Report on obstacles to access to Social Protection in Europe
Explanatory Report
By Dr. Peter Melvyn (European Centre for Social Welfare Policy, Austria)
Introduction
Summary of major findings (individual country variations notwithstanding)
APPENDIX I
APPENDIX II
Introduction 
1. The aim of the report, as stated by the guidelines for its preparation, is to identify obstacles to access to social protection in those Council of Europe member States which have replied to the questionnaire on access to social protection.
2. Of the 43 Council of Europe member States, eight have not returned the questionnaire, three sent statements on their social protection systems without replying to the questions. From 13 countries, replies were received from both government services and NGOs. Government services only replied from 16 countries, NGOs only from one country. The report is consequently based mainly on information from 30 countries.
3. The information supplied varies greatly both in quantity and quality. Not all respondents replied to or commented on each question. Some provided very detailed information whereas the data given by others tended to be very sparse. This makes for a certain bias to the report in favour of the former. In spite of these limitations it is hoped that the report communicates an equitable understanding of what constitutes the main impediments to access to social protection. The replies to the questionnaire also provide insight into the details of government programmes in this field and of the various modes of intervention, demonstrating anew, as it has been done at other occasions, that benefits and services may be available but for various reasons are not sufficiently used or taken up and are therefore not fully effective. Further, the replies contain much information on non-State structures such as the different NGOs, their role in the social safety net as complementary providers of benefits and services or as “enablers”, i.e. assisting people with access to the latter. Yet in spite of the efforts of government services and NGOs, the full degree of under-protection of certain population groups is still not estimated. It is perhaps for this reason that social assistance, as reflected by the replies, plays a considerable role in national protection systems, varying from limited discretionary to rights-based programmes. On the other hand, interestingly enough, according to a recent study “a clear majority of countries within the OECD are neither expanding nor radically changing their social assistance schemes...There is a shared concern to hold back the growth in expenditure on social assistance: to introduce and implement more exacting conditionality rules for the receipt of benefit” 1.
4. Finally, if the report shows many points of similarity between the countries of northern, western and southern Europe, there are also important differences due to historical and cultural traditions and levels of economic and welfare state developments. Likewise, the central and eastern European countries do not form a homogeneous whole. While for many years standard forms of social protection prevailed in these countries, the growing diversity in their economic, social and political evolution during the past decade finds itself reflected in their social policy development
Summary of major findings (individual country variations notwithstanding)
A. Obstacles
I. General obstacles
lack of coordination between different levels of authority and between different administrative units in both federal and centralised systems
lack of harmonisation in service delivery between providers
lack of an overall concept of social protection in some systems under construction
problems due to frequent changes in rules and regulations in social legislation
II. Structural obstacles
effectiveness of appeal procedures hampered by departmental boundaries, procedural complexities, differences in levels (national/regional/local)
no appeal against refusal in cases of non-contributory, discretionary benefits
lack of information may well lead to loss, reduction or delays in benefits
lack of information is one factor in low take up rates of certain types of benefits
high fragmentation of the social protection system and its lack of transparency appears to be a barrier to interdependence between services
failure to qualify for benefits or services seems to depend on the tightness or the porosity of the social safety net. The bigger the gaps in social protection, the higher the likelihood of refusals or exclusion
III. Physical (geographic, accessibility) and administrative (qualitative and quantitative) obstacles
geographic obstacles play an important role in rural areas, due to distances, climate, inadequate public transport facilities, especially for older and disabled persons
access is problematic for disabled persons in both rural and urban areas because of lack of appropriate facilities in public buildings
difficulties for the general public and often also for service providers to understand and interpret legislative texts
complexity of procedures is another reason for the low level take up in certain social benefits
lack of criteria for qualification requirements in administrative and social services
poor conditions of office facilities (equipment, degree of privacy) and degree of user-friendly or user-unfriendly treatment are factors in the quality of reception
waiting times vary with the type of benefit or service, tending to be longer in the case of means tested benefits or those needing longer enquiries
attention is drawn to the inadequacies of resources, both human and financial, though standards of adequacy differ considerably
IV. Psychological obstacles
social stigmatisation with regard to beneficiaries ( people on social assistance, lone parent families, AIDS patients, drug users, mentally and physically handicapped, unemployment insurance recipients, refugees, asylum seekers etc.) appears to be fairly wide spread
non-contributory, means tested benefits are more subject to stigmatisation than those based on statutory rights
V. Obstacles connected with communication
great variations in the views between government services and NGOs
government services: information dissemination satisfactory but admit certain problems to reach ethnic and linguistic minorities
NGOs: tend to consider official information material as highly inadequate with regard to accuracy, recency and outreach
the more complex a social protection system, the greater the difficulty to communicate it effectively
certain population groups, e.g. ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with literacy and numeracy problems are often cut off from information channels
new information technologies where they are in use greatly improve communication
VI. and VII. Socio-cultural and other types of obstacles
in all responding countries there is differential treatment with regard to access to social protection of certain categories of persons or groups who are either excluded from certain benefits or services or they are faced with barriers to access
migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are often subject to restrictions on state financial benefits
according to numerous NGOs, racial prejudices are far from rare on different levels of government services
racism and prejudice appear to have grown with increased immigration and requests for asylum
in some countries the Roma minority is in a very precarious situation and at a great disadvantage with regard to access due to high unemployment, inadequate health and housing provisions
B. Examples of good practice and innovative measures
improvements in the dissemination of information on entitlements to benefits and services
simplified versions of legislative texts in different languages
creation of citizens’ advice bureaux
introduction of new legislation to improve access in the areas of health and social protection as well as regarding accessibility for of disabled persons in several countries
creation of new services and greater diversification in several countries
simplified procedures and streamlining of decision making systems
establishment of in-service training schemes for administrative and social welfare staff.
A. Obstacles
I. General obstacles
1.1. In the performance of their task of social protection, do the people or institutions in charge of benefits and social services encounter particular difficulties in providing these benefits or services? (for example due to : lack of resources, inadequate training of personnel, lack of clarity in the definition and distribution of powers, responsibilities and obligations?)
