Articles
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A Response to All Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter. We all need to accept that institutional and systemic racism is still prevalent in our society today.
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How Have We Misconceived the NHS?
David Zigmond argues that government is forcing the NHS to adopt the worst features of neoliberalism and communism.
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Growing New Models of Support
Chris Watson describes how using individual service funds can lead to new ways of supporting people in their own communities.
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Putting Personal Budgets in Their Place
Personal Budgets do not need to reinforce individualistic consumerism, they can be a route to a more collective approach where care is shared.
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Child Poverty: the New Normal in Education
As the teaching profession debates the new normal in education and schools slowly reopen, Kieran Roberts discusses the challenges children and families face.
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Social Care's Response to COVID-19
Chris Watson shares his observations on how commissioners in health and social care have responsed to the COVID-19 crisis.
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Re-Imagining Our Streets
Lynne Friedli shares an inspiring idea to convert residential parking spaces into green spaces for fruit, vegetables and flowers.
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A Two-Tier Pandemic
The COVID-19 crisis and subsequent coronavirus legislation demonstrates that Government does not value disabled or older people as equals.
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Contracting for ISFs
Chris Watson briefly outlines some of the main legal features of an Individual Service Fund (ISF) and explores how community hubs or micro-enterprises might use them.
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Confused Discharge in COVID-19
Alex Leeder argues that the NHS discharge policy was rushed through in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis and will lead to a confusing array of different approaches.
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COVID-19 and Cleaning the Thames
David Zigmond explores the historical parallels between today and the public health crises of the nineteenth-century and the lessons for the NHS.
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Who's Counting Carers?
Robert Kay expresses his anger at the constant failure to respect or even remember the existence of 7 million unpaid carers amidst the COVID-19 Crisis.
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Public Spending in Sheffield
Joshua Shepherd analysed public spending in Sheffield in order to understand the impact of the UK's centralised system on local communities.
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Scientists Inform, Leaders Lead
Alain Catzeflis argues that the UK Government's behaviour during the COVID-19 crisis looks worryingly like group-think - its consequences are very dangerous.
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Myths About Work and Mental Health
Anna-Carin Fagerlind Ståhl shows how dangerous myths have evolved that protect government and business from accountability for bad employment practices.
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COVID-19 versus Leviathan
Bill Jordan explains how pandemics can create fundamental realignments of power and why COVID-19 may finally unbalance the current economic model.
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Does COVID-19 mark the end for markets in the NHS?
UK Government response to the COVID-19 is an implicit acknowledgement of the limitations and dangers of a marketised healthcare system.
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COVID-19, The Black Death and Basic Income
Bill Jordan explains why COVID-19, like the Black Death before it, may finally push the current elites to accept the logic of basic income.
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The Upstream Response to COVID-19
Dr Simon Duffy sets out some key principles to guide local communities as they develop their response to the COVID-19 crisis.
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The DWP Fails People with a Learning Disability
Neil Carpenter describes the barriers to justice and economic security created by the DWP's systems.
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Talk Shop - Citizens Assemble
Citizens Assemblies are all the rage, but the Talk Shop model offers a low cost and grassroots approach which can galvanise local citizen action.
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Buurtzorg and Self-Management
Buurtzorg is a powerful social innovation, started in the Netherlands, which enables self-management and continuity of care.
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Learning from Penzance Citizens Panel
Gavin Barker shares lessons learnt from the recent Penzance Citizens Panel on Housing, Homelessness and Low Pay.
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UK Food Banks in 2019
Lizzie Peck provides an overview of the emergence and rapid growth of food banks since the Coalition Government and the combination of austerity and welfare reform.
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Undercooked Analysis
Steve Griffiths argues that the Institute for Fiscal Studies has failed to be objective in its analysis of Labour's 2019 Manifesto.
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Accountancy is not Economics
Steve Griffiths examines the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) critique of of Labour's 2019 Manifesto and discovers some major problems.
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Why I Wrote Second Class Citizens
Stef Benstead found that many people, like Christian Conservatives, care about poverty but have false beliefs about why it exists, this inspired her to write Second Class…
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NHS Reform: Money Can't Buy Love
David Zigmond argues that more money alone won't restore the NHS to the values of its birth. The NHS needs more trust, freedom and cooperation.
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Private Firms Can Serve the Public
Gary Wootton explains how the state can overcome the limitations of markets by creating procurement systems that promote equality.
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The Reform of Social Care Regulation
John Burton explains why the regulation of social care must change its culture and why we need something more human and more local.
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Narrative Approaches and Inclusion
Colin Newton provides an overview of the emerging use of narrative approaches in psychology and their relationship to person-centred planning.
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How Are the Children?
Are we achieving the goals set out in 1989 by the UN in The Convention on the Rights of the Child?
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Making the Private Sector Serve the Public Good
Gary Wootton argues that we can do so much more to improve society by ensuring that the private sector works to serve the greater good.
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The Rights of Nature
Gavin Barker argues that a new constitution for the UK should not just protect human rights, it should also protect the rights of nature.
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End Parliamentary Sovereignty
Gavin Barker sets out the case for limiting the sovereignty of Parliament.
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Creating a Veganic Farm
Jo Kidd describes the beginning of her family's journey into veganic farming in Kent.
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Universal Engagement and Civic Engagement
Anna Grant argues that Basic Income could be an important policy for increasing democratic and civic engagement by citizens.
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Bill of Rights Including Social Rights
Gavin Barker explains why human rights need the full protection of the constitution and why social rights and the right to access the law must be included.
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Why We Need a Yorkshire Parliament
Simon Duffy gave this talk at the launch of the Campaign for a Yorkshire Parliament, in York on 27th July 2019.
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Being a Think Tank in the North
Written for Now Then Magazine, Simon Duffy reflects on the Centre's ten years in Sheffield.
