Suchergebnisse

Focusing on the social impacts of the 2000—2 pension reform in Bulgaria, the article examines how Bulgarian pensioners cope with income risk in old age. Reporting that old-age pensions are frequently inadequate to household consumption needs, the authors argue for more generous tax-financed social pensions alongside contributory pension provision, to combat old-age poverty. As the poorest country to date to achieve European Union accession, the article concludes by suggesting that Bulgaria's pursuit of fuller integration and development within the EU cannot be divorced from better meeting the social security needs of its ageing population.

Public Private Partnerships / Private Finance Initiative (PPP/PFI), play a significant role in the renewal of the UK's public services. For some commentators, the policy has been associated with poor value for money for the public sector while the private sector is virtually guaranteed steady profits over extended periods of time. This paper explores a policy aspect which so far has not attracted so much attention; that of the PPP/PFI market and more specifically the possibility of failure of private sector companies which have undertaken responsibility for the provision of public services. It concludes that the long term success of PFI projects is linked to the sustained involvement of the private sector companies. Failures of private companies can result in service deterioration, disruptions and increased costs to the public sector.

An increasing share of public services in Britain and its regions are procured through Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes. Past research has shown that PFI procurement puts heavy demands on the managerial skills of public sector managers, particularly as concerns the management of procurement and project risks. Although government initiatives have sought to identify and remedy some of the weaknesses of the public sector as PFI procurer, there are strong indications that Scottish local authorities continue to encounter problems in procuring PFI projects. Comparing two large-scale multisite school projects, which were completed as PFIs in August 2001 and October 2002, this article presents evidence of a learning process in which local authorities have developed increased expertise in project management. These improvements concern the way these authorities have understood, assessed, and managed PFI risks as well as their approach to the allocation of risks between project partners.

The 2007-09 credit crunch has not only created problems for the UK's public finances in meeting the costs of bailing out commercial banks and dealing with recession but also for providing better public services. This paper analyses the causes of the credit crunch, government policies to address it and its impact on the financing of new public sector infrastructure in the UK. It finds that provision of new public sector infrastructure and related services has been adversely affected by the impact of the credit crunch on Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs). Commercial banks are now generally only willing to lend to replace collapsed PFI bond financing if new PFI contracts reduce financial risks. By such means, PFIs can be expected to survive but within an increasingly diverse mixture of procurement methods.

The overarching objective of this article is to stimulate debate about how local authorities could and should manage their austerity measures because the speed, scale and aggregation of the UK public spending cuts risk adversely affecting already disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, exacerbating social exclusion and leading to higher costs for councils in the future. It presents the results of research conducted during 2011-2012 focusing on if and how five Scottish case study councils attempted to mitigate social risks. It found that they were using equalities impact assessment (EIA) procedures in their decision-making. However, EIAs are not fit for purpose as a risk mitigation tool and fail to take account of all groups which may also be adversely affected by service cuts. Hence, this article recommends a more innovative approach in local decision-making processes based on a social risk impact assessment (SRIA) model within a preventative approach to social policy. Adapted from the source document.