5. Several of the 22 replies to this question, e.g. referring to lack of resources or inadequate training of personnel, overlap with those given under III.1 b and c where the questions reoccur and where they will be treated. A few replies addressed to “general obstacles” such as pertaining to social legislation are not covered by this question. Most probably - and quite understandably so - considered flaws in their national legislation to be “general obstacles”. Quite a number of replies deal with the insufficiencies of national social protection systems or question their very functioning. Again, although these problems are not directly addressed in this question - or in any other question - apparently some respondents consider this to be a major issue. Therefore a wider range of obstacles, perceived as general, are commented on in the replies than originally called for.
6. Most respondents tend to see major general obstacles in what the question refers to as “lack of clarity in the definition and distribution of powers, responsibilities and obligations”. In broad terms, several countries face similar issues in the organisation of health care. As one country with a highly developed health care system reports, the different services are not sufficiently integrated and do not always cooperate, one result being unnecessarily long hospital stays of patients, Further, the cooperation of the different professions in the health field is not sufficiently close in order to ensure optimal care. Thus too many diagnostic steps as well as medical procedures are being undertaken which may not always be medically justified. Another country with similar high standards in health care regrets the fragmentation of responsibilities in this field which in this case are divided between the central (or federal) health administration and regional/provincial and local health care organisations. The lack of coordination as well as the lack of networking is said to have a negative effect on the quality of care. In contrast to these obstacles, reported by two countries with federal government systems (Germany and Austria, mentioned by official heath care services), in the United Kingdom, for example, a devolution of responsibility from central government towards lower or local level agencies has taken place as part of the health service reforms.
7. In the field of social protection, devolution of certain services such as social assistance to local levels may in some countries cause serious problems inasmuch as where local government authorities act as autonomous units , they may lack the necessary funds (government source, Estonia). Deficiencies in the management of the systems with regard to sharing responsibility between federal and local authorities is also mentioned in the reply from the Russian Federation (government source).
8. In some countries which operate in a so-called “difficult socio-economic system” due to their transition to a market-oriented economic and social system during the last decade, the social protection system is considered as still being in flux and therefore not entirely structured. In the areas of social assistance and social services in particular, frictions arise due to lack of clearly defined lines in the distribution of powers and responsibilities mainly at district and local levels. In several of these countries a devolution process has been initiated, though without guarantees of funding local authorities that are expected to provide the services for which they are responsible. Other features of social protection systems still under construction which are mentioned in the replies, are frequent and rapid changes in legislative rulings that frequently become obsolete before having been applied.
9. Yet this problem is not unique to former centrally controlled economy countries. Thus, according to a government source from Italy, rules in the complex social protection system are reported to be heterogeneous as they had been drawn up in different periods since 1945, yet are still in force and not easily definable. A major problem mentioned by the same source is the lack of balance between the expenditures for the pension system and those for social assistance which is allocated a relatively small part of the overall social budget, although it is a constitutional right. As there is still no national law governing social assistance, the various agencies providing health and social benefits are fragmented and have to relate to different competencies represented by State, regional and local authorities.
10. Reports from one country in particular point to the lack of an integrated system of service delivery within the area of social protection, that is assistance being provided by a number of different administrative services ( source: several NGOs from Ireland). A major obstacle is seen in the fact that social assistance operates under a complex system of means testing for which criteria vary from one scheme to another.
II. Structural obstacles
2.1. Concerning benefits and services, please describe:
A) HOW EFFECTIVE ARE THE ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL PROCEDURES IN PLACE ?
11. With regard to administrative appeal procedures, it should be recalled that under the terms of article 12 para l of the European Social charter, assistance may not be left to the discretion of the administrative authorities alone, but must be a statutory right, supported by the right of appeal to an independent body 2. Further, guarantees have been developed to ensure the effectiveness of the right to appeal in keeping with the aforementioned article, concerning the status of a review body and the scope of its power 3.
12. Of the 20 countries that replied to this question , all provide for appeals. Six countries stated to keep statistics on this measure. However, the replies do not always make clear whether a redress of grievances or complaints is possible in all areas of social protection or whether countries in their replies have chosen to refer only to certain related branches, e.g. unemployment insurance and -assistance (after expiration of benefits) or to assistance to disabled persons, to work accidents or family allowances. In some countries from which figures are available distinctions are made between appeal procedures at national level and those at the level of regions or provinces. According to an NGO from the United Kingdom, complaints and appeals systems can be problematic because of departmental boundaries since different agencies ,e.g. in the fields of health, housing, social services etc., have their own internal complaints systems. Obtaining redress can be confusing, particularly if a complaint involves service from different agencies.
13. A few countries only provide figures on refusals of benefits and, again, on certain branches of social protection only such as work accidents (Belgium, government source: 12% refusals) or family allowances ( Belgium, same source: high number of refusals compared to other services). The number of refusals varies greatly from one country to another, ranging from 4% (district government source, Czech Republic) to about 15% (government source, Norway) and 25% (government source, Finland, with regard to disability pensions) to 90% (government source, Italy, where appeals are handled at regional/local level).
14. From the descriptions of national protection schemes that were provided, it appears that all responding countries have appeal bodies of various kinds and on different levels. However, one national government source (Ireland) reports that no appeals system exists for some services, e.g. those that are not statutorily based (benefits in kind to old persons and to the disabled) or in case of discretionary benefits (supplements to social assistance).
15. According to the different countries’ own appraisals their appeals institutions are stated to be functioning effectively. On the other hand, long delays and/or procedural complexities that discourage the lodging of complaints are indicated by a number of NGOs of different countries. It should be added that the limited information on appeals institutions and -procedures requested in the questionnaire does not allow a full appraisal of their functioning or their effectiveness.
B) THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS AND DECISION MAKERS (ARE THESE RELATIONS GOOD ENOUGH TO ENSURE THAT THE POTENTIAL BENEFICIARY IS DIRECTED TO THE APPROPRIATE BODY IN THE CASE OF ERROR?)
16. Of the nine countries that replied to this question, three government sources indicate a good overall quality of relations, though in one case and NGO feels that there is room for improvement. The other replies are non-committal inasmuch as they point to a legal obligation of directing claimants to the appropriate services. Yet in one case, mentioned by an NGO from France, the existing mechanism for redirection does not ensure that this happens in practice. However, in France, with the new universal basic coverage in the health system, a central service point is established for claimants. According to an Irish NGO, voluntary services play an important role in directing applicants who do not feel comfortable in dealing with state services and in assisting them with filing their claims.