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Lobbying for Self-Directed Support
Simon Duffy describes some of the strategies that can be used to shift systems towards the use of self-directed support.
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Reinventing Social Services
Bob Rhodes argues that social work and social services has been undermined by three decades of failed policy and it's time to redesign the system around the principles of…
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Shameful Attack on Disabled People
Brian Collinge explains how the government's failure to update the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) for people entitled to social care acts as another form of theft.
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Inclusion Demands Communication
Colin Newton argues that we need low tech, accessible communication systems that can be learned easily by everyone.
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We Need to Talk But Not About Brexit
Sheffield's Festival of Debate shows that social progress in the UK only begins when we start talking to each other.
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Policed Industrialisation of Healthcare
David Zigmond reflects on the enforced closure of his GP practice and imagines an intelligent dialogue with the forces of regulation.
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Electric Vehicles: Good or Bad?
Philip Adams provides an introduction to the benefits of using an electric car.
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The Long Shadow of Winterbourne
The values of inclusion and person-centredness which must underpin support are being undermined by regulations that promote institutionalisation.
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Childcare Policy and the Economy
Childcare policy in the UK wrongly assumes that professionalised solutions are always best for children and families.
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Doing the Donut at the G20
Respected economist Kate Raworth shows how sustainability and social justice can be used to evaluate economic success.
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Mental Health and Continuity of Care
David Zigmond asks the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care whether mental health can be advanced by procedures instead of relationships.
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AIREA - Beyond Planning
AIREA is an inclusive retreat which brings together people to find energy and direction fro personal and collective change.
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Making Healthcare Human
John Burton interviews David Zigmond and together they explore the growing inhumanity of modern approaches to healthcare.
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Real Devolution for Yorkshire
The Campaign for a Yorkshire Parliament is about the kind of Yorkshire we want for our children, grandchildren and future generations.
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Health Needs Equality
Mike Grady makes the health case for radical cross-government reforms to end poverty, reduce inequality and building a fairer society.
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Academia is in a Critical Condition
Thomas Allan explores the emerging conversation about the social responsibilities of an academia that is increasingly consumed by narrow market dogma.
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Unjustified Imprisonment
Alain Catzeflis argues that the ongoing scandal of the enforced detention of young people with autism demands more than another review.
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Challenging Learning Disability Stereotypes
Made Possible is a new book arguing for an alternative approach to treating and supporting people and outlining the benefits to everyone of that alternative approach.
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Basic Income is Good for Your Health
Anna-Carin Fagerlind Ståhl explains why long-standing evidence of work and health argues for the benefits of basic income.
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The Fight for Equal Citizenship
Wendy Perez describes the ongoing work to try and help people with learning difficulties take their rightful place in society as equal citizens.
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The Iatrogenic Tranquilliser Scandal
Barry Haslam has been campaigning for many years to raise awareness of the significant negative impact of the over-prescription of tranquillisers.
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Setting Stupid Targets for the NHS
John Carlisle explains why setting targets for the NHS is both wasteful and diverts attention from the real business of improving quality.
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Shared Decisions in a Democratic NHS
Shaun McBride argues that we must enable citizens to share in key decisions about the NHS as we begin to unravel decades of wasted NHS reforms.
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Mental Health and Tentacled Snowballs
An anonymous article describing how medical and bureaucratic approaches to mental health undermine flexible and person-centred solutions - and make you a little crazy.
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Only a New Democracy can Save the NHS
Gavin Barker explains why protecting the NHS and other vital public services requires a radical change from politics as usual and a reform of the UK's constitution.
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Your Life Is Important Too
Terry Lynch shares his personal insight on why it's important for carers to take care of themselves.
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At the Heart of Inclusion
Nick Maisey reflects on his learning from his time exploring international best practice in inclusion on the Westpac Bicentennial Foundation Fellowship.
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Principles for a National Health Service
9 distinctive and essential characteristics of a National Health Service according to Dr Julian Tudor Hart.
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What is the alternative to neoliberalism?
Simon Duffy reflects on the intellectual and practical challenge facing thinkers opposed to the current neoliberal consensus.
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Euston, We Have a Problem
Wendy Perez has complained to Euston Station in London about the ongoing failure of their support to disabled people.
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Lowering the Complexity Bar
Chris Ware explains why homelessness is not just a function of poverty but also of the increasing complexity of modern life.
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A Constitution for Disability Rights
Claudia Gilberg, Geoff Jones and Gavin Barker explain why disability rights activists have every reason to support the campaign for constitutional reform.
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How to Fund the NHS and Public Services
Gavin Barker summarises the arguments for Modern Monetary Theory and explains why government does not need to be bound by the limitations of tax.
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Basic Income or Basic Services
Dr Simon Duffy reflects on the debate between Barb Jacobson and Anna Coote on the respective merits of UBI or UBS.
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A Parent in Camouflage
Hanne-Maria Lappäranta describes what it's like to be a parent of someone with a disability who also works in social services.
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Elements of a New Constitution
The Centre for Welfare Reform supports the movement for a written constitution, based on radical democratic reform, strong human rights, peach and devolution.
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Open Letter on Constitutional Reform
The Centre, alongside a wide-ranging alliance of organisations, has written an Open Letter calling for a Citizen's Convention leading to a written constitution.
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Who Is Accountable?
Alain Catzeflis argues that the outsourcing of public services to organisations like Motability has created a bloated and corrupt system which serves the public poorly.
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The Power of Self-Awareness
Maren Moss, who studied at the Manavodaya Institute explains what she learned and how awareness of the self and the context within which we work is critical.
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Commonfare: Inclusion and the Commons
Thomas Allan argues that new thinking about the role of the Commons in our shared community life will put the ideal of inclusion on a stronger footing.
