knapp, M. (2007), ‘Direct payments in England: factors linked to variation in local provision’, Journal of Social Policy, 36: 1, 97–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, I. (2007), ‘Increasing user choice or privatising risk? The antinomies of personalisation’, British Journal of Social Work, 37: 387–403.Google Scholar
Finlayson, A. (2003), Making Sense of New Labour, London: Lawrence & Wishart.Google Scholar
Giddens, A. (2000), The Third Way and its Critics, Bristol: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Glendinning, C. (2002), ‘Partnerships between health and social services: developing a framework for evaluation’, Policy and Politics, 30: 1, 115–27.Google Scholar
Glendinning, C. (2007), ‘Improving equity and sustainability in UK funding for long-term care: lessons from Germany’, Social Policy and Society, 6: 3, 411–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glendinning, C. and Means, R. (2004), ‘Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic of long-term care – is organisational integration the answer?’, Critical Social Policy, 24: 4, 435–51.Google Scholar
Glendinning, C. and Means, R. (2006), ‘Personal social services: developments in adult social care’, in Bauld, L., Clarke, K. and Maltby, T. (eds), Social Policy Review 18, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Godfrey, M. (1999), Preventive Strategies for Older People: Mapping the Literature on Effectiveness and Outcomes, Oxford: Anchor Housing Research.Google Scholar
Help the Aged (2007), Undervalued, Underfunded, and Unfit, London: Help the Aged.Google Scholar
Hudson, B. and Henwood, M. (2002), ‘The NHS and Social Care – the final countdown’, Policy and Politics, 30: 2, 153–66CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huxley, P., Evans, S., Munroe, M. and Cestari, L. (2006), ‘Fair access to care services in integrated mental health teams’, MASC website, Birmingham, http://www.masc.bham.ac.uk/Reports/FACS.pdf, accessed 13 July 2007.Google Scholar
Iliffe, S., Kharicha, K., Manthorpe, J., Goodman, C., Harari, D. and Swift, C. (2007), ‘Smarter working in social care and health’, MASC website, Birmingham, http://www.masc.bham.ac.uk/Reports/SWISH.pdf, accessed 13 July 2007.Google Scholar
Isin, E. (2000), ‘Introduction: democracy, citizenship and the city’, in Isin, E. (ed.), Democracy, Citizenship and the Global City, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kemshall, H. (2002), Risk, Social Policy and Welfare, Buckingham: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Kittay, E. F. (1999), Love's Labor: Essays on Women, Equality and Dependency, New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Laing and Buisson (2005), Domiciliary Care Markets, London: Laing & Buisson.Google Scholar
Lathlean, J., Goodship, J. and Jacks, K. with Cope, S. and Gummerson, M. (2007), ‘Modernising adult social care for vulnerable adults: the process and impact of regulation’, MASC website, Birmingham, http://www.masc.bham.ac.uk/Reports/RASC.pdf, accessed 13 July 2007.Google Scholar
Leadbetter, C. (2004), Personalisation through Participation: A New Script for Public Services, London: Demos.Google Scholar
Leece, J. and Bornat, J. (eds) (2006), Developments in Direct Payments, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Lent, A. and Arendt, N. (2004), Making Choices: How Can Choice Improve Local Public Services? London: New Local Government Network.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. (2001), ‘Older people and the health–social care boundary in the UK: half a century of hidden policy conflict’, Social Policy and Administration, 35: 4, 343–59.Google Scholar
Loader, B., Hardy, M. and Keeble, L. (2007), ‘Wired for the Third Age: an evaluation of an electronic service delivery project for older people in Durham’, MASC website, Birmingham, http://www.masc.bham.ac.uk/Reports/WFTA.pdf, accessed 13 July 2007.Google Scholar
Local Government Association (LGA) (2005), The Future of Health and adult Social Care: A Partnership Approach for Well-being, London: Local Government Association.Google Scholar
Local Government Association (LGA) (2007), Press release ‘New survey on cost shunting’, http://www.lga.gov.uk/PressRelease.asp?id=SX14C2-A7841070, released 15 March 2007 accessed 13 July 2007.Google Scholar