C) THE CONSEQUENCES OF A POSSIBLE LACK OF INFORMATION
17. There is unanimity among the responding 13 countries that lack of information can lead to loss of or to delays in benefits or other services. Yet, as it is pointed out in one reply, it is difficult to establish whether the necessary information was not provided, application procedures not clear or whether users are simply not aware of this information. The consequences may be particularly serious in case of accidents at the work place, e.g. when employers are not insured and/or refuse to declare the accident or when the person concerned is not aware of his/her right to report the accident to the appropriate authority. Thus, according to the Swiss law on accident insurance (Art.46), unjustified belated reporting may result in benefit cuts by half for the time prior to the notification of the accident as well as in case of a three-months’ lapse of time. by the insured person or his/her survivors of more than three months after the declaration of the accident may result in a reduction to half of the benefits. If an employer fails to report the accident for no valid reason, he may be held financially responsible by the insurance institution.
18. Another consequence of lack of information, particularly in the administration of financial assistance, seems, as already mentioned, due to the claimants’ level of awareness or knowledge regarding their entitlements. Although most countries point to their efforts in the dissemination of information through various means, there still appear to be individuals or groups of people who are not being reached. One of the consequences of lack of information, as shown by an Irish NGO, is the low take up rate for certain benefits. Thus a study showed that over four fifths of respondents reported needs for which they did not lodge claims. This was partly explained by the fear that a claim is made for one benefit, entitlement to another may be refused. A Belgian national insurance source reports efforts to widely diffuse information on benefits in a clear language through a quasi-permanent presence of officials.
19. The problem of low take up is also confirmed by an NGO source from the United Kingdom which quotes from the considerable amount of research that has been done on the reasons for low benefit take up. The studies mention a range of factors, - the structure of the different benefit schemes, the administration of benefits or those relating to the individual’s awareness, beliefs and perceptions of the benefit system. Lack of basic knowledge of benefits and the different rules or uncertainty whether a particular benefit would apply to the claimants’ circumstances are among the reasons. Another Irish NGO makes the comment that “lack of information is lack of Power”. According to this organisation’s experience, most of its clients prefer to be given the information they need or advice where it may be obtained than have their benefits secured on their behalves. Further, people express a great deal of resentment and anger upon discovering that there is information on benefits and services to which they would have been entitled but which they forfeited due to lack of information , tending to assume that it had been withheld deliberately. In short, information that is accurate, up-to-date and accessible to all is crucial in promoting self-empowerment.
D) THE EVENTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE BETWEEN ACCESS TO THE DIFFERENT BENEFITS OR SERVICES.
20. Of the twelve countries that have replied to this question, most acknowledge the existence of interdependence as defined in the point at issue. However, several answered in the negative. From the replies it may be deduced that there is a link between interdependence and the degree of transparency of the system as perceived by the respondents. Further, a certain lack of clarity of what is exactly meant by this question and some overlap with question b) may explain the great diversity of on the whole rather cursory responses.
21. Generally speaking entitlement to one benefit or service does not exclude entitlement to another or several others, though depending on the circumstances of the potential recipient, i.e. his/her eligibility. Thus e.g. a minimum old age pension or other insufficiencies of resources may entitle the beneficiary to a heating allowance or home care services, which is the most frequently quoted situation. On the other hand, persons drawing unemployment insurance pay which is time-limited, are less likely to benefit from additional monetary assistance, without however excluding this possibility. For example, in Belgium (government source), a person receiving unemployment benefits may after seven months be entitled to supplementary family allowances. This is made possible since in Belgium the law provides for polyvalence of claims between the different benefit systems and within the latter between different benefits and allowances. Replies from two countries which recognise the lack of transparency in their system and subsequently weak interdependence, show that e.g. in Ireland (NGO source) failure to obtain a particular benefit is unlikely to lead to access to another. As already mentioned, services such as income maintenance, health, housing etc. have different requirements for means tests, yet the information that has to be provided with each claim is basically the same. The same source points to the frequent unawareness of staff regarding other services, concluding that only voluntary independent information services have an overview of the protection and social welfare system in their country. An NGO source from Switzerland explains that every branch within the Swiss social security system functions within its own legislative framework. This makes for a great diversity in applications of the law, in benefits, in administrative and financial organisation with the result that access to benefits is rendered difficult because of the complexity of the system, lack of coordination between its different components and the lack of coordination between them.
2.2. Does failure to qualify for one of these benefits or services lead to a series of refusals and exclusion?
22. This question was frequently left out or overlooked by the respondents. What transpires from the replies provided by eleven countries is whether or to what extent such situations occur seems to depend on the level of social protection coverage in a given country. Thus in countries with high level coverage, relatively few persons fall through the social safety net which provides a minimum of sustenance, as there is usually a “last resort”, that is some form of social assistance provided by national or local government authorities and/or by NGOs. Refusals of offers, e.g. work or employment that according to the claimant is not par with his/her work history or for reasons of distance, low wages or poor working conditions or of a training place may lead to reduction or cancellation of benefits.
23. People who are not eligible for any other benefit but a basic social assistance grant may feel excluded inasmuch as they are not integrated in the labour market and live at minimum standards or even below in societies with high consumption levels. Individuals or groups mentioned as particularly vulnerable are homeless persons or those without fixed address, refugees or migrants with illegal status, ambulant mentally disturbed persons, drug addicts or parts of minorities such as Roma families. In some countries of southern Europe in particular, there is still heavy reliance on family and kinship solidarity as a factor of mutual aid and social cohesion and on altruistic organisations in the case of expiration of unemployment insurance or other benefits and in the absence of statutory or of insufficiency of discretionary social assistance systems.
24. Although in much of Europe groups most at risk are fairly similar , in many of the transition economies of central and eastern Europe, these groups comprise unregistered unemployed, migrants from other parts of the sub-continent and in general substantial numbers of people living below the poverty line such as old age pensioners, disabled persons or large families. Their situation is all the more dramatic due to the large gaps in the social safety net. Thus, for example, it is reported from the Ukraine that the poorest families do not receive housing subsidies, often due to lack of information on such families.