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Workers' Rights Versus the Right to Care
Alain Catzeflis describes how UK social policy has created a severe, but unnecessary conflict between the rights of workers and disabled people.
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Behind Relative Poverty
The stories in Relative Poverty address the imbalance of power; Les Monaghan describes the thinking behind his photographs.
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The Binary Trap
Alain Catzeflis explores why our commitment to social justice has been in such decline and argues that a new approach must avoid binary thinking.
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Inequality is a Constitutional Issue
This article explores the reasons why the UK has become an increasingly unequal society and what we could do to reverse this trend.
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Is Prevention Always Better than the Cure?
David Zigmond interviews a GP about life in the hyper-regulated NHS and explores the relevance of Minority Report.
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Democratising the NHS
Simon Duffy sets out why the latest wave of planned reforms to the NHS must be unacceptable and proposes a democratic alternative
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Becoming True Citizens
How Bournemouth People First’s LifeLink project is building connections for life by encouraging meaningful relationships and contribution.
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NHS Must Get Behind Personalised Support
Simon Duffy explains why the NHS must embrace personalised support for people with disabilities and complex needs
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Building Bridges between Refugees and People with Disabilities
Vasilis Kalopisis proposes that if we value inclusion we must do so for everyone & we all benefit from bringing together excluded groups.
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Improving the Keys to Citizenship
Wendy Perez and Simon Duffy talk about how they are trying to improve the Keys to Citizenship as a model that works for everyone
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Don't Crowd Out People with Learning Disabilities
Alain Catzeflis argues that people with disabilities are being harmed by bad Government policy and people with learning disabilities are doubly excluded.
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Why the UK Needs a Written Constitution
Gavin Barker addresses the issues of democratic accountability and the protections that need building into our welfare system against undue corporate influence.
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Hi Tech With Many Human Hearts
A review of the film Heal the Living weaves a rich tapestry of the emotions and relationships at the edge of life and technology.
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Manavodaya - A Quiet Revolution
Carl Poll and Varun Vidyarthi describe the quiet revolution of participatory development, began by Manavodaya, in Uttar Pradesh, India
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The Failure of Competitive Tendering in Social Care
Simon Duffy explains why Competitive Tendering has been damaging for social care and what must be done instead.
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Care Navigators or Family Doctors?
David Zigmond reflects on the problems created when systems seek savings by hiding behind walls of receptionists or care navigators.
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Inviting Arts & Humanities into Social Services
Gord Tulloch argues that community organisations supporting people with intellectual disabilities need to open themselves up to the fullness of human creativity.
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Civic Ethos
Henry Tam explains why it is important we share and develop a coherent world view of how as human beings we can live together with mutual respect.
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Manavodaya - The Art of Facilitation
Carl Poll introduces the work of Manvodaya and outlines the art of facilitation and the 8 rules for action
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Yes We Can
It's important to work together on a global and local level so that we can find ‘win, win’ strategies and strengthen our capacity for radical change.
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Why Group Homes Are No Longer Optimal
Michael Kendrick explains why group homes should no longer be considered the optimal support solution for people with disabilities.
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Alternatives to ATUs
Steven Rose explains why there are alternatives to ATUs and the private hospitals where too many people with disabilities remain incarcerated.
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A Rural Parish Initiative
Bob Rhodes describes how his parish, Ruspidge & Soudley Parish Council, is exploring the use of a community worker to better understand the true needs of its community.
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Development from Within in 60 Minutes
Erna H. Majormoen explored whether the principles of development from within, taken from Manavodaya, could be quickly shared with social work students in Norway
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Disability Rights and Democracy
Matt Rothschild explains how the US electoral system is corrupted by the power of money and corporations that threaten human and disability rights.
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Breaking the ATU Impasse
Steven Rose wonders why Government policy to close ATUs and end the admission of people with learning disabilities to private hospitals has been so poor.
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How Unofficial Social Policy Drives Change
Steven Rose argues that social policy for people with learning disabilities has largely been driven by collaborative values-based work, not official government policy.
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A Healthy Heart for the NHS
David Zigmond argues that it is not just economics that is at the heart of the problems in the NHS - more than this is the lack of attention to the issues of the heart.
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The Politics of Poverty
Dr Simon Duffy explores ONS data on inequality and poverty and tries to get behind the myths and lies used to exploit the poorest in the UK.
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Social Work and Disappointment
Michael Balkow argues that social work is inevitably a profession that must attend to the inevitable limitations of our human situation, but that this has its own special value.
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Is Brexit an Opportunity to Sort Out Social Care?
Bob Rhodes argues that Brexit offers at least one silver-lining, the chance to end the procurement rules which have undermined social care for the last 25 years.
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Industrialised Humanity
David Zigmond reviews the film I, Daniel Blake and argues that it reveals, not only the cost of austerity, but also the industrialisation and automation of our relationships.
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Assisted Dying
Michael Balkow argues that compassion and respect for the autonomy of those with terminal illnesses requires change in the law to enable assisted suicide.
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How the Eight Steps Help
Pete Richmond explored, with colleagues on Tyneside, how Manavodaya's Eight Steps of Action help to promote appropriate facilitation
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One Good Thing
Malcolm Henry imagines a conversation between a leader of the Labour Party and Andrew Neil on the topic of Universal Basic Income (UBI) and financial reform.
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Should All Doctors be Resuscitators?
David Zigmond asks whether there are not costs to setting arbitrary standards for health and safety regardless of context.
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Abolishing the NHS Market
In this powerful essay David Zigmond eviscerates the Internal Market which is choking the NHS to death.
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Individual Service Funds (ISFs) in Dorset
Dorset have established a ground-breaking commissioning strategy enabling people with learning disabilities & mental health problems to manage their personal budgets.