Lunt, N., Mannion, P. and Smith, P. (1996), ‘Economic discourse and the market: the case of community care’, Public Administration, 74: 3, 369–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyons, M. (2007), Place-shaping: A Shared Ambition for the Future of Local Government, London: Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Moore, J. and Hart, O. D. (1998), Foundations of Incomplete Contracts, Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1846, Harvard: Institute of Economic Research.Google Scholar
Needham, C. (2007), The Reform of Public Services under New Labour, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Newman, J. (2001), Modernising Governance: New Labour, Policy and Society, London: Sage.Google Scholar
Newman, J. and Hughes, M. (2007), Modernising Adult Care – What's Working? London: Department of Health. [The MASC overview report downloadable from http://www.masc.bham.ac.uk/pdfs/DH_076204.pdf, accessed on 11 July 2007]Google Scholar
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) (2004), The Role of Staff in Delivering High Quality Public Services, London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.Google Scholar
Pascale, R, and Athos, A. (1981), The Art of Japanese Management, New York: Simon & Schuster.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, C. (ed.) (2006), Direct Payments and Personalisation of Care, Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press.Google Scholar
Penhale, B., Perkins, N., Pinkney, L., Reid, D., Hussein, S. and Manthorpe, J. (2007), ‘Partnership and regulation in adult protection’, MASC website, Birmingham, http://www.masc.bham.ac.uk/Reports/PRAP.pdf http://www.masc.bham.ac.uk/Reports/HAF.pdf, accessed 13 July 2007.Google Scholar
Petch, A., Miller, E. and Cook, A. with Morrison, J., Cooper, A., Hubbard, D. and Alexander, H. (2007), ‘Users and carers define effective partnerships in health and social care’, MASC website, Birmingham, http://www.masc.bham.ac.uk/Reports/UCDEP.pdf, accessed 13 July 2007.Google Scholar
Phelps, K. and Regen, E. (2008), ‘To what extent does the use of Health Act Flexibilities promote effective partnership working and positive outcomes for frail and vulnerable older people?’, MASC website, Birmingham, http://www.masc.bham.ac.uk/Reports/HAF.pdf, accessed 13 July 2007.Google Scholar
Priestley, M. (2000), ‘Adults only: disability, social policy and the life course’, Journal of Social Policy, 29: 3, 421–39.Google Scholar
Rose, N. (1999), Powers of Freedom, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rummery, K. (2002), ‘Conclusions’, in Glendinning, C., Powell, M. and Rummery, K. (eds), Partnerships, New Labour and the Governance of Welfare, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Sabatier, P. A. and Jenkins-Smith, H. (1993), Policy Change and Learning – An Advocacy Approach, New York: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Scourfield, P. (2007), ‘Social care and the modern citizen: client, consumer, service users, manager and entrepreneur’, British Journal of Social Work, 37: 107–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seddon, D., Robinson, C., Tommis, Y., Reeves, C., Perry, J., Woods, B., Russell, I., Harper, G., Berry, A., Phillips, J., Cheung, I. and Williams, J. (2007), ‘The modernisation of social care services: a study of the effectiveness of the National Strategy for Carers in meeting carer needs’, MASC website, Birmingham, http://www.masc.bham.ac.uk/Reports/NCS.pdf, accessed 13 July 2007.Google Scholar
Spandler, H. (2004), ‘Friend or foe? Towards a critical assessment of direct payments’, Critical Social Policy, 24: 2, 187–209.Google Scholar
Stewart, J. D. (2003), Modernising British Local Government: An Assessment of Labour's Reform Programme, London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Vick, N. Tobin, R., Swift, P., Spandler, H., Hill, M., Coldham, T., Towers, C. and Waldock, H. (2006), ‘An evaluation of the impact of the modernisation of social care on the implementation of Direct Payments’, MASC website, Birmingham, http://www.masc.bham.ac.uk/Reports/DP.pdf, accessed 13 July 2007.Google Scholar
Wanless, D. (2002), Securing our Future: Taking a Long-term View, London: HM Treasury.Google Scholar
Waine, B. (2004), ‘Regulation and inspection of adult social care services: baseline study’, MASC website, Birmingham, http://www.masc.bham.ac.uk/Baseline1.pdf, accessed 13 July 2007. Weick, K. (1995), Sensemaking in Organisations, London: Sage.Google Scholar