Creating a trauma informed court system
Katherine Roycroft
Jurors can experience significant distress following exposure to harrowing evidence in court. Despite this, jurors in England and Wales receive no formal pre-trial preparation or post-trial support for the psychological toll jury duty can have. They are expected to return to work immediately after their trial and are banned for life from discussing deliberations.
In November, Manchester Met’s Dr Hannah Fawcett (Health and Education), with support from Conservative politician Baroness Berridge and Professor Noelle Robertson (University of Leicester), organised a seminar in the House of Lords exploring ways of better supporting jurors. Baroness Berridge has spoken publicly on the need to improve psychological support for jurors, and Dr Fawcett has conducted extensive research on juror wellbeing and decision-making. The session drew numerous key stakeholders, including legal professionals, those with lived experience of jury service, academics, and representatives from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).
As part of the seminar, Manchester Met’s Dr Fawcett and Dr Matt Brooks (Health and Education) presented their research into vicarious trauma in jurors and outlined potential support provisions. Delegates also heard from those working in Scotland, Australia, and Canada; countries which have pioneered support for jurors, including the introduction of juror counselling helplines. Additionally, during the seminar, those with lived experience of serving on traumatic trials gave moving accounts of the subsequent impact on their lives.
Following the presentations, those in attendance discussed and agreed multiple actions to progress the issue. This included the introduction of a national juror appreciation day to raise awareness of the importance, and challenges, of being a juror, and normalise the need for employers to be supportive of staff undertaking jury duty. The group will also work towards implementing pre- and post-trial juror wellbeing support and guidance, as well as working alongside local MPs and APPG groups to further parliamentary attention on juror wellbeing and encourage policy change.
On the importance of the seminar, Dr Fawcett remarked:
“This event in the House of Lords was a crucial step in the journey of improving wellbeing support for jurors in England and Wales. Jurors are contributors to the criminal justice process yet preparation for, and support during and following this potentially traumatic and life-changing role is woefully lacking. We are proud to be pioneering research into the mental health needs of jurors and our collaborative event will help to create a fully trauma-informed criminal justice system.”
Reflecting on the next steps for this research, Dr Brooks remarked:
“The commitment to introducing a national juror appreciation day and the pursuit of pre- and post-trial juror wellbeing support reflects a shared commitment among key stakeholders to enhance support for those who play a crucial role in our justice system. The meeting marks the beginning of a vital conversation that will hopefully lead to tangible improvements in how we care for the mental health and wellbeing of jurors in England and Wales.”
To find out more about this research, please contact Dr Hannah Fawcett or Dr Matt Brooks.
Sharing insights on investment at the UN’s World Investment Forum
Katherine Roycroft
The World Investment Forum is the leading, multi-stakeholder global platform dedicated to finding strategies and solutions for global investment and development challenges. Organised by the United Nations, the 2023 Forum took place this October in Abu Dhabi.
The Forum drew high-level representatives from over 160 countries from the global investment community, including Heads of States, Ministers, heads of major international organisations such as the World Trade Organization and World Bank, and the international media.
In his role as Senior Advisor to the United Nations (UNCTAD) on trade, investment and sustainable development, Manchester Met’s Professor Heinz Tüselmann (Business School) played an active role in this year’s Forum.
Professor Tüselmann participated in high level expert group meetings, feeding into discussions and actions on sustainable global investment with key findings from his own research on foreign direct investment of multinational companies, investment upgrading and capacity building in developing countries. His insight was additionally sought by the media, and he was interviewed at the Forum by major news organisations, including Al Jazeera Middle East and Emirates News Agency.
As co-editor of the UN academic journal Transnational Corporations, Professor Tüselmann acted as panellist and speaker in a dialogue session between editors of policy-orientated research journals and policymakers. Their discussions explored how to increase policy relevance of academic research, so that it can help tackle the grand challenges faced by the international investment community.
Looking ahead, the Forum has resulted in important connections for Professor Tüselmann. For example, he has reached an understanding with senior officials from the Finance Ministry of an East African country to provide expertise and review for a public-private-partnership project currently under review for World Bank funding. Once the project commences, it is agreed he will act as rapporteur.
On the value of this year’s Forum, Professor Tüselmann commented:
“The Forum provided a unique opportunity for Manchester Met research to feed into policymaking and policy dialogue on Investment for Sustainable Development at the global level and contribute to solutions to key investment challenges caused by today’s global crises.”
To find out more about the discussions which took place at the Forum please contact Professor Heinz Tüselmann via e-mail.
