This editorial is being written in January 2023 at a time when economic problems in the UK are affecting the standard of living of increasing numbers of the population. Poverty has become a familiar concern not only for large low income families, but we now hear of nurses unable to cope on their salaries and using food banks while they undertake industrial action following unsuccessful requests for a pay rise in response to inflation.
We are therefore increasingly aware of the responsibility of the JSWFL to address both welfare and family law matters. We are reminded of the original commitment made by Brenda Hale who was involved in the renaming of the journal, and remains an active member of the Editorial Advisory committee. Her involvement is described by the author of this editorial in Chapter 7 of ‘Justice for All’, edited by Hunter and Rackley and published in honour of Lady Hale in 2022, which follows, reprinted here with the kind permission of CUP. For over 12 years we have been most grateful to Richard Kirkham for editing our Section entitled ‘Ombudsman, Tribunal and Administrative Justice’. We now plan with the additional help of Jed Meers who already co edits the cases section, and Lee Marsons from the University of Essex who is joining the Editorial Board,to develop this section further under a new title: Ombudsman, Tribunal, and Administrative Justice and Welfare, thus increasing the potential for including matters which do not always reach a court for decision making. The section will continue in its current form for 2 issues a year, alternating with the addition of a second group of two issues a year to be called provisionally ‘Debates in Social Welfare’. These might include articles on, for example, the issue of use of sanctions in a welfare programme. Or the possibility for benefit agencies to act as debt collectors (see Gordon Brown,Guardian Journal 15 December 0202). We now invite contributions to help us move in this direction.
The two articles in the first part of this issue main section refer to access to existing services particularly by those who lack some form of capacity, and how these services can be helped to work effectively. Fiona McCormack and colleagues look at building literacy in organisations that support people already experiencing disadvantage. Christopher Sayer and colleagues look at the capacity test, with some regrets about the direction of change.
The second group of two papers looks at the work of the family courts, both of which are using new and exciting methodologies. Tatiana Grieshofer looks at communication and information seeking strategies in family courts. While Kim Holt who has a chair in Law and Callum Thompson, both of whom are legal practitioners, present an “Autoethnography”, giving their personal reflections on their work as members of the Family Bar in Northern England.
As editors we value the perspective of academics who are not only involved in analysis of the impact of the family courts but also active in practice. This article is followed by the case notes, whose section editor Professor Robert George also practices at the family bar. An additional form of inter linked activity, this time involving academic and policy work, can be found in the work of Professor George as Special Adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee on the implementation of the 2014 Children and Families Act, published on 6 December 2022 which provides the policy makers response. Meanwhile both JSWFL editors have also been involved with consideration of practice in family work. Mavis Maclean gave evidence to the Select Committee, and Emma Hitchens took part in empirical work with divorcing couples for the Nuffield Family Justice Laboratory, also published in December 2022 as ‘Separating Families; experiences of separation and support’.
We firmly believed that these ‘cross overs’ of experience between the academic world of teaching research, and involvement in practice and policy making within family and welfare law make a valuable contribution to the broad perspective and wide readership of the JSWFL, both here and in other jurisdictions.
We close this issue with a book review, and case reports, all adding to the integration of family law and welfare issues. Michael Keating has reviewed for us ‘Social Citizenship in an Age of Welfare Regionalism’ by Mark Simpson, published by Hart in Oxford, 2022, which includes discussion of the impact of devolution on welfare provision in Ireland and Scotland. The cases include Reeson on” Reasonable Living Costs, Affordability of Accommodation and Intentional Homelessness‘, Matthews on “Working Fathers Experience of Sex Discrimination”, de Conteras “No winners here only losers” and Meers and Selman on’ Debt by design in social security: Unlawful administration of third party deduction.”