III. Practical and administrative obstacles
3.1. Obstacles of a practical or administrative nature encountered by the beneficiaries of social benefits and/or social services, such as for example :
A) Physical obstacles
- geographic
- accessibility
25. Of the 17 countries that replied to these questions, about half consider access of people in rural areas to protection services as a problem, often regardless of their countries’ geographic location in Europe and of the size of their territories. Climatic conditions such as long and severe winters aggravate the problem in north-eastern Europe. In many countries exist dense networks of service points that facilitate access. in others, with large sparsely populated areas contacts are maintained by telephone, mail, fax and e-mail is quite common. However, in one very large country, the Russian Federation, people in remote settlements, especially in the Far North, cannot be provided with certain services all year round (government source). Many of these people belong to ethnic and linguistic minorities, - 70 different indigenous nationalities (according to the census) numbering about half a million people, - and are thus, as pointed out by government sources, often cut off from information channels on social protection as well as from educational opportunities, vocational training, employment and cultural facilities. Further, old people in remote locations face additional hardships since their chances to benefit from services are reduced due to a less dense network of service delivery points in the remoter parts of the Russian Federation. Also in the Ukraine great distances between villages, settlements and regional urban centres affect the provision of services. In replies from a few smaller countries where distances are relatively small (government source, Estonia, NGO, Ireland), mention is made of inadequate conditions of public transport such as the infrequency and limited schedules of local trains and buses as well as their cost to low income persons.
26. Difficulty of accessibility to services for handicapped persons is acknowledged by many countries though not all have reacted to what is a visible and widely recognised problem. The particular difficulties for handicapped people range from problems with the use of public transport to access to office buildings that are nor appropriately equipped to receive people with impaired mobility. Some countries have set up home visiting services to assist with information and claims. Two countries (Portugal and the United Kingdom, national government sources) report on legislative provisions to guarantee accessibility for disabled persons. Thus in Portugal, the law applies to buildings under construction and adaptation of existing ones. The United Kingdom’s Disability Discrimination Act (1995) acknowledges the right of disabled persons to employment opportunities and to access to service on the same basis as able-bodied people. The Act further provides for the removal or the alteration of physical features which constitute barriers to employment or to the use of social services. Finally, several countries refer to problems of accessibility not only to the old or disabled, but also to mothers with small children who often have to stand in line for long hours and for whom no facilities for child minding are available in public buildings.
B) QUALITATIVE ASPECTS OF PROVISION
(difficulty in understanding legal texts, complexity of procedures, matching the supply to the demand to ensure effective access, qualifications of the service providers, quality of the reception, waiting times)
27. This is the section that has given rise to the largest number of comments and where problems related to access have come to the fore in a most outspoken way. Appraisals are often critical, not only by NGOs but also by public authorities of different levels with regard to both forms and contents of legislative texts and the performance of service providers. Occasionally the replies refer to problems that are outside the set of questions. 18 countries have responded to section III, however without covering all the aspects mentioned.
28. All replies are unanimous in acknowledging the difficulties of the public to understand fully the legal texts pertaining to social protection. A few replies confirm also the complexity of the procedures while quite a number admit to the difficulties of understanding and interpretation not only by the beneficiaries but also by the service providers, for example in the Ukraine. In most cases efforts are mentioned to provide more transparent and simplified versions of the legal texts. Most government services and NGOs see one of their major functions in counselling and assisting clients with application procedures since many of the latter seem not able to cope by themselves. Thus an NGO from Norway emphasises the lack of accessible formats on the information of various groups of disabled people, especially easy-to-read formats, Braille etc. and also in translations for immigrants. Several NGOs complain that frequent amendments, temporary rulings or different versions of the same ruling, - all of which being valid,- cause considerable confusion and may lead to delays in the application procedure. Thus, according to an NGO source from Ireland, most rules of the social welfare system as well as the claims forms are so complicated to understand and that they alienate many potential claimants and thereby constitute a major stumbling block to social protection. In a similar vein, a Swiss NGO source considers the rights and benefit systems too fragmented and therefore lacking transparency. This is supposedly due to the organisation of the whole social protection system and to its lack of inbuilt coordination and harmonisation of benefits and services.
29. With regard to the complexity of procedures, this aspect, apart from being acknowledged, is rarely commented, though there are indications that too complicated procedures may, e.g. in the experience of a Swiss NGO, lead to abandoning the application process. This is given as one of the main reasons for the low level take up in social assistance (NGO source, Ireland). A similar point made by a Finnish NGO is that there is an estimated number of 100,000 households which could be found entitled to social assistance, yet they do not apply for this benefit. Again, one of the reasons given is the complicated application procedure which, particularly if the benefits are likely to be very small, may not be worth the effort. In this connection, another Finnish NGO calls for an overall reform of the basic subsistence allowance scheme, as in its view, too many people have to live on extremely small incomes.
30. Of the 13 country reports that commented on the qualifications of the service providers, somewhat less than half of the replies ranged from very good to satisfactory, or at least adequate. A few countries run permanent education or in-service training programmes for staff members, others deplore the absence of such facilities. Attention is drawn to the lack of criteria for qualification requirements which may vary from one service to another and with levels within services. Yet what exactly these requirements are for the different services, - administrative, health, social welfare etc., - is either not addressed or briefly touched in a few cases. Thus, according to a United Kingdom Government source “staff are encouraged to acquire vocational qualifications but it is not mandatory to have specific qualifications in delivering customer service, although there are some specially trained staff.” A Czech NGO regrets the lack of staff trained in modern social work methods whereas a government source from Estonia where the social protection scheme employs trained social workers points to the extreme low pay in this profession. The majority of responding countries acknowledge either the lack of qualified personnel, for a variety of reasons such as restricted recruitment policies (Belgian government source) or critically comment the quality of personnel employed by the public authorities in this field. Among the examples given are the inability of certain administrative staff in handling human relations problems, described as uncaring and patronising (NGOs France and Ireland) when dealing with the complexity of legal provisions with clients or the lack of capacity for training or further training (government source, Czech Republic).