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Individual Service Fund (ISFs) Agreement
This Individual Service Fund (ISF) Agreement describes the contract between the person and the community service that they choose to manage their budget.
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Letter on Obstacle for Personal Budgets
This open letter describes a serious block to the development of personalisation in England and calls for clear guidance to commissioners on procurement.
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Time to Stand Up and Be Counted
Don Derrett urges us as individuals to stand up and stand against this new wave of intolerance and brutality, wherever we live.
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A Social Movement for Basic Income
Bill Jordan describes how the idea of basic income inspired a pre-War social movement and wonders whether the same might emerge today.
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Blowin' in the Wind
Steve Griffiths rewords a Bob Dylan classic - a reflection on our crazy times where injustice and hatred seem to fuel political careers.
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Practical Social Work is Personalised
Hanne-Maria Leppäranta demonstrates the powerful impact of personalisation on the practical day-to-day work of a social worker.
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The Welfare State and Community
Cormac Russell argues that welfare reform in isolation of the enlargement of the commons is naive and counterproductive.
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Equal Opportunities at Work?
Fran Macilvey describes the reality of work for many disabled people and the barriers created by negative attitudes and inflexibility.
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Towards an Holistic Democracy
Marion Turner-Hawes reflects back on the tumultuous 2016 and looks forward to the possibility of a different kind of holistic democracy.
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Working for Lives of Common Dignity
Rhonda Galbally, a leading disability activist in Australia, explains how the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was achieved and describes the challenges ahead.
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The Invisible Barrier to Disability Employment
Jon Breen argues that employer attitudes to disabled workers are often based on ignorance and that these can present significant barriers to success in the workplace.
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Supported Loving
Claire Bates is starting a campaign to share what people with disabilities think makes for both good and poor support around relationships.
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Stop Unethical Research on Children
Catherine Hale explains why unethical research on children with ME must be stopped and urges you to sign the #stopGet petition.
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Beyond Efficiency: Care and the Commons
Thomas Allan argues that respect for the Commons is critical to rethinking our approach to social care and the welfare state.
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Managing Dissent and Embracing Diversity
Nan Carle has written this moving piece on how we deal with the challenge of respectfully confronting disrespect, anger and fear.
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A Review of Social Role Valorisation (SRV)
Nan Carle explores the blessings and problems created by normalisation and Social Role Valorisation as a framework for values in disability support.
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Managing Cynicism
Nan Carle sets out 8 Strategies for Managing Cynicism as a Leader of Inclusion.
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What Austerity Means for Women
Brooke Bates explores the impact of austerity on women in the UK at the level of the individual and civil society.
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The Integral Path
Varun Vidyarthi offers a short note on the way in which social change can and must begin by a better ordering of ourselves.
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Data on Social Care in England
Simon Duffy pulls together some of the key data relevant to the Centre's submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry on adult social in England.
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Why are they closing our home?
John Burton describes how changes in the regulatory regime are forcing the closure of genuinely human homes where people live together as friends.
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Potential New Policy for Social Care
The Centre has been working with the Socialist Health Association (SHA) on a possible new policy for social care. This draft document is for discussion and is not SHA policy.
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What is Happening in Social Care
Jan Walmsley asked local people with learning disabilities and their families to share their experience of adult social care.
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Born to Dance
Sue Blackwell shares the story of her daughter Jen's journey as she sought to follow her dreams and live a life of her own choosing.
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Asking Better Questions
Lindsay Tighe believes that if we make some simple changes to the way we communicate with each other, we enable human potential and capability to be released.
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Can ISFs Save Domiciliary Care?
Martin Walker of TLAP suggests that in the midst of the severe funding crisis hitting social care the use of Individual Service Funds (ISFs) is at least one possible way forward.
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A Career in Adult Social Care
Virginia Moffatt reviews her 30 year career in adult social care in England and the journey from institutional services, to community care and the impact of austerity.
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The Flexibility of Self-Directed Support
Simon Duffy, Pat Stack and Peter Gay report on the outcomes of a one day conference organised by the London Self-Directed Support Forum on the topic of flexibility.
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The Solution is in Our Hands
Simon Duffy outlines some of the important elements that need to be considered in order to develop welfare reforms in the spirit of justice.
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Calculating Community Capacity
Simon Duffy explores the missing community capacity that needs to be identified and galvanised as part of a reformed welfare state.
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Real Integration of Health & Social Care
Simon Duffy outlines an alternative path for achieving meaningful integration between heath and social care.
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Heading Upstream: Deinstitutionalisation & Public Service Reform
Simon Duffy explores the challenge of moving solutions upstream and away from the institutionalised solutions into which resources are locked.
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Exploring the Meaning of Poverty
Poverty isolates and divides us. It leaves us thinking we are not good enough and we are too poor to spend time with friends or family writes Simon Duffy.
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The Goal is Citizenship Not the NDIS
Kate Fulton explores what support providers in Australia should focus on to deliver better outcomes for those who will access support through the NDIS.
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Totally Wrong List
An overview of all the Government policies which harm or disadvantage people with learning disabilities in England.
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Personal Budgets are Just a Tool
In his sixth and final blog from Finland Simon Duffy reflects on the limits of personal budgets and the need to understand why things change.
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Next Steps on Inclusion
Simon Duffy wonders why progress to inclusion seems to have stalled and sets out the case for personalised support.
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Personal Budgets and Health Economics
Simon Duffy, in the fifth of his blogs from Finland, explores the relationship of personal budgets to health economics and the ideal of health & social integration.
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Report on the Centre for Welfare Reform
Connie Faith took time to research and review the Centre for Welfare Reform - its mission and its approach and reflected on the way forward.
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Open Letter to Stephen Crabb
Ekklesia and the Centre for Welfare Reform have published a letter to Stephen Crabb calling for an end to policies attacking disabled people signed by leading Christians.
