With the government’s plans for the reform of welfare benefits for the disabled a subject of much public debate, the Scottish Centre for Employment Research (SCER) at SBS recently hosted a major one-day seminar bringing together leading academic experts in this field.
The seminar, funded by the Social Policy Association, was organised by Dr Colin Lindsay at SCER and Dr Donald Houston of the University of St Andrews. The thirty participants were drawn from a dozen universities, along with representatives of welfare-to-work providers and third sector organisations. Presenters included Professor Steve Fothergill (Sheffield Hallam University), Professor Anne Green (Warwick University), and Dr Rickard Ulmestig (Linnaeus University, Sweden).
The findings of the seminar will reported in a forthcoming Social Policy Association publication. All of the seminar presenters have contributed to a new book edited by Colin Lindsay and Donald Houston – entitled “Disability benefits, employment policy and welfare reform” – to be published by Palgrave Macmillan early next year.