Event with Orwell Prize-winning author Darren McGarvey explores social class and why it matters
Katherine Roycroft
Dr Helene Snee from Manchester Met’s Class Research Group reflects on their recent joint event with MetroPolis on social class, which featured author, columnist and hip hop artist, Darren McGarvey.
The Class Research Group at Manchester Metropolitan University recently hosted the Orwell Prize-winning author, columnist and hip hop recording artist Darren McGarvey. This free public event was organised in collaboration with MetroPolis and supported by the Policy Evaluation Research Unit, the Department of Sociology, and Manchester Centre for Youth Studies (MCYS).
Dr Chris Porter from the Class Research Group introduced Darren McGarvey, who shares the Group’s aims of putting the concept of social class front and centre in discussions of inequality. An electrifying reading taken from his recent book, The Social Distance Between Us, explored how the language of class has all but disappeared from the political lexicon and when it is employed, is dismissed as a preoccupation of what mainstream politics now sees as the ‘far left’. In contrast, it is Darren McGarvey’s view that class inequality is the central problem in contemporary Britain. A lively question and answer session followed, incorporating the place of anger in addressing social problems and the utility of calmness and being media savvy; the use of the term ‘working class’; the fallacy of meritocracy and what is needed to change the narrative; and the need for those in privileged positions who wish to really challenge social class inequality to work closely with and get to know communities, rather than maintain their own distance. His final recommendation was that electoral reform through proportional representation is a minimum for a democratic society and would go some way in tackling the problem of social distance.
Dr Helene Snee from the Class Research Group then introduced our panel members and asked them to respond to the question: Can regional inequality be tackled without talking about class? Professor Mike Savage from the London School of Economics explored London elite bubbles and how geographical and class divides ‘bounce off from each other’, highlighting work from LSE on non-domicile taxpayers, and arguing for the necessity of a wealth tax. Professor Ashwin Kumar from PERU, Manchester Met, highlighted the rise of zero-hours contracts and the erosion of the advances in employment rights won by working class people in the 19th and 20th Centuries; without addressing class divides, any attempts at ‘levelling up’ through industry can simply reproduce a two-tier labour market. Becky Bainbridge from the charity RECLAIM spoke evocatively of how class ‘hangs in the air’ but may be experienced without necessarily having the vocabulary to name it as such. RECLAIM work with young people in Manchester to involve them in activism and political representation so that those who are on the sharp end of class inequality can inform future action and social change. Darren McGarvey concluded the discussion with a reflection on why class may not always be articulated due to a reluctance to generalise or assign categories.
The concluding Q&A highlighted no such reluctance among the audience, with discussions on class, housing and the vast inequalities in property wealth; the lack of authentic working class voices (and whether being such a voice was a ‘poisoned chalice’); the narrowing of political discourse about progress to purely economic concerns; the force of class divides expressed as moralising judgements regarding claiming welfare benefits or seeing homelessness as a ‘lifestyle choice’; and concluding with questions about the role of higher education in challenging inequality.
The event finished with a call for the conversations to continue; contact the Class Research Group ClassResearch@mmu.ac.uk if you would also like to keep talking about class.
(November 2023)
Innovative ‘Uncertain Futures’ project highlighted in recent WHO report
Katherine Roycroft
Life expectancy has increased globally. However, in employment, healthcare, and communities, older people face significant challenges which can prevent them from living healthy, dignified lives.
The UN’s Decade of Healthy Aging, 2021-2023 was established to help address these challenges.
A new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO), released this November, assesses the progress made in the first phase of this Decade. In the report, the authors provide case studies of key stakeholder groups who have contributed to this work, with the aim of inspiring further activity around healthy aging.
One case study is the innovative Uncertain Futures art and research project. Led by Dr Sarah Campbell (Manchester Met), Dr Elaine Dewhurst (University of Manchester), Ruth Edson (Manchester Art Gallery), and artist Suzanne Lacy, the project highlights the inequalities faced by women over 50 years of age in relation to work, both paid and unpaid. As part of the research, one hundred women from diverse backgrounds in Manchester were interviewed about their experiences of work. Co-production was key throughout the project, and the WHO report references the Uncertain Futures Project Advisory Group, consisting of 15 older women in Manchester who contributed to all stages of the project.
On the publication of the report Dr Sarah Campbell commented,
“We are delighted that Uncertain Futures has been included in the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing Progress Report, 2023. This is a significant campaign led by the World Health Organisation that is addressing inequalities facing older people around the globe.”