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The Problem with Mandatory Reconsideration
Eri Mountbatten outlines the worrying results from a recent survey of it's members by the National Association of Welfare Rights Advisers (NAWRA).
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Why I Keep Banging on About Citizenship
Simon Duffy summarises the conclusion of his philosophical essay Citizenship and the Welfare State and what it means in practice.
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The Difference Between Choice and Control
The fourth in a series of blogs from Finland, Simon Duffy explores the different meanings of choice and the options available for health and social care reform in Finland.
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Rights and the Welfare State
Simon Duffy describes how the welfare state has been organised around a model of state-paternalism - not human rights and offers a way forward.
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Personal Budgets Just Mean Freedom
In the third of a series of essays from Finland Simon Duffy explains that a personal budget is fundamentally a way of making freedom real for people who need support.
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Caring for Older People is Not a Wicked Problem
Sarah Taylor explains why ageing and the 'problems' associated with care for older people are not so much 'wicked problems' but functions of faulty thinking.
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Ending Tendering in Social Care
Simon Duffy, in the second of a series of blogs from Finland, explores the problems created by tendering for social care and how to bring the system to an end.
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Politics & Economics of Personal Budgets
In the first of a short series of essays Simon Duffy explores the political and economic challenges of moving towards personal budgets.
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The Search for Suitable Housing
The hurdles Jane Gregory, her family and her daughter had to overcome in order to get a home to live in despite official policies of personalisation and deinstitutionalisation.
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Words Matter
Stephen Craig Coulson reflects on the words that are used in human services and why it matters to use words thoughtfully.
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Welfare: The Leadership Challenge
Susan Harrison reflects on the challenge of being critical about the welfare state from within the welfare state and the need for integrity.
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Example of Flexible Support Contract
This is a real but anonymised contract between a local authority and a service provider enabling the service provider to use Individual Service Funds (ISFs).
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A Response to Robin Jackson
Leading learning disability academic Jan Walmsley responds to Robin Jackson's critical report on the failure of learning disability social policy: 'Who Cares?'.
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A Citizen with Learning Difficulties
Wendy Perez writes about what it means to be a citizen with learning difficulties.
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Learning Difficulty or Learning Disability
Wendy Perez explains why she prefers the term 'learning difficulty' to 'learning disability'.
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Equality and the Governance of Welfare
Dr Henry Tam believes that the governance of welfare has to be conducted transparently and inclusively. Here he sets out his ideas on how this can be achieved.
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Citizenship in an Ageing Society
In the short essay Simon Duffy summarises the argument of his Sir Keith Wilson Oration at the 2014 Australian Association of Gerontology.
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Why I Was Worried by the Assisted Dying Bill
Wendy Perez explains why she was worried by the Assisted Dying Bill and the problems people face in the hospital system.
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Power and Love
Simon Duffy explores what we can learn from intentional communities such as L'Arche and Camphill.
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Lessons from Intentional Communities
John O'Brien reflects on what social care can learn from communities such as L'Arche and Camphill.
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From Basic Income to Social Dividend
Rajesh Makwana argues that it’s time to broaden the debate on how to fund a universal basic income to protect the global commons.
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Learning Disability is Not a Mental Disorder
Robin Jackson asks why in Scottish law people with learning disabilities are treated as if they have a mental disorder.
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Localism: As If People Mattered
Laird Ryan calls for localism to be brought back to the grassroots where it truly belongs.
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Supporting Staff in Person-Centred Work
Sam Sly explores how to support staff in person-centred services when money is tight.
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Assuming Capacity
Sam Sly underlines the importance of assuming capacity to ensure people with learning disabilities get the best possible lives.
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Open Letter to Iain Duncan Smith
An Open Letter to Iain Duncan Smith from prominent Catholics concerned at welfare reform.
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Private Good, Public Bad
The prevailing fiction of our times is that the private sector is better at running things than the public sector, Virginia Moffatt explores the reality.
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History of Keys to Citizenship
Sam Sly describes where the Keys to Citizenship came from and how they've changed over time.
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Poverty UK
Simon Duffy explores the politics behind poverty in the UK today.
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Taxing a Tax - The Impact of Secret Tory Cuts
Jim Elder-Woodward reflects on the way in which the further targeting of disabled people also impacts the Care or Disability Tax
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The Threat of Micro-Institutionalisation
Robin Jackson explains why people with learning disabilities are threatened by a growing trend to micro-institutionalisation.
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Inside Supported Living
Melanie O'Neil describes her time as a support worker for people with learning disabilities in a 'supported living' group home.
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Stop Worrying About Risk
Stephen Finlayson argues it is time to use ordinary language that creates ordinary responses, to stop worrying about risk and start talking about our worries.
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LDA England Survey
A breakdown of the results from the recent Quality Checking Government survey carried out by Learning Disability Alliance England.
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Is Work Good?
Simon Duffy reflects on the nature of work and whether it is always a good thing.
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Show Some Emotion
Civitas Vera explores why institutional abuse is so often followed by responses that don't make the necessary difference.
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Rethinking National Security
Henry Tam asks why, if we are so interested in security, do we define it so narrowly.
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Accessible Banking
Meike Beckford sets out how Dosh are using their experience to improve access to banking and thereby make a real difference in people’s lives.
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Open Letter on Regulation
An Open Letter to David Behan (Head of Regulation) and Norman Lamb (lead politician) on the danger of relying on regulation to keep people safe.
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Just Not Fair
Jane Young, the author of Dignity and Opportunity for All gives an overview of this critical report, published by Just Fair.
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Travels in Human-Based Development
Pete Richmond sets out what we can learn from Manavodaya a development organisation based in India and the UK, in relation to the idea of personalisation.
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The Economic Necessity of Basic Income
Economist Geoff Crocker argues that the current economic system is based on flawed thinking and that a new system demands the use of basic income.
