Social security in a devolved UK: realities, risks & opportunities for families

By Dr Hayley Bennett, Prof Ruth Patrick and Dr Mark Simpson

This Might we launched our new venture, Social safety in a devolved UK: realities, dangers & alternatives for households, funded by the Nuffield Basis. On this weblog we introduce the aim and goals of the venture over the subsequent 2 years. 

We spend extra on working-age social safety than training, or the police and defence mixed (Hoynes et al., 2023), and it’s the coverage instrument most instantly capable of scale back poverty. The form and nature of the UK’s social safety system has an enormous impression on the lives of thousands and thousands of households, particularly these on low and center incomes, whose dwelling requirements have stagnated over current years. All too typically we communicate as if there’s a single UK social safety system, however this has not been the case for a while. As a substitute, selections made at Westminster and on the nationwide, regional and native stage all intersect to instantly have an effect on the social safety a household will obtain (Simpson, 2022). This results in rising place-based divergences within the design, generosity and supply of help. For instance, a single guardian household dwelling in Birmingham could possibly be hit by the Profit Cap, however one dwelling in Belfast (Northern Eire) or Bathgate (Scotland) is protected against this coverage due to selections made by devolved administrations. Regardless of the size and nature of those variations, this has by no means been topic to sustained interrogation. Our new main programme (launched on 1st Might 2024) corrects this, and would be the first to comprehensively study the exact extent of devolution of social safety, and to discover what distinction this makes to on a regular basis experiences on the bottom.

Discussions of UK social safety too typically fail to acknowledge the extent, nature and significance of devolution[1] in social safety coverage design, supply and implementation. This issues as devolution has created important spatial variations in social safety regulation, coverage, and observe. In comparison with many EU international locations, this multi-level association is comparatively new territory for the UK. An amazing deal has modified within the final decade alone. Scotland and Northern Eire administrations now ship near- common mitigation of chosen cuts to advantages. Scotland has additionally launched new advantages and Wales is exploring growing their devolved powers on social safety. Native authorities is now the primary supplier of disaster help in England, with grants-based provision dominating throughout devolved nations. 

The present information base on this area is incomplete with important issues round information high quality, and a failure to have a look at how nationwide, regional and native points of distinction intersect. Present analysis has additionally tended to give attention to insurance policies in isolation relatively than taking a extra holistic strategy – as we do right here with our evaluation of a key goal inhabitants: households with kids. That is essential as a result of devolution additionally offers a possibility for coverage studying and experimentation. In taking distinctive approaches to social safety, nationwide, regional, and native establishments act as laboratories of democracy, enabling an evaluation of other approaches for addressing lengthy standing societal challenges. However a ‘devolve and overlook’ strategy from Westminster means this chance has not been realised (Dunlop, 2019). This programme will begin the work of correcting that. If we are able to study from completely different approaches to social safety throughout the UK, we will probably be higher positioned to cut back poverty and enhance life possibilities for all households. This analysis makes this studying doable, and can instantly form key debates about the way forward for the UK and the function of the social safety system in supporting households on a low-income; debates that matter to us all.

As we glance throughout the subsequent decade and past, we have to do all we are able to to enhance our social safety system, and to raised perceive the implications of elevated devolution on this area. We have to be sure that any future will increase to devolution are underpinned by sturdy proof bases. We additionally must study from place-based variations in social safety that exist already in order that coverage change may be grounded in an understanding of what works, in what contexts, and for whom. Our programme of analysis responds to and can instantly meet these wants, and – by so doing – has scope to enhance policymaking and, subsequently, the lives of thousands and thousands of households throughout the UK. 

[1] We use ‘devolution’ to explain devolution, decentralisation and localisation. We recognise these are distinct processes, however use this as shorthand for the needs of this brief weblog.

This paper is drawn from the Social Safety in a Devolved UK venture. This venture has been funded by the Nuffield Basis, however the views expressed are these of the authors and never essentially the Basis. Go to www.nuffieldfoundation.org

The venture is a multi-institutional and inter-disciplinary analysis and coverage crew, comprised of teachers from seven universities throughout all 4 UK nations (College of York, College of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt College, College of Salford, College of Cardiff, Ulster College, Oxford College), and with coverage companions, Decision Basis and Little one Poverty Motion Group.