Importantly, key findings from the Uncertain Futures research project were also highlighted by WHO. Dr Campbell continues:
“The report highlights specific issues facing women who are more likely to be living in poverty in later life and notes our project findings that emphasise how intersectional discrimination is a barrier to women having more secure later life futures.”
This November, the Uncertain Futures team also launched their own research report, ‘Uncertain Futures: 100 Women,’ to over sixty invited delegates at a highly successful event in Manchester Art Gallery. Key findings and policy recommendations were discussed by an expert panel of Professor Sarah Vickerstaff (University of Kent), Ben Harrison (Work Foundation), Dr Katy Jones (Manchester Met), and Dr Asma Khan (Centre for British Muslim Studies, University of Cardiff).
The launch also featured presentations from the Project Advisory Group and the screening of the project documentary.
The Uncertain Futures team are now planning follow up activity to ensure their recommendations are implemented, contributing to better futures for older women.
To find out more about the Uncertain Futures research project, please contact Dr Sarah Campbell via e-mail.
(November 2023)
Exploring future high streets at the party conferences
Katherine Roycroft
In October, MetroPolis partnered with UK urban policy think tank Centre for Cities for fringe events at the Conservative and Labour Party conferences on the future for the UK’s high streets. Alongside leading policymakers, Manchester Met’s Professor Steven Millington (Director, Institute of Place Management), Dr Lucy Montague (Senior Lecturer, Manchester School of Architecture), and Matt Colledge (Executive Director, High Streets Task Force) shared their expertise on the main challenges facing flagging high streets, as well as stories of the high street’s resilience and reinvention. Over 50 delegates attended each fringe event, drawn from sectors including retail, academia, charities, and local government, demonstrating the pertinence of this subject. This was also made clear in the Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Labour Party conference speech on 9th October. “Reviving our high streets,” she announced, is key to Labour’s, “mission to give Britain its future back.”
At the Conservative Conference in Manchester, Dr Montague and Matt Colledge spoke alongside John Stevenson MP (Chair of the Northern Research Group) and Councillor Abi Brown (Stoke-on-Trent Council). Dr Montague shared lessons and policy recommendations from her recently published book, ‘High Street: How our town centres can bounce back from the retail crisis,’ co-authored with David Rudlin (BDP) and Vicky Payne (Quality of Life Foundation) which explored case studies of 100 UK high streets. Reforming business rates and implementing positive planning policy, Dr Montague argued, were two key ways of helping revitalise high streets.
Reflecting on the fringe events, she commented:
“The headlines around high streets have made for depressing reading for a long time now, but the latest crisis still does not herald its demise. Our research has shown though, that we must have the correct policies at national and regional levels otherwise local level interventions will be undermined and futile. It has therefore been very encouraging to see momentum around this building at the party conferences this year.”
Drawing on his work as Executive Director of the UK Government’s High Streets Task Force and experience as former Leader of Trafford Council, Matt Colledge suggested a further key focus to help support high streets to thrive: training in place leadership. Following the fringe events, he remarked:
“A key theme…is the importance of committed and dedicated place leaders who transcend political, geographic and organisational barriers to make real and tangible change happen in their towns and cities. If partnerships are to be the engines for transformation then place leaders are the catalysts. Equipping these people with the skills, resources and organisational support is vital if places are to become places of vitality and viability.”
This focus on training and skills was echoed by Professor Millington at the Labour Party Conference fringe event in Liverpool, where he spoke alongside Dr Montague, James Murray MP (Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury) and Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe (Leader, Bradford Council).
As Director of the Institute of Place Management, the international professional body running the High Streets Task Force, he has unique insight into the interventions that make successful high streets. Training and support for the place-sector is needed, he argued, along with better collaborative working between councils, businesses, and the local community. Where this collaboration exists, there are encouraging success stories. Take Greater Manchester market town, Ashton-in-Makerfield, where the High Streets Task Force helped develop a community group that now provides place leadership capacity- an case study highlighted in their recent Annual Report.
To find out more about the research shared at the ‘The Future for our High Streets’ party conference fringe events, please contact:
- Professor Steve Millington via e-mail or Twitter, or through the Institute of Place Management.
- Dr Lucy Montague via e-mail or Twitter. ‘High Street: How our town centres can bounce back from the retail crisis,’ can be purchased through RIBA Books.
- Matt Colledge via e-mail or Twitter, or through High Streets Task Force. You can read the High Streets Task Force Annual Report here.