31. The quality of reception is to a large degree related to the preceding question, that is the qualifications of the service providers as well as to the next item, “waiting times”. Only a few replies make mention of the quality of reception, ranging from “generally good quality” to more detailed comments such as on problems of adverse working conditions of the reception staff, that is the poor state of waiting rooms or lack of respect for privacy in local offices to complaints over the uncaring reception socially of homeless persons (NGO, France) or the unfriendly manner in which information is given to clients. On this last point opinions and views differ between NGOs and government authorities who point to the network of information officers in local social welfare bureaux providing user-friendly information or services (government source, Ireland).
32. With regard to waiting time there is lack of clarity as to whether waiting times refer to the time spent at reception or between filing the application and the obtention of benefits or services. The ten replies to this point therefore interpret the question in both or either ways. In most of these countries the waiting times appear to be varying with the type of benefit or service for which claimants have been found to be eligible. Thus waiting times tend to be longer for benefits subject to means tests or for those that require more detailed enquiries such as institutional care, disability pensions, housing subsidies or allowances to lone parents, than straight statutory benefits such as old age pensions. Waiting times may also be fairly long when physio- or psychotherapy is indicated (government health service, Austria). Some NGO complain of quite unacceptably long waiting (NGO, Denmark), though in other countries waiting times are reported to sort (Government sources, Iceland and Norway).
C) QUANTATIVE ASPECTS OF PROVISION
(human resources available, financial and material resources)
33. 15 countries commented on this point, not including however all the points mentioned. With very few exceptions, the majority of replies, government authorities as well as NGOs, draw attention to an inadequacy of resources , human (especially in rural areas) as well as financial and material, regardless of the geographical location of their country in Europe, -West, East or South,- and correspondingly of the level of welfare state development. What differs are the standards set in each country of what is regarded as adequate human resources and as sufficient funds for the provision of benefits and services. In this respect the needs are considerably greater in the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe, with regard to both human and financial resources.
34. This is due to two major factors. One, the heavy financial burden that the social protection system imposes on the economy and the state budget, severely aggravated by the fiscal difficulties engendered by market-oriented reforms. Two, resulting from this situation, the hardships suffered by large parts of the population, since social policies tend to lag far behind economic reforms and sometimes considered to be a burden. A number of countries have therefore chosen to take a “targeted” approach, that is the attempt to allocate resources foremostly to the neediest and most vulnerable parts of the population, - in other words a highly selective safety net. The kind, the extent and the level of social protection varies between these countries, depending on their financial means, and the administrative and human resources available. Although all the transition countries have established a set of minimum state guarantees for social protection, their implementation often meets with problems, e.g. the regular payments of benefits due to lack of funds (government source, Russian Federation) or understaffing, - in turn related to low wages in government social services, - and as a result long processing times for claims (government source, Czech Republic).
35. The countries commenting on the use of information technology as a tool in the administration of their programmes, report a great improvement in their benefit and service delivery. For example, a Swedish government source points to the fact that is has become possible to obtain information about people who may be entitled to benefits but do not use their rights. Yet the issue of general access, confidentiality and ethics in the use of these new forms of technology needs still to be raised. In the replies, social administrations that are not yet equipped with electronic services or only partly, point to the considerable investments involved. (In this connection attention is drawn to the report of the International Conference on Information Technology: new service opportunities for social security schemes, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 27-30 September 1999, organised by ISSA (International Social security Association),Geneva).
IV. Psychological obstacles
4.1. Are there benefits or services which give the beneficiary a feeling of being socially stigmatised? If so, concerning which benefits? What are the consequences of such stigmatisation?
4.2. Are there benefits or services which give rise to fear in certain beneficiaries, thus having the effect of limiting access to these benefits or services?
4.3. Other psychological obstacles to access to social protection?
36. In the words of an international NGO, “stigmatisation is not just a feeling but a cruel reality”. This is borne out by the replies, mainly from NGOs of the 14 countries that comment on this question. A few additional replies answer with a “no”, coming mainly from government services, some of which acknowledge however that there may be such a feeling or that it could not be entirely excluded, especially in rural areas. The rather contradictory reactions to this question should not be interpreted as a wilful denial of the existence of stigmatisation by government authorities but by the fact that NGOs are generally closer to the grassroots. Since they frequently offer personalised social services, beneficiaries are more likely to reveal their real feelings and experiences than when facing bureaucracies.
37. Stigmatisation or social discrimination -whether real or based on subjective impressions - centres around two situations. The first is that of so-called marginal groups or individuals such as AIDS patients, drug addicts, homeless persons and not infrequently unmarried mothers, as for example reported from the Ukraine, and, to some extent, according to quite a few reports, people with mental health problems or even with physical disabilities. The second group comprises beneficiaries of non-contributory social assistance, whether statutory or discretionary, in a few cases also recipients of unemployment insurance pay. Mention is also made of persons undergoing psychiatric treatment whose feeling of stigmatisation may be more subjective than one of being really discriminated.
38. As to the situation of recipients of social assistance, several NGOs from Ireland who provide much of the material on psychological obstacles point to two main reasons for stigmatisation. One is seen in the mixture between components of entitlement and discretion in social assistance (SWA - Supplementary Welfare Allowance) in Ireland which seems to be perceived in very negative light by the claimants. Studies are reported to have shown that many recipients of SWA tend to be treated with contempt by the administration all the more so as the claimants have no right to appeal eventual refusals because of the discretionary nature of this benefit. The second reason is that generally stigmatising benefits are those that are means tested. On the other hand, according to an Irish regional government welfare source, while admitting that these benefits are stigmatising, the situation has improved through legislation and guidelines to staff. Yet the system of separate means testing for each benefit is still seen as a major barrier to access.
