Social Policy

To gain a better understanding of Social Policy we need to look at its definition:

Social Policy is the study of social services and the welfare state. In general terms, it looks at the idea of social welfare, and its relationship to politics and society.

The principal areas relate to

Policy and administrative practice in social services, including health administration, social security, education, employment services, community care and housing management;

Social problems, including crime, disability, unemployment, mental health, learning disability, and old age;

Issues relating to social disadvantage, including race, gender and poverty; and

the range of collective social responses to these
Personalisation of public services, to better match the needs and aspirations of the people who use them, underpins much of current and developing public services policy. This stresses giving service users greater personal choice and control over state-subsidised social care services and the transparent allocation of resources (http://www.socialworkscotland.org.uk). A number of options have been introduced for how the funding is made available:

Direct payments; provide an individual with the cash equivalent of the value of the social care package to spend on their own care; there are some restrictions, for example, they cannot use the money to pay cohabiting spouse/relatives for care. Anyone who is entitled to state funding for social care can opt for a direct payment.

Independent Living Fund; work in partnership with over 200 local authorities to jointly fund individually tailored care and support packages for disabled people. I L F also provide close ongoing support to service users. The I L F network of assessors make customer service visits six months after payments start. And the assessors, working with local authorities, make regular review visits at least every two years. Through this support the I L F ensure that disabled people make the most of the funding they get in a way that best meets their needs.

Personal budget; is an amount of