2010 Programme: Battle for Social Policy
With a new coalition government in power, in terms of social policy the continuities are as interesting as the changes. Like New Labour, the coalition is very keen on evidence-based policy, but is the authority of social scientists really preferable to ideology, or does it merely obscure political assumptions? The coalition has also inherited the previous government’s belief in the importance of early intervention in families to prevent social problems before they happen, but are the early years really so decisive, and are such interventions legitimate? What is David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ and what does it mean for social policy?
PRODUCED BY: Dave Clements, Martin Earnshaw and Jane Sandeman
INTRODUCED BY: Dave Clements, Social Policy Forum