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Person Centred Planning 'Tools'
Peter Kinsella reviews his time working in human services and examines the negative role of jargon, complexity and bureaucracy in people's lives.
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The Problem with Dawkins' Intolerance on Down Syndrome
Mariana Cervantes-Burchell explains why the intolerant prejudice of scientists like Richard Dawkins is based on ignorance.
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Assessment and Treatment Units
Sam Sly shares her learning through helping people to leave ATUs and return to a real life and a home of their own in the communities they came from.
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Don't Judge Me, Listen
Sam Sly urges us to really listen to people's dreams and desires when supporting them to build a future for themselves, it's crucial to get this right.
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The Harm Professionals Can Do
Too often people's gifts and skills are being ignored when professionals plan with them, there is no excuse, this must change now says Sam Sly.
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Quality Checkers are the Future of Regulation
Sam Sly shares her enthusiasm for the creation of a National Association of Quality Checkers.
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Rethinking Social Housing
Social housing isn’t working for the people Beyond Limits support who have been institutionalised for years in Specialist Hospitals but there are alternatives.
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Pro-Innovation NDIS
How NDIS could be developed to promote, not hinder, social innovation.
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Erm This Is Awkward
Matthew Edmonds suggests that we don't need pat responses to break down barriers between disabled and non-disabled people.
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Help - What It Really Means
People with learning disabilities often get help that isn't very helpful. Wendy Perez explains what help really means.
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Self-Directed Support is a Scottish Innovation
Simon Duffy explores the Scottish roots of SDS or self-directed support.
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Next Steps on a Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA)
Simon Duffy explores the possibility of developing an even more rigorous assessment of how cuts have targeted disabled people.
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What Price Friendship?
Paul Williams describes how the UK's social care system often seems to obstruct the development of friendships for disabled people.
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Discrimination Against Disabled Employers
Jim Elder-Woodward explains to the Prime Minister the gross injustice of giving subsidies to employers, unless they employ personal assistants.
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Sharing Our Gifts - Lessons for Social Work
Mark Harvey describes how understanding your own community gifts and assets will make you a better practitioner.
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Are There No Limits for Markets?
Civitas Vera provide an insightful critique into the limitations of the market in policy and real life.
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Access to Work - Eventually
Nadia Clarke describes her success at finding work as a young disabled and deaf woman, and the challenge of getting Access to Work support.
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Joining up Community Involvement
Gabriel Chanan and Colin Miller explain how to strengthen local communities without abandoning public services and universal principles.
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Divide and Conquer Social Work by Education
Tanya Moore offers a critique of the latest changes to social work education.
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Mental Health is Everyone's Business
Carolyn Barber introduces her new book The Layperson’s Guide to Good Mental Health: Your A-Z for a Happier Life.
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How to Fund a Universal Basic Income
Malcolm Henry sets out an argument for a Universal Basic Income based on his analysis of the failings of the banking system.
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Listening Up to Poverty
Simon Duffy reflects on the stories he heard at a conference on poverty and welfare reform.
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Right to the Same Life
Wendy Perez says people with learning (intellectual) disabilities have the right to the same life as the rest of us.
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Spartacus Network
Spartacus is a network of sick & disabled people who use social media to highlight the impact of the UK Government's 'reforms' and cuts.
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Reforming NDIS
Simon Schwab outlines the principles that should underpin the reform of NDIS.
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What Went Wrong with Personalisation?
Simon Duffy explores the unfulfilled potential of personalisation.
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Dementia Is Everyone's Business
Chris Moon-Willems explains why understanding and supporting people with dementia to live well is relevant to all of us.
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Regulators Preparing for Privatisation
Is the regulatory system being used to drive forward the government's privatisation agenda in education and beyond?
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5 Tips for Living Well with Dementia
Chris Moon-Willems shares five important and practical ways in which you can help someone live well with dementia.
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G8 Dementia Summit - Missed Opportunity
Chris Moon-Willems had high hopes for the G8 Dementia Summit held in London in December 2013 to discuss the challenges presented by Dementia.
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The Driving Up Quality Code
The Driving up Quality Code is about providers of care and support doing all that they can to make sure that what happened at Winterbourne View never happens again.
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Housing to End the Prison of Hospital
Sam Sly explains why special hospitals are often worse than prison and why there is a need for bespoke housing solutions.
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No to Competing Services - Yes to Human Rights
Sami Helle explains to the European Parliament that people with intellectual disabilities should not be trapped in the 'cheapest service'.
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A Short History of Self Direct
Don Derrett tells the story of self direct - how it developed, what it achieved and why finally, it closed.
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No Words is No Barrier
Sam Sly explores the steps necessary to ensure that children and adults with limited verbal communication can get involved.
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Working with 'Vulnerability'
A summary of a talk given by Dr Simon Duffy at the meeting of Churches Together in South Yorkshire, Spring Forum in April 2013.
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Can You See What I See?
Vinesh Kumar explains why the Avarind Eye Clinic has much to teach the NHS and western medicine in general.
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How To Reform The ESA System
Simon Duffy argues that the current ESA system is deeply flawed and suggests an alternative based on a better understanding of unemployment.
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Returning Home
Sam Sly reflects on the barriers to progress in getting people home from abusive and institutional placements.
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Re-Examining Policy on Aid
Varun Vidyarthi argues that the process of giving and the message that goes with it distorts the outcome, it is time for deeper reflection.
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The Hidden Housing Subsidy
Simon Duffy explains how the artificially low interest rate in the UK acts as an enormous subsidy to the better-off.
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Ten Attacks on Disabled People's Rights
Simon Duffy provides an overview of the main strategies being used to undermine the human rights of disabled people in the UK.