(November 2023)
Championing innovation, inclusion, and sustainability in sports engineering
Katherine Roycroft
From cycling helmets to swimming costumes; sports engineers help create the lightest, fastest, and strongest equipment possible for sportspeople.
The UK is a leading force in sports engineering. However, a major new MetroPolis-supported report developed by Manchester Met’s Dr Tom Allen (Science and Engineering) with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) titled, ‘Sustainable, Inclusive, Innovative: The Role of Engineering in Sport,’ has found greater support is needed to maintain and capitalise on this position. Not only that, but more must be done to ensure the sector is sustainable and inclusive.
Outlining the huge benefits sports engineering can have for an athlete’s performance and safety, the authors recommend increased investment in sports technology research and development across the UK.
This support, Dr Allen says, “could grow an exciting network of home-grown startups to help boost the economy.”
Ensuring that this research and development benefits as many sportspeople as possible is also key. Collaboration between sports engineering institutions, the authors explain, will help ensure innovations developed for elite athletes filter into grassroots sports.
The report also recommends greater focus on the sustainability of sporting goods. Too often, sporting goods end up in landfill sites due difficulty recycling and repurposing the products.
The authors highlight the role sports governing bodies can play in encouraging sports technology providers to improve the sustainability of their products. For example, by reconsidering their product’s design, material, and transportation.
In October, the innovative report was launched at IMechE’s HQ in London. Dr Allen presented headline findings from the report to an audience of delegates drawn from academia, sports engineering, charities, and sports good companies. Afterwards, he participated in a panel discussion on the future for sports engineering in the UK with leading academics, policy advisers and brand-owners.
The report and recommendations will now be shared with key stakeholders, contributing to a future for sports engineering that is more sustainable, inclusive, and innovative.
You can download the report in full here.
To find out more about the report, please contact Dr Tom Allen by e-mail or via Twitter.
(October 2023)
Challenging ‘double discrimination’ faced by Black, care-experienced young people
Katherine Roycroft
A major new report by Manchester Met’s Dr Katie Hunter, which examines the over-representation of Black and ethnic minority care-experienced children in the youth justice system, was launched this September at a MetroPolis-supported event in the Museum of Liverpool.
Co-organised with Barnardo’s, the event launched findings from two research projects: Dr Hunter’s quantitative ADR UK (Administrative Data Research UK) research using linked Ministry of Justice UK and Department for Education data to explore ethnicity, care experience and youth justice involvement in England, and Barnardo’s qualitative research with Black care-experienced young people in prison led by Listen Up.
The launch featured an opening speech from Lynne Perry OBE, CEO of Barnardo’s, and a Q&A panel including Kim Johnson MP. Over 50 delegates attended, including academics, practitioners, and policymakers, to hear the key findings of the reports and reflect on the next steps.
Initiated at Lancaster University and concluded at Manchester Met, Dr Hunter’s report is the product of the largest ever study of care experience and the youth justice system in England.
Strikingly, Dr Hunter’s study found that children who have lived in care are eight times more likely to have received a youth justice caution or conviction than those who have not. Further, it was revealed that almost twice as many Black and mixed ethnicity care-experienced children receive custodial sentences as their white counterparts.
Now this ‘double discrimination’ has been so starkly revealed, Dr Hunter says urgent action must be taken:
“As a result of this analysis, we now know the shocking extent of criminalisation among care-experienced children in England. It also reveals what individuals working in the field have long suspected – that racially minoritised care-experienced children are especially vulnerable to youth justice involvement and imprisonment.
“Clearly, we need urgent action from government to prevent the unnecessary criminalisation of children in care and care leavers which takes account of the specific needs of minoritised groups.”
Significant activity has already followed the launch event. Alongside Rod Weston-Bartholomew (Assistant Director Impact (Care Journeys), Barnardo’s), Dr Hunter shared key findings from her research at a Parliamentary Roundtable event hosted by Baroness Floella Benjamin. A joint animation, created by Popla Media, reflecting research by Dr Hunter, and Barnardo’s and Listen Up, is due for imminent release. Moving forward, Dr Hunter is also working with external partners to push for Justice Select Committee enquiry into criminalisation of care-experienced children and young people in England and Wales.
This would, Dr Hunter argues, be a major step in challenging the injustices faced by so many care-experienced young people.
To find out more about Dr Hunter’s research, please contact her via e-mail or Twitter.
You can find the research reports by Dr Hunter and Barnardo’s on the Double Discrimination page of the Barnardo’s website.
(October 2023)
Time for change: addressing the crisis in staffing our schools
Katherine Roycroft
In light of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's recent announcement of education reform, Dr Carrie Adamson explores what will really help to address the teacher recruitment and retention crisis in schools.