39. It is interesting to note that reports from one group of countries (government as well as NGO sources from Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland) point to widespread and deep-rooted attitudes in their societies which show analogies regarding cultural and religious value systems, e.g. that everyone should be able to assume responsibility for supporting him/herself and their families without outside help. As a consequence, those who do not have this capacity for one reason or another tend to feel ashamed and fear to be made to feel that way by their environment. (Yet parallel to these inherent values there is nevertheless a consensus, at least on the surface, that the State has a responsibility to provide some basic support for those who cannot fend for themselves and who are not cared for in any other way). These attitudes come to the fore in particular with regard to recipients of social assistance, though persons receiving unemployment benefits are often not exempted in spite of high unemployment rates in most of these countries during the last decade. This feeling prevails also in other countries but mainly among persons who had previously enjoyed a higher economic and social status (government source, Romania) and are therefore reluctant to apply for financial help. It should be added that media perceptions and presentations of beneficiaries of social assistance, or even of unemployment benefits, as “scroungers” or “parasites”, with references to fraud or abuse, mostly baseless and exaggerated, - and used for political purposes - contribute considerably to stigmatisation and discrimination of these members of society.
V. Obstacles connected with communication
5.1. Do you consider that the information disseminated concerning entitlement to benefits and existing procedures for its provision are adequate ?
a) from a qualitative standpoint
b) from the standpoint of the adaptation of the information to different target groups (e.g. minorities, people with little knowledge of the language, illiterate people)
5.2. Has the development of the use of new technologies caused problems for certain beneficiaries because of the way in which benefits are now granted or claims made ? (e.g. computerisation of payment for health care, reimbursement to a bank account, etc.)
40. On this question, the replies given by government services and NGOs are farthest apart. In most of the replies from 15 countries, items a) and b) are not clearly kept separate. All government services but one appear to be satisfied with the adequacy and quality of information which they supply to the public concerning entitlements and procedures for making claims. However, a few do admit the existence of problems reaching certain ethnic or linguistic minorities. On the other hand, most NGOs tend to be highly critical of the information disseminated by official sources. Their criticism focuses by and large on the following points:1) general inadequacy: inaccuracies or mistakes in the information material, failure to keep information up-to-date, 2)excess of information on some services, e.g. pension schemes, dearth of information on others, e.g. means-tested benefits, 3) lack of adaptation to levels of education or language groups, to migrants etc.,4) fragmentation of information due to the organisation of social protection at different levels (e.g. federal/provincial/local), and 5) no outreach to disadvantaged groups.
41. Several examples from national contexts illustrate such obstacles in communication, some of which show the relationship between the complexity of a given benefit system and the difficulty to communicate it effectively. Thus, a United Kingdom government source sees three sets of barriers : a) the complexity inherent in and any social security and benefit system, b) lengthy and often complicated forms and the need for clients to contact more than one agency or office, and c) the lack of privacy in many local offices. A Belgian NGO remarks that apart from being frequently incomplete and incorrect, the information supplied is primarily addressed to a public which is already familiar with the functioning of benefit systems. Irish NGOs comment on a number of similar as well as other problems They recognise that the government departments that administer a broad system of social protection produce and make available a wide variety of information on entitlements to social services. However, in their words, the range of the benefits and services that compose the system is quite bewildering. In addition, the language and the style of much of the published information material can only be understood by policy makers and staff responsible for the administration of the services. Information is often couched in legalistic and bureaucratic terms. If this makes access difficult for many ordinary people, persons with literacy and numeracy problems or members of certain minorities face a great obstacle, e.g. the so-called Irish ‘travellers’ ( an indigenous small ethnic minority group with close affinity to the Roma) as well as refugees and asylum seekers.
42. Further, as a substantial number of studies are reported to have shown, the published information on a particular Irish social assistance scheme, the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) is very sparse. According to its critics, the scheme is shrouded in secrecy inasmuch as the administration of the scheme, the internal health board, does not publish its guideline. Another information difficulty is said to be due to discretionary nature of the Exceptional Needs Payments (ENPs) and the Urgent Needs Payments (UNPs) as each health board has its own set of rates and limits. Information on these benefits is, according to this Irish NGO source, not readily available to the public or to community and voluntary organisations working with potential claimants.
43. A government source from Estonia admits that there is still insufficient guidance to ensure that legislation on rights and benefits is clearly understood in terms of enforcement and without scope for interpretation by public officials in order to avoid possible biases. A problem seems to arise, as averred by this source in connection with the Language Act, according to which the country’s only official language is Estonian. Yet, a large proportion of the population in Estonia are of Russian origin, many of whom do not understand or are not fluent in the national language. It may therefore happen that information on social benefits does not reach this part of the population. It does not transpire from this source whether information on entitlements to social protection is also made available in the Russian language. On the other hand, as pointed out by the Estonian government source, according to § 51 of the Constitution “ in localities where at least one-half of the permanent residents belong to a national minority, everyone has the right to also receive responses from state agencies, local governments, and their officials in the language of the national minority.” Beside, the official gazette where all Acts, Decrees, regulations etc. are published, also has a Russian-language edition. Further, the Estonian National Insurance Board has translated into Russian and published information on social security issues, pensions , benefits etc. which is distributed to all regions of Estonia. The Ukraine (government source) reports difficulties for the population of the Crimean peninsula to understand legislation in the Ukrainian language. In this connection attention is drawn to Article 13 para 4 of the European Social Charter which states that “nationals of the Contracting Parties to the Charter, lawfully resident or working regularly within their territories” have the right to social and medical assistance and that non-availability of information on this right may be considered as an obstacle to access to social protection. On the other hand, sources from countries with several different language groups point to the availability of information on entitlements and benefits in the official languages.
44.With regard to the effects of new technologies, this question has been partly replied to under III 3.1.c The few countries (seven) that commented again, reported no particular problems. In some countries where information technologies are not yet widely used by the social protection system, beneficiaries often prefer to continue to receive benefits in cash payments, in others payment methods are optional.
VI. Socio-cultural obstacles
6.1. To your knowledge, are there any minority groups who remain excluded from certain benefits or services or for whom access to certain benefits or services is made difficult ?
6.2. Does the low educational level of certain people or groups have an impact on their effective access to certain benefits or services ?
45. At the outset it may be useful to recall that the European Committee on Social Rights, with reference to the European Social Charter Article 13 (the right to social and medical assistance) identified a number of groups who are likely to need social services, inter alia, “minorities (migrants, gypsies, refugees etc.)”, adding that “this list is not exhaustive as the right to social services must be open to all individuals in the community”. Further, account could be taken of the country reports of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) which periodically examine the situation of non-nationals and minorities with regard to discrimination.