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Thoughts on ESA
Some early thoughts on reforming the failed Employment Support Allowance and Work Capability Assessment system.
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Impact of PIP on Social Care
This analysis was carried out on behalf of We Are Spartacus and estimates how the end of DLA will hit local government.
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A Finnish Perspective
Katja Valkama reflects from a Finnish perspective on social innovations in the UK and the price of welfare 'reform'.
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Communities in Crisis
Ted Dalby tells the inspirational story of the cockle pickers of Penclawdd and what they teach us about the meaning of community.
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What Kind Of Cure Is Necessary?
Mariana Cervantes-Burchell has questions following news that scientists have made a breakthrough in being able to switch off the gene that causes Down’s Syndrome.
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Love
Sam Sly writes about how important love is, in all its forms, to having a great life.
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What is Wrong with Supported Living?
Simon Duffy explores how the principles of supported living have been corrupted and how we need to move to a focus on rights.
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What Would I Want From A Support Planner?
Liam Toner explores the qualities he would look for in a support planner and how we support people to plan for themselves.
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Call for a Cumulative Impact Assessment
Catherine Hale shares the text of a letter to her MP calling for her support for the Cumulative Impact Assessment.
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Briefing for MPs for Opposition Day Debate
This Briefing for MPs from Pat's Petition also provides a general overview of the series of cuts being imposed by the UK Government.
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Long Term Care Fees - The Truth
Chris Moon-Willems writes about the government's proposed changes to means testing for social care.
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How We Try to Keep Our Promises
Tim Keilty explains how New Prospects have designed a simple approach for helping people to network and support each other.
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From the British Welfare State to Just Another American State
Mo Stewart argues that the current reforms of the welfare state were inspired by bogus research and the vested interests of US insurance firms.
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Statements of the Obvious on NDIS
Tony Lanigan has written a list of statements of the obvious that may be helpful to the designers of Disability Care Australia.
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In Memory of Carl Poll
Carl Poll was a leading innovator and champion for people with learning difficulties - he will be greatly missed.
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The Process of Change
Sam Sly explains that the real challenge after Winterbourne View is to ensure the real drivers for change are in place.
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The Traps and Detours of Deinstitutionalisation
Sam Sly writes about the challenge of moving people out of hospitals and institutions after the Winterbourne View Review.
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The Big Society Fails the Hardest Hit
Catherine Hale's article explains how a range of UK government policies target disabled people.
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It's Not Systems That Stop Abuse
Transformative leadership - not new systems, targets or policies - will help public services to tackle the problems of abuse in hospital.
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Implementing Personal Budgets
This essay describes how personal budgets should be implemented, focusing especially on people with more complex needs.
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Briefing on How Cuts Are Targeted
This briefing provides a summary of the findings of the report A Fair Society? and some important facts and figures.
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Is It Immoral to Cut Welfare?
Dr Simon Duffy tells of his experience on television, the messages he hoped to communicate and the lessons he learned.
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A Strategy for Welfare Reform
This essay provides an overview of why the welfare state should be reformed - not cut - and what it might take to achieve this difficult task.
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What Can I Do To Make A Difference?
Sam Sly writes about the importance of working together, sharing our experiences, resources and energy in the year ahead.
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What is Assessment and Treatment?
Sam Sly describes the difficulties faced by families who have seen their children lost to the phoney system of 'assessment and treatment units'.
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Regulation without State Dominance
Bob Rhodes outlines a different approach to regulation than the on-going expansion of incompetent state-run bureaucracy.
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Getting Serious About Citizenship
The debate about reform in social services loses clarity when we use jargon like personalisation, the real questions are more fundamental.
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Is It All About Cuts?
This short article describes how self-directed support is being used to make cuts in social care.
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An Apology
Simon Duffy apologises for two social innovations that have had negative consequences - the complex RAS and the Support Plan.
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Fears for NDIS
A summary of concerns about the design of Australia's important National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
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What Goes Around...
Bob Rhodes reflects on the ups and downs of building a fairer society amidst the craziness of the current system.
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Is it Right to Buy a Right?
Jim Elder-Woodward explores the injustice of social care charging in the UK and the double taxation of disabled people.
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Bridging the Rubicon
Bob Rhodes explores the gap in thinking between public services and real communities.
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Vinny Went Cycling for Charity
Vinesh Kumar tells the story of his 500 mile cycle ride across India, of the Avarind Eye Clinic and his thoughts and lessons learned.
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It's the Toughest of Commissions (Song)
Bob Rhodes offers a song about the paradoxes of commissioning.
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Life Is Not a Commodity
Bob Rhodes reflects on the difficulties of helping people move beyond a commodified notion of the role of public services.
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All Change for Social Care in England?
Chris Moon-Willems, an independent specialist in care for older people, assesses the Government's plans to reform social care.
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What is Citizen Directed Support?
Thoughts on the development of Citizen Directed Support in Wales and the connection between entitlements and community.
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UN Declaration of Human Rights
The UN's Declaration is an important starting point for welfare reform. It makes clear the need for clear rights and entitlements and the importance of safeguarding freedom and…
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Personalisation or Entitlements
This article explores the challenge of making personalisation effective at supporting people's human rights and delivering real entitlements.
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Unimpressed: Cameron's Ideas on Welfare
David Cameron’s latest ideas on the future shape of welfare has polarised opinion, S.H Barnett explores the issues.
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Real Localism
Argument for a profound shift in control towards local communities and the outline of a new strategy for local government.
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West Lancashire Peer Support
Les Scaife describes how the West Lancashire Peer Support Group was born and the work it continues to do.
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Is It Only Me?
S.H.Barnett wonders why personal budgets which promise so much have largely failed to deliver.
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Are Institutions Still With Us?
Sam Sly explores the problems that leave too many people with complex needs in long-term institutional care.