In his recent speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to introduce compulsory teaching of maths and English for sixth form students as part of the ‘Advanced British Standard’ qualification. In acknowledgement that this may be difficult to achieve, he stated that teachers in “key subjects” will receive up to £30,000, tax free, over the first five years of their careers as “our teachers do one of the most valuable jobs in our society and we should reward them for that”. Clearly, the financial incentives of up to £27,000 already in place to attract teachers into shortage subjects have not addressed the shortages, as new entrants are still not being drawn to choosing teaching. Postgraduate teacher recruitment as measured by the Initial Teacher Training census was 41% below target for secondary trainees and 7% below target for primary in 2022/23.
The statistics look even more bleak if we consider less advantaged schools. Research has shown that not only do disadvantaged schools have more difficulty filling positions (especially in shortage subjects like physics where children outside of London have only a 17% chance of being taught by someone with a degree in the subject) but schools are more likely to experience teacher absences due to stress. On average, teachers in the most disadvantaged schools outside London are absent for 5.2 days per year, compared to 3.5 days per year in the least disadvantaged schools. This results in approximately 100 extra days lost to sickness in a secondary school of 60 teachers. The effect of this crisis on the most vulnerable children cannot be under-estimated.
In Spring 2023, the UK Parliament Education Committee issued a call for evidence to “investigate the current state of teacher retention and recruitment, the main factors causing difficulties, and the impact on students”.
Our submission to the inquiry included evidence from pilot studies and teacher comments collected during our education innovation lab meetings (which involved focus groups and activities with representatives from eight case study schools). Early themes gleaned from responses to the questions posed in the call for evidence suggest that workload and pay are not the only concerns of teachers. The inspection system, Ofsted, was also frequently mentioned as was the negative portrayal of teachers in the media.
“Workload is increased due to teachers not being trusted and doing things to prove what they are doing and ticking boxes for Ofsted.”– Primary Teacher
“The main factors are pay in relation to the number of hours worked. If this was worked out as an hourly rate, it would be very low for the accountability of the role. Workload is another issue – staff feel they are unable to lead a ‘normal’ life during term time, not attending events or making arrangements during the week.” – Primary Assistant Headteacher
The first stage of our research project about ‘decentring the resilient teacher’ involved sending an online survey to teachers across England via the National Education Union. When asked “how likely are you to leave the profession in the next five years?” 64.3% of the 2636 respondents who answered the question replied that it was either somewhat or extremely likely.
Strikingly, 68% of teachers cite workload as the main reason for thinking about leaving and according to Mary Bousted in her analysis of the 2018 TALIS survey “England is an outlier in its treatment of teachers-and not in a good way. Other high-performing nations treat their teachers better and take positive action to protect them from excessive work”. Primary teachers responding to the 2018 survey worked an average of 52.1 hours a week. The only country reporting higher working hours was Japan.
Two-thirds of teachers (66%) reported that they spent over half of their working time on tasks other than teaching. 75% felt they spent too much time on general administrative tasks. Other time-consuming duties included data input and following up behavioural issues.
In 2021 the government introduced the Early Career Framework (ECF) a two-year teacher induction programme facilitated by a variety of providers. It aims to provide:
The intention of the ECF is that early career teachers will be better able to cope with the demands of the job. Early evaluations suggest that mentors are appreciated by early career teachers, but they are not provided with enough time to carry out the tasks the programme requires.
We are concerned that this approach frames the issue as lying within individuals rather than the multi-faceted environment in which they work.
How can we address the teacher retention crisis?
Our research aims to develop a more nuanced critical engagement with the concept of teacher resilience and to create more resilient environments for teachers at local, regional, and national levels. It builds on an exploratory study which suggested, “that the way teachers experience their professional role is more strongly associated with their environment than by their individual characteristics.”
Visual depiction of the social-ecological model of teacher resilience
We will develop a bank of resilience strategies, drawing upon existing research as well as the academic and professional expertise across the project partner team. Participating teachers at the 8 project partner schools will develop interventions tailored to their individual needs and school contexts, which will draw upon and extend this bank of strategies. The schools will implement the interventions and evaluate the impact that they have on teacher resilience using a mixed methods approach.
Taking immediate action
In addition to commenting on workload, pay, flexible working and perceptions in the media, we outline immediate priorities for the Department for Education in our call for evidence submission. These are:
- That a new accountability system is developed in place of Ofsted. This should be supportive rather than punitive and adopt a pedagogical approach to school improvement, with a focus on professional learning rather than judgement. If actioned immediately, this would reduce workload, the immense pressure experienced by school leaders, and make a significant difference to the way that teachers are perceived and valued.