46. Replies to this question were received from 19 countries, most of which referred to 6.1 (minority groups). In all the responding countries there are - or there can be, as it is put by some - certain categories of persons or groups who are either excluded from various benefits or services or for whom access is difficult. However, since the question is not explicit as to the definition of a minority group in this context, the replies cover a wide spectrum of people ranging from homeless persons, unregistered unemployed, mentally ill people, drug addicts to immigrants, both legally resident and illegal, refugees, undocumented foreigners, further to indigenous groups such as Travellers and Roma as well as unspecified persons or groups.
47. A frequently mentioned category of persons are individuals or families without residence permits. While in some countries such persons or families are not entitled to any benefits or services, e.g., according to government sources in the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Estonia (where in exceptional cases benefits may be granted at the discretion of municipalities), in others they may be eligible for certain benefits only after a determined period of residence, e.g. in Belgium for family allowances (government source)and for unspecified types of benefits in Latvia (government source). As the exclusion from benefits and services pertains only to those that are state-funded, there seem to be no barriers to assistance from voluntary organisations.
48. A large number of replies refer to immigrants and refugees. According to several respondents this group is excluded from “certain” benefits or services, without further specification. Examples are Spain (government source) where persons without fixed address and homeless people are excluded, Denmark (NGO source) that grants smaller benefits to immigrants than to nationals while in Finland immigrants who have arrived in the country at an advanced age are not entitled to old age pensions but may receive social assistance (government source).In Ireland where there has been an increasing number of refugees and asylum seekers during the last years, an NGO source spots prejudice and racism on the part of some service deliverers which renders access to benefits and services difficult for the claimants. A similar report comes from France (NGO source) where cases of blocking of services on the part of certain municipal officials have been noticed, particularly with regard to medical care. A Swiss NGO source detects that the legitimacy of claims regarding work accidents and invalidity insurance is more frequently called into question by service providers when foreign nationals are involved. Yet, according to this source, foreign manual workers are often at higher accident risk than nationals because of the kind of work for which they are hired.
49. Replies from three countries in particular, Ireland, Romania and Slovakia, report on the difficulties of their indigenous minority groups, the aforementioned Travellers and the Roma, with regard to access to benefits and services. Both groups have in common that they are traditionally nomadic, though quite a number have become sedentary and are settled in housing or in caravans. Some live on the side of the road without any access to services. Both groups, - the Roma in some of the central and eastern European countries, - are exposed to all-pervasive racism and longstanding prejudices on the part of many in the societies within which they live. This situation leads to their marginalisation and exclusion from most of the institutions and structures of society which they experience at both the individual and the institutional level. Thus in Ireland (NGO source), Travellers who are settled have to sign for social welfare services at separate times, they have to use separate, segregated social work service and children are often attending separate classes in school. In eastern Europe where there has always been a relatively large Roma population most live in poverty stricken conditions. In Romania (government source) large segment of the Roma population lives in dire poverty due to an extremely high rate of unemployment, especially since 1989, affecting at least half of the men while the rate among women is much higher. Furthermore, they lack land for farming and consequently have no opportunity to meet their own basic needs for food. The Roma are therefore practically forced to operate within an illegal, and often criminal, environment. According to the same source, the Roma minority is characterised by a very high school absentee and literacy rate and subsequently low levels of education and training. These factors contribute to a tendency to engage in illicit activities.. It is further pointed out that the main problems lie with the values, attitudes and behaviour of this group which clashes with the other population groups which makes the integration of the Roma very difficult. The high birth rate that is partly due to a very limited access to family planning services is an additional factor in poverty generation. As in Romania, Slovak Roma groups are characterised by high unemployment and low social status, mainly those living in Roma settlements with inferior housing conditions. The new socio-economic situation after 1989 had a most severe impact on the weakest groups of society, such as the Roma, inasmuch as the problems that existed before have multiplied. In addition, responsibility for government policy on the Roma changed a number of times. Thus coordination of government activities for the Roma has recently been transferred from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to the Slovak Government Office. According to a recent report (government source), special efforts are being undertaken by this Office together with NGOs to improve the situation of the Roma community, in particular in the fields of training and employment. However, in view of the growing hatred and discrimination – often accompanied by aggression and violence against the Roma in countries where they form a sizeable minority (up to 10 per cent of the population, - altogether 8 – 10 million spread over Europe), the United Nations as well as the OSCE are giving increasing attention to this problem by, as a first step, recommending member States to introduce anti-discriminatory legislation.
50. As to the question regarding the influence of the low educational level of certain people to access to benefits and services, there have been very few replies, all in the affirmative. (This question, at least implicitly, has been covered by the previous one as well as by V.1 b) and III.3.1 b)).
VII. Other types of obstacles
51. Most countries did not reply to or comment on this question. The very few comments that were received deal mainly with what respondents consider as lacks and deficiencies in their social protection systems. Some of these lacks have already been pointed to in various replies, such as the need for more clarity in information or for more staff training NGO, Ireland) or the problem of compartmentalisation in social administration (NGO Belgium). A Czech NGO questions the rule of non-payment of unemployment benefits for six months if the applicant lost his/her employment due to his/her own fault or if the applicant has been abroad for a period of more than 30 days. In addition, the administration is criticised for its slowness to establish principles of modern service provision. According to a government source from Estonia, there is a lack of definition of a standard of living in order to allow a proper assessment of the need for state support. Further, in Estonia there is no requirement to register at the place of one’s residence, - yet entitlement to social benefits is linked to this proof. Finally, a government source from Sweden points out that although social services are generally conceived to meet the needs of adults, few children seem to know that they are also conceived for them. Thus a child can call a certain number free of charge at any time. Yet there is almost no information provided to children about the availability of this help at local social services.
B Examples of good practice and innovative measures
With a view to the elimination of the obstacles enumerated in Part A of this questionnaire, do you know of any mechanisms that have been introduced at national, regional or local level and that can help promote effective access to benefits or social services ?
52. Examples of good practice have been reported by 20 countries. Despite certain similarities, there are also considerable differences which are due to each country’s priority issues at this particular moment of its social policy development. The examples refer mainly to improvements in the information system, to recent legislation, changes in procedures and the appeal system.
l. Information
53. Several countries report improvements in the dissemination of information on entitlements to benefits and services. Several countries (government sources, Germany, Iceland, Portugal and Sweden) point to the great usefulness of INTERNET web sites as a source of information and to the development of software containing guidelines for claimants and beneficiaries.
