LA Talk, 13th June: "Personalisation, Vouchers & the Political Economy of Welfare Reform"

I’ve been kindly invited by my good friend, David McDonagh, to give the LA Talk on 13th June.

My talk will draw upon my experiences as Portfolio Holder for Adults & Housing in Harrow Council, and reflect on how to do welfare reform.  Provisionally, the talk is entitled: “Personalisation, Vouchers & the Political Economy of Welfare Reform – my experience of making Harrow Council one of Britain’s leading boroughs for extending choice and control over social care”

In the talk, I will explore the personalisation agenda of extending choice and control to users and their carers; of the challenges involved in driving through a relinquishing of control and direction of users’ lives; of how interest groups — politicians, users, Carers, service providers, staff — need to buy-in to the agenda; the financial implications involved; of the need to make the extension of choice “real” by ensuring the market for social care is opened up as fast as possible to innovative approaches to provision; of the need for robustness in defending choices made by users over their care plans; the political and other implications for the welfare state of voucherising social care – and how it might contribute to wider, more significant welfare reforms in the so-called Age of Austerity.

Date: Monday 13th June, at 7pm

Venue: The Institute of Education, just off Russell Square – next to the student bar, Room S16, Thornhaugh Street, London, WC1B 5EA.