- That the grading of schools is abolished, in favour of a focus on formative assessment, conducted with the school as part of a supportive, developmental approach to school improvement with a ‘school development adviser’ rather than an ‘inspector’.
- That a collaborative and supportive approach to school improvement is developed, where schools work together and with school development advisers to share good practice and create innovative strategies to address areas for development.
In addition to these recommendations at the macro level, our research suggests that school leaders can have a significant impact on how staff within their schools experience their roles. This research suggests that teachers thrive best in schools that have organisational cultures underpinned by trust, autonomy and nurturing relationships.
Final thoughts
“Teaching is very much viewed as a vocation, not a profession. Until the Government start to demonstrate a trust and genuine respect for the pedagogical skills and understanding of teachers, high calibre graduates will not be drawn to the profession.” – Classroom teacher
In order to make a substantive improvement to retention and recruitment, we need to create a climate for teachers, which is underpinned by trust and recognises teachers as skilled professionals.
We agree with the 2019 teacher recruitment and retention strategy’s ambition to harness the ‘energy and purpose’ of teachers by ‘deepening expertise and professionalism and exciting teachers about teaching’, but our research suggests that this would be best achieved by redirecting the resources that are currently used to monitor and grade schools into developing a supportive community of professionals who work together to develop their practice further with a shared aim of providing each child with an excellent education. Finally, whilst pay is an important aspect of providing teachers with recognition, working conditions have a greater influence on retention of staff. Before implementing further reforms to the qualifications and curriculum on offer, the Prime Minister must ensure that schools and colleges have a stable and satisfied workforce who will then have greater capacity for change.
This research has been conducted by Dr Steph Ainsworth, Dr Jeremy Oldfield, and Dr Carrie Adamson.
Dr Carrie Adamson is currently a research associate in the Education and Social Research Institute at Manchester Metropolitan University (UK). She has previously worked at The University of Sheffield and before that was a high school and college biology teacher. She has carried out mixed methods research with teachers, parents and children. Her research interests include teacher resilience, pupils at risk of exclusion and alternative education.
Good work needs to take centre stage in Labour’s employment policy
Katherine Roycroft
In an article recently published by Renewal, Dr Katy Jones of Manchester Metropolitan University outlines four key policy priorities a future Labour government should focus on to support good work in the UK.
Supporting good work forms a key plank of Labour’s emerging manifesto agenda. However, we’ve seen little detail so far on how this ambition will be supported by employment policy. Showing a reluctance to publicly depart from a punitive sanctions-based conditionality regime, draft manifesto plans do not (yet) amount to the radical overhaul that is needed to effectively support people not just to move into, but also sustain and progress in decent jobs.
This isn’t about being “soft on welfare”.[1] This is about offering an alternative, more progressive vision of active labour market policies that align with Labour’s wider economic ambitions. To achieve this, a future Labour government would need to focus on four key priorities.
Scrap Work First
Now known globally as an archetypal Work First welfare regime – the UK is too often an example of how not to do things. This approach, which emphasises moving unemployed people into any job quickly, isn’t serving anyone. Jobseekers are pressured into jobs that don’t match their capabilities and circumstances[2], frustrated employers[3] are inundated by a high volume of inappropriate applications.
Although delivering faster movements into work, the work people move into is often poor quality and unsustainable.[4] The current Conservative government’s plans to extend conditionality to workers in receipt of UC (as I call it, a Work First, Work More approach[5]) fail to tackle the real causes of in-work poverty and instead look set to ramp up the pressure on working people.
How Labour plans to support both unemployed and working social security claimants is so far unclear, but ditching our outdated Work First model and replacing it with an emphasis on good work should be centre stage.
Take a systems approach
Part of a more ambitious approach is to recognise that supporting work entry and progression is not simply a supply-side employability issue that can be tackled in silos. A co-ordinated “systems approach” to employment and skills, which is supported by investment in social infrastructure (childcare and transport) and includes a clear strategy for employer engagement and workforce development is key to supporting improvements in employment support and the quality of jobs people move into.
Alongside measures focused on supporting (sometimes requiring) businesses to improve working practices, plans for the localisation of some employment support to join up fragmented services and better serve local needs are welcome here.[6] However, this must be underpinned by proper resourcing and more coherent governance and accountability structures.[7]
Furthermore, more responsive local policy and service provision does not negate the need for joined-up policy making at the national level. A Labour government should ensure that the DWP works in partnership with and has shared objectives with other Departments (including the Departments for Business and Trade and Education).
