Research
You will find a complete range of our monographs, muti-authored and edited works including peer-reviewed, original scholarly research across the social sciences and aligned disciplines. We publish long and short form research and you can browse the complete Bristol University Press and Policy Press archive.
Policy Press also publishes policy reviews and polemic work which aim to challenge policy and practice in certain fields. These books have a practitioner in mind and are practical, accessible in style, as well as being academically sound and referenced.
Books: Research
This chapter begins by discussing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for adult social care in England. Secondly it places adult social care in England today in context and examines questions of definition and of delivery. Thirdly, it describes the methodological approach taken in the research which formed the basis of this volume. The chapter concludes with an outline of the structure of the book.
Available Open Access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.
This book provides an in-depth socio-legal examination of adult social care law and policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores the tensions between legislation, policy, economy, and practice in what was already an under-resourced and overstretched sector.
The authors interrogate the vision and utility of the Care Act 2014 and explore the impact of emergency legislation and operational changes implemented during the pandemic. Detailing what happened to social care provision during this time of intense stress and turbulence for people who draw on services, for informal carers, and for those who work in the sector, the book highlights fault-lines in the system.
This is an invaluable resource offering timely lessons for social care reform and future pandemic preparedness planning.
This concluding chapter draws upon the key themes and findings of this book and asks what lessons ought to be learned in the aftermath of the pandemic experience for adult social care pandemic planning and for social care law and policy in general.
This chapter critically examines the controversial Care Act easements that enabled local authorities to depart from certain statutory provisions as ‘a last resort’ when services were compromised by workforce pressures. Based on an empirical study of responses in the West Midlands, it examines the decision-making processes and approaches of a cluster of local authorities which formally operated easements during the early months of the pandemic; it contrasts these with similar strategic and operational changes made by neighbouring local authorities which stated that they were not using easements.
The chapter explores foundational theoretical paradigms which underpin social care law, practice and policy in England. Engaging with these concepts is important to enable us to contexualise the current law, policy and practice in this area and in order to provide a framework for the examination of the efficacy of social care responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the later chapters. This chapter begins by examining the diverse connotations of the term ‘care’, before moving on to examine how discourse around social care, has engaged with the concepts of fundamental rights, capabilities, and autonomy. Finally, it explores the concept of ‘vulnerability’ which, while contentious, can inform and perhaps ultimately strengthen policy and practice
Chapter 3 explores the legal framework that underpins the regulation of adult social care provision in England today which provides the background for the discussion in subsequent chapters of the approach taken in relation to adult social care provision in England during the COVID- 19 Pandemic. It considers the role of local authorities in relation to social care. It aexamines the statutory duties under the Care Act 2014 in promoting individual well-being. It explores related provisions concerning NHS continuing healthcare and mental health care. It concludes by examining the scrutiny and oversight mechanisms which exist in this area such as the roles played by the Care Quality Commission and Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.ch
This chapter critically examines what happened in adult social care from the grim winter of 2020 onwards, as local authorities, service providers, and society more broadly tried to adapt to ‘living with COVID’. Drawing upon the findings of our ESRC project it explores ongoing pressures on social care, including longer-term changes to service provision, such as digitalization of services, reductions in day centres, and the crisis in staff recruitment and retention. It asks whether lessons are being learned from the sector’s pandemic experience.
It has been suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic which emerged in 2020 caused unprecedented and unforeseen challenges, including in relation to social care. In this chapter the events of 2020 are set in context of the long standing role of the state in relation to public health emergencies and of the development over the previous 2 decades of emergency legislation and policy applicable in England and multi-agency pandemic planning exercises. This chapter critically examines these developments with specific reference to social care and how these ultimately led to the provisions of the Coronavirus Act 2020 which impacted on the Care Act 2014. It explores the introduction of Care Act ‘easements’ law and policy in 2020, subsequent developments at national level in 202
This chapter presents a doctrinal analysis of the issue of capacity to consent to sexual relations at the intersection of the civil and criminal law, exploring the various aspects of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The chapter starts with the position outlined by the Supreme Court in A Local Authority v JB, with which the authors agree, to argue that ‘consent’ as a concept ought to be part of the information relevant to a decision to engage in sex. It then goes on to explore the various boundaries between the civil and criminal legal frameworks regarding capacity to consent to sex, justifying the differences in approach through analysing their differing theoretical and policy functions. Furthermore, the chapter considers whether it is right to view the boundaries between the civil and criminal law here as fixed or unchangeable, and whether, instead, we might usefully learn from a hybrid approach to dealing with the problem of sexual offending towards vulnerable adults.
As shown throughout this edited collection, not only has the law around capacity, consent and sexual relationships recently undergone shifts in the form of the Supreme Court case of A Local Authority v JB [2021] UKSC 52, but it is an area of increasing importance for professionals and practitioners working in areas such as social work, health or supporting victims of sexual abuse. The aim of this collection has not been to resolve legal or practical issues, but to re/open some of the existing discussions and debates on mental capacity and sex, as well as offering new perspectives. In doing so, this collection has shown that such conversations and debates must not focus solely on the doctrinal questions which have historically tended to preoccupy lawyers but must also consider the challenges and opportunities the legal framework poses for disabled adults, and for professionals working in health, social care and sectors beyond. It is undoubtedly the case that A Local Authority v JB (JB), as well as many of the other decisions from the lower courts outlined in the Introduction and throughout the chapters, have precipitated a renewed focus on mental capacity and sex, often driven by legally and factually complex cases where there may be concerns about sexual abuse. The clarification offered by the Supreme Court in JB as to what is considered relevant information under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, as well as the relationship between the civil and criminal law frameworks, is – in many ways – to be welcomed.
