Applying efficiency concepts to management in the social services
Efficiency became established as a key concept in service management during the 1980s, yet its definition within the social services remains problematic. This article defines a ratio which equates inputs with costs, and outputs with measured quality of care as an efficiency indicator in residential care for the elderly. Such a conversion ratio (as constructed) revealed clear differences in efficiency between the local authority, voluntary and private sectors of residential care. The causes of these variations are analysed and their implications for the management of services are drawn out. The inherent difficulties in defining unambiguous efficiency measures in this area are also discussed.
Equity and Efficiency in the Allocation of the Personal Social Services
Abstract This paper investigates two issues of equity in the receipt of the home help service, one about territorial justice, the other about sex discrimination. It uses GHS data for 1980. An argument is developed about the efficiency with which services are targeted on persons who by normative criteria would appear to have most need of them. Efficiency is of two types: horizontal efficiency, the proportion of persons judged in need who receive services; and vertical efficiency, the proportion of services allocated to persons judged in need. The findings are that there is evidence of inequity both between different areas and between the sexes. Metropolitan areas are advantaged compared with rural areas, and this cannot be explained by differences in social support nor by the availability of other domiciliary services. Among the elderly living alone, neither sex is advantaged, but in elderly married couple households the home help service is more frequently provided in the case of a husband caring for a disabled wife than in the case of a wife caring for a disabled husband.
Constitutional Identity in the EU— A Shield or a Sword?
This Article consists of five sections. In the first section, it describes why identity questions matter, particularly in Europe. In the second section, the Article tackles the issue of multiple structural ambiguities affecting the concept of constitutional identity in the European constitutional vocabulary. In the third section, the Article explores trends concerning the use of constitutional identity in the European legal discourse and practice, including the development of alternative interpretations and applications of the notion of constitutional identities in the Member States. The fourth section of the Article combines the analytical accounts outlined in the second section with the trends identified in the third section, contending that different conceptions and applications of constitutional identity have varying effects on the European composite constitutional adjudication system and that the institutional and procedural framework should be calibrated accordingly. The final section of this Article draws some conclusions.