Ensure jobseekers can access quality training
One immediate priority to tackle silo-d working is to give more attention to employment support as a route into meaningful training opportunities. Currently, just 6% of benefit spells involve any form of education or training. Only 6% of people starting an apprenticeship claimed benefits in the 6 months prior.[8]
These are baffling statistics, especially given shared agendas of employment and skills policy on supporting people to move into and progress in work. But recent research has found that benefit rules actually militate against jobseekers who want to take up training in order to help them access better opportunities in the labour market.[9]
Labour’s plans to ‘deliver a landmark shift in skills provision’[10] should therefore be supported by a co-ordinated approach which ensures that high quality training opportunities are accessible to jobseekers and low-income workers who want to progress. Policy silos and an emphasis on moving people into any job quickly have long been lamented, but a simple policy proposal to get the ball rolling would be to reduce restrictions on learning participation for people in receipt of social security benefits. This should receive support from the Left and the Right.[11]
Put people at the centre of policymaking
Currently employment policy appears to be devised by the DWP, then dealt with by everyone else. Mismatches between policymaker beliefs and the realities of working life[12] have had consequences ranging from daft to disastrous.
By placing jobseekers, low paid workers, employers and indeed trade unions at the centre of policymaking, Labour could ensure that employment support works more effectively for everyone, while helping to deliver on Labour’s broader social and economic mission.
As one employer in the Universal Credit and Employers project[13] reflected: “[A]t the end of the day, it’s the employer and the employee that it’s affecting, so they need to actually hear from them, rather than somebody’s who’s just a pencil pusher who’s not actually involved in it. It doesn’t make sense to make policies without knowing anything about it”.
Labour’s plan to establish a new Industrial Strategy Council, bringing together industry, unions and other experts to inform policy-making is potentially encouraging here. But only if employment policy is re-positioned as a core part of UK industrial strategy rather than side-lined as a ‘welfare’ issue where meaningful reform is too often undermined by politics.
The UK’s current approach to employment support is broken and serves neither jobseekers, nor employers and the wider economy. Let’s hope the next government follows the evidence base and has the ambition to create a system fit for a modern labour market.
[1]https://labourlist.org/2015/07/soft-on-welfare-the-challenge-of-a-popular-welfare-policy-that-works/
[2]http://www.welfareconditionality.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/40414-Universal-Credit-web.pdf
[3]https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2023-01/Universal%20Credit%20and%20Employers%20briefing%20note_2023.pdf
[4] https://www.agendapub.com/page/detail/idleness/?k=9781788214544
[5]https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-923X.13130
[6] https://theconversation.com/how-better-local-employment-support-could-help-tackle-uk-labour-shortages-204597
[7] https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/publications/devolving-english-government/
[8] https://campaign-for-learning.org.uk/Web/CFL/What-we-do/Policy-Folder/Policy-Views-Folder/UK_employment_support_needs_a_revamp_learning_at_heart.aspx
[9]https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/work-foundation/publications/room-to-grow
[10]https://labourlist.org/2023/05/labour-manifesto-2024-election-what-policies-npf-party/
[11] https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/for-the-labour-market-it-is-quality-not-quantity-that-makes-a-difference-qqw9k3v5c
[12] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/social-policy-and-society/article/universal-credit-assumptions-contradictions-and-virtual-reality/4F8BC473BBBD6733F9A0E31D71051E8C
[13] https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2023-01/UniversalCreditandEmployersFinalReportJan2023.pdf
Dr Katy Jones is a Reader in Employment at Manchester Metropolitan University. She has previously held research positions at The Work Foundation (part of Lancaster University) and the University of Salford.
Her research focuses on support for people to move into and progress in work, mainly in relation to active labour market policy and vocational education, and with a particular focus on those most disadvantaged in the labour market. She was awarded an ESRC New Investigator Grant to further her work on Universal Credit and Employers, which you can read about here.
How can we better protect the human rights of people seeking asylum in the UK?
Katherine Roycroft
In our latest blogpost, Dr Rossella Pulvirenti and Dr Kay Lalor from Manchester Metropolitan University discuss their research into the UK Government's controversial Rwanda Policy, including their recommendations for improving the asylum system in the UK.
