Relationships between Supplementary Benefits Offices and Social Services Departments

There has, of course, been some kind of relationship between local supplementary benefit offices and local authority Social Services departments for as long as they, or their predecessors have both existed. Given that a number of ‘claimants’ at the former will also be ‘clients’ at the latter, it is apparent that the actions of the one organisation will often be of significance for the other, if only through their common, though differently conceived concern with the claimant/client. However at least two major influences have been operating in recent years to make this relationship a much more significant one for both parties. First, there has been since the mid 60s a steady year-by-year increase in both the absolute numbers of those claiming supplementary benefit, and the proportion of the total population they represent. More significantly, amongst the fastest growing groups of claimants have been those family units living under the kind of stresses which make them prima fade, particularly likely candidates for Social Servicesattention, e.g.single parent families, the long-term unemployed, and the physically or mentally handicapped. Secondly, Social Services departments themselves have experienced a significant broadening of their role since the Seebohm re-organisation

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  Arnon Bar‐On•Asia Pacific Journal of Social…•1995

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