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Full Citizenship for People with Intellectual Disabilities
An interview with Simon Duffy for the Finnish Year Book on Intellectual Disabilities on the nature of citizenship.
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The Journey to Citizenship - Deinstitutionalisation in Finland
Finland is beginning to close its institutions for people with learning difficulties. Simon Duffy explores what can be learned about moving more quickly towards a…
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Campaigning for a Fair Society
Simon Duffy gave one of the talks at the launch of the Manifesto for a Fair Society at the House of Lords on the 12th March.
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Who Really Benefits from Welfare?
Simon Duffy looks at how the tax benefit system really works and wonders who are the real beneficiaries of this system?
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Is Personalisation Dead?
Simon Duffy explores some of the problems involved in implementing personalisation and the fundamental question of entitlements that remains unresolved in England.
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120,000 Reasons to Listen to Women
Clare Hyde wonders whether the government's thinking about focusing on 'problem' families is informed by an understanding of the reality of domestic violence.
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Integrating Mental Health Funding
This essay argues that the integration of social care and healthcare funding in Mental Health is still a priority and highly feasible.
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Individual Health Budgets Pilot Begins
Beyond Limits and NHS Plymouth are piloting an exciting model of service delivery to ensure that people with challenging behaviour do not end up in damaging institutions.
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Self-Determination Doesn't End as We Age
Terry Lynch shares his and his mother's experiences of growing older and maintaining dignity and self-determination through independent living.
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Personalisation in a Time of Cuts
Lawyer Kate Whittaker describes the conflict between the current drive to cut social care spending in the UK and the application of personalisation.
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Flexible Funding Routes in Further Education
Fellow Pippa Murray explains the funding routes that will allow for the development of more personalised and flexible education packages for young people.
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The Meaning of Dignity
A short essay written by Simon Duffy on the true meaning of dignity.
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Implementing Self-Directed Support
This short essay offers some thoughts about the lessons other countries might want to draw from the English experience of implementing self-directed support (SDS).
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Wolf Wolfensberger - A Tribute
Wolf Wolfensberger, the father of normalisation died in February 2011. Nan Carle pays tribute to the man she describes and 'the definitive agent of change'.
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Fear is Always a Choice - What Will You Choose?
A thoughtful insight on how we might manage our emotional wellbeing in difficult times written by Nan Carle.
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NHS Values & Personalisation
This short essay describes how to face some of the fears raised about the application of personalisation within the NHS.
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The Key to Support Planning
Liam Toner explains how support planning could become genuinely empowering rather than just another bureaucratic hurdle.
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Cuts to UK Benefits
Ben Baumberg of the LSE provides an overview of the cuts in UK benefits and how they target disabled people.
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Revisiting Barclay
Bob Rhodes and Ralph Broad argue that social work and social care should return to the thinking set out in the Barclay report and renew their commitment to community.
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Commissioning for Health Improvement
Brian Fisher describes a model developed in Lewisham which could shift healthcare away from institutional and hospital-based provision towards health improvement.
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Care and Support or a Fascist Plot?
Norma Curran explains the roots of Training in Systematic Instruction (TSI) and the failure to focus on building people's skills in many support services.
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Simplify the RAS
Resource Allocation Systems (RAS) have become too complex. Barnsley and The Centre for Welfare Reform are exploring a radically simplified version of the RAS.
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Do's and Don'ts for a New Script
This paper is a working document to help authorities 'rescript' their social work role - to make it more positive, enabling and effective.
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Real Welfare Reform
Real welfare reform is about designing a welfare state that ensures everyone gets the support they need to live good and positive lives as active citizens.
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Planning with Families
Pippa Murray summarises the main things you need to do to help families plan for themselves and disabled family members.
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Cuts - Yes, Minister
Geoff Tudor imagines the discussions that led to plans to cut mobility allowance for people inside residential care homes.
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In Memory of Wolf Wolfensberger
A man who probably did more to change the understandings and situations for disabled and vulnerable people and their whole societies than anyone you could have met.
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Proactive Primary Care
An example of how UK primary care can offer safer more supportive personalised care whilst saving money at the same time.
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How Can We Save the Big Society?
Gabriel Chanan and Colin Miller argue that the Big Society project will fail unless it focuses on real community development and volunteering.
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UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
This is a powerful vision of the opportunities and support which should be available to disabled people and their families, based on a commitment to equal citizenship.
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Unfair Cuts
Public expenditure cuts by the UK government will target disabled people, older people who need extra help, poor families and people with mental health problems.
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Unfair Cuts in Detail
The current social care system in the UK is deeply unfair and needs reforming; however current efforts by Central Government seem self-defeating.
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Changes to Housing Funding
Housing Options explains how current changes to the funding of housing will reduce housing mobility, home ownership and undermine supported living.
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Personalised Education
Personalised education is a widely stated ambition, and some local leaders are making progress, but central systems tend to undermine effective personalisation.
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Don't Monkey with People's Lives
Carl Poll gets to the heart of why the relationship between professionals and citizens can often go so wrong - and what we can do about it.
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Citizenship in a Decent Society
Simon Duffy sets out the challenge that treating each other as citizenship sets to a society that aims to be decent
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Connection Not Inclusion
Carl Poll explains the subtle but important difference between connecting and including
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Conditions to Work
The debate about conditionality in work and the benefits system is confusing and this does not help us build systems that encourage work and contribution.
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Integration through Personalisation
Only a model which examines the value and role of integration from the perspective of the citizen will begin to bring some much needed clarity into the current system.
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Avoid the Quantum Leap
Terry Lynch explores how to avoid those desperate placements in residential care, unnecessary hospitalisation or institutionalisation. Older people often need modest…
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Are Individual Budgets Really Mine?
Simon Duffy argues that individual budgets are provided as additional income, which is provided to people in order that they can meet their needs.