The conclusion of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) and the Government of the Republic of Rwanda (MoU) on 14th April 2022 established a relocation framework for people seeking asylum whose claims are not being considered by the UK to be sent to Rwanda (Rwanda Policy). This means that if any person seeking asylum enters the UK illegally, they will not be able to remain and, instead, will be detained in the UK until they are sent to Rwanda, where their asylum claim will be considered. Even if their asylum claim is successful, they will remain as a refugee in Rwanda.
This policy has unsurprisingly become a contentious issue with concerns raised around the very-real risks of the Rwanda Policy for people seeking asylum. In October 2022, the House of Lords International Agreements Committee released a report on the Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Rwanda for the provision of an asylum partnership arrangement. This report, which cites our research, states that the diplomatic assurances contained in the Memorandum of Understanding are not always seen as providing sufficient protection against the risk of ill treatment, especially because Rwanda is not a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). More recently, organisations working with LGBTQI+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex) people seeking asylum warned that Rwanda was not a safe third country for the LGBTQI+ community. Similarly, in June 2023, the Women and Equalities Committee produced a report, again citing our search, stating that asylum claims based on sexual orientation or gender-identity are difficult to prove and legally complex. The report also noted that victims of sexual and gender-based violence and abuse may experience trauma and related mental health issues that could impact their ability to provide a coherent narrative to support their asylum claim.
Last week the Home Office responded to the Women and Equalities Committee’s report and defended the Rwanda Policy. Working with MetroPolis, we are focusing our research on not only influencing policy but importantly raising awareness of some of the challenges around this sensitive issue.
One of our initial aims was to verify whether the Rwanda Policy is compliant with ECHR and subsequently to assess how the Rwanda Policy is affecting the work of those who support and represent people seeking asylum with protected characteristics. As a result, we decided to invite key stakeholders including asylum seekers, lawyers, NGOs and the Law Society to a roundtable event at Manchester Met to explore these issues further. All the delegates agreed that survivors of sexual violence, trafficking and modern slavery, the LGBTQI+ community and children would be particularly sensitive to rule changes and other processes associated with the Rwanda Policy. Those people are more likely to experience multiple forms of marginalisation, including the hardship of detention, exclusion from work and destitution have far reaching emotional and physical impact of enduring the process of seeking asylum.
Our roundtable also revealed a number of limitations with the current asylum system. For example, lack of representation and access to justice severely limits people’s ability to properly evidence their asylum claim. The fast-changing legal environment creates significant problems for service providers to communicate ongoing adjustments to their clients who were often traumatised or mistrustful of official information.
What’s next?
In order to address some of the above issues, we feel it’s necessary to adopt a multifaceted approach that encompasses legal support alongside awareness-raising through advocacy and education not only with government agencies but also with the wider public. We outline a number of recommendations in our soon to be released research reports but for now these are some of the key ones:
- The Rwanda Policy should comply with the standards set by the international human rights standards and, in particular, by the ECHR.
- In the absence of a policy compliant with international human rights standards, people seeking asylum can challenge their notice of removal through the ECHR caselaw, with specific reference to the issues of dignity and vulnerability.
- Further resources to provide better access to legal representation and support are needed. In the short term, given the limited resources of lawyers and immigration charities, further options on filling gaps and meeting needs should be explored. For example, law schools may be unable to assist with legal advice, but may be able offer translation support, public legal education or means of communicating changes in the law to those seeking asylum. Non-legal assistance with the burden of communication can free up legal professionals to undertake other more technical and specialised aspects of asylum support.
- To avoid the spread of feelings of anxiety and fear, people seeking asylum should be communicated accurate and clear information about their status.
Read the House of Lords’ International Agreement Committee report ‘Scrutiny of international agreements: UK–Rwanda Agreement on an Asylum Partnership‘ (23-24) which references evidence submitted by Dr Lalor and Dr Pulvirenti.
Dr Rossella Pulvirenti is a Senior Lecturer in Law at Manchester Metropolitan University, who holds a PhD in the area of international criminal law and human rights from the University of Nottingham. Her interests lie in the field of Human Rights Law and International Criminal Law. Before moving to the UK, Rossella worked as a lawyer in Italy and completed an internship at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Dr Kay Lalor is a Reader in Human Rights Law at Manchester Law School. Her work explores the growth of LGBTQI+ rights activism in international legal arenas, with a focus on how legally informed activism is translated into non- and quasi-legal projects, and what this means for the development human rights theory, law, and practice. She is a coordinating editor for the journal Feminist Legal Studies. She is also a core member of the Sylvia Pankhurst Gender and Diversity Research Centre and a steering committee member of the GM4Women.