54. Estonia and Poland (government sources) are stepping up their use of local information channels through local newspapers or newsletters with the purpose of informing the public on entitlements, comment on social legislation and introduce new service providers.
55. A number of countries report on having improved their printed information material both in style and content. Thus in the United Kingdom (national government source), the respective departments and agencies have revamped their series of information leaflets which, by the way, have earned rewards for presentation and plain language. In Ireland where the multitude of different services has reportedly been one of the problems to access, a government office has issued a comprehensive information guide on social protection (“Working for Work”), providing information on a wide range of state services.
56. Finland’s social security institutions have published a brochure informing on eligibility for benefits and on application procedures. This publication is revised yearly and issued in the country’s two official languages while another social insurance brochure (A Guide to Benefits)is published also in English, French and German and a third one (Home in Finland) in a number of languages spoken by immigrants and refugees.
57. While in some countries citizens’ advice bureaus have been in existence for some time, this type of institution which provides full information on benefits, services and application procedures has also been established in Germany as part of municipal services as well as in Sweden. Advice centres have also been created in Switzerland (government source), financed by the public authorities, to counsel foreign residents on social insurance problems.
58. At the same time, legal texts have been published in a simplified form and translated into several languages. In several parts of Austria (regional government source),contact points have been established, designed particularly for older persons to obtain information on benefits and services. In the latter country, an NGO source reports on the activities of a multitude of social and minority associations that inform target groups on their rights and possibilities of access. Finally, a pilot project was launched in Norway (NGO source) by an NGO to establish contact with immigrant groups with the aim of better targeting information to minorities and thereby starting a process of raising the awareness of the problems encountered by immigrants among the NGOs members.
2. Recent legislation
59. Two countries report on this subject, France (NGO) and the Czech republic (government source). In France, the recent law on universal health care (Loi sur la couverture maladie universelle) which came into effect in January 2000, is designed to meet the needs for health care of persons who, for various reasons, have had no access to the health insurance system, numbering about 150,000. Persons in so-called ‘precarious’ situations (situation de précarité ou d’exclusion), a category hitherto recognised only by certain hospitals, will as of now have access to hospital treatment and -care in all public medical establishments of the country. Hospital duty stations will facilitate these persons’ access to the health system and assist with establishing their entitlement. Public and private health care centres which participate in the public hospital service are obliged to conclude agreements with the State in order to provide for needy persons all health care services free of charge.
60. In quite another area, the law on the rights of citizens with regard to the administration (Loi sur les droits des citoyens dans leur relations avec l’administration) of December 1999 is designed inter alia to facilitate access of the poorest part of the population to benefits and services, that is persons who either through lack of information, complexity of procedures, arbitrariness of the administration, absence of assistance with application forms or with procuration of documents, have been excluded from the social protection system. But apart from the complexity of the legislation or of procedures and interventions, the working methods of administrative and social service personnel are also reported to be one of the causes for the difficulties in access to benefits and services.
61. Therefore, according to the Law against Exclusions (Loi contre les exclusions) of July 1999, the training of professional social work staff should include teaching on the handling of situations of exclusion and understanding of its causes. Further, the law makes provision for the creation of sub regional (departmental) Committees for Urgent Social Action with the aim to ensure the coordination of all agencies concerned with assistance to persons or families in difficulty.
62. In the Czech Republic, new legislation on social security is being prepared with the participation of state civil servants and services providers of all sectors. The aim is to orient services better towards the needs of the beneficiaries, with the latter’s participation in the management of the provider organisation and to modernise social work methods. Proposals are also being made to transform the present state system for pensions and sickness insurance into an independent public institution. Thus an improvement in the quality of services is expected due to an increase in the funding for this institution.
3. New services
63. The new measures aiming to improve access to benefits and services reported in the replies vary considerably. They tend to be highly country specific which limits the possibility of any grouping. Thus Italy (government source) has in1998 introduced in its social policy a measure based on an instrument called the “Indicator of the Economic Situation”(ICE) which is used to define and to revise the criteria of evaluation for the economic situation of citizens claiming social benefits. One of the purposes of the ICE is to abandon the currently used system of means testing for establishing the right to benefits. Italy is also experimenting with a guaranteed minimum income measure (RMI) in order to combat poverty and social exclusion. The creation of a RMI is also reported from Portugal (government source). In this connection it should be mentioned, as pointed out by Portuguese government sources, that social services are increasingly taken over by private, though state-financed, non-profit bodies.
64. When looking at examples of good practice from some central and eastern European countries (Russian Federation, Romania and Estonia) it needs to be kept in mind that measures to improve access aim foremostly at alleviating the most urgent needs of the most vulnerable groups of a population of which a very large part lives beneath the social minimum. Thus in the Russian Federation (Federal government source) where there is no universal federal legal basis for social assistance in cash or in kind, regional and local social protection committees provide needy persons and families with benefits and services, the extent of which depends on the financial means of these authorities. Therefore the patterns of provisions differ widely from one region, district or municipality to another. The benefits provided include cash allowances to low income households or low pension holders, even to some categories of public employees, free heating for large families and pensioners, reduced telephone costs and free transport for the latter, free milk for children etc. Other benefits and services generally consist of supply of clothing, free meals, emergency payments as well as recurrent cash income support, usually contingent on rough means test procedures which however are not uniform but vary greatly across the country as well as the kind of benefits and services.
65. In Romania (government source), during the last few years, efforts have been made to enlarge the range of social services and facilitate access to them. With the help of the European Union’s Phare SESAM programme it has been possible to promote the diversification and the decentralisation of social services by developing a network of local initiatives. Thus in over 30 districts of the country 41 social service models were created with the participation of central or local public authorities and NGOs. Beneficiaries of the newly created services (to homebound persons, emergency housing, canteens, sheltered workshops) were foremostly older persons, large or lone parent families, unemployed or homeless people, marginalised persons of various kinds).
66. In Estonia (government source) which has a highly regulated social protection system, based on its Social Welfare Act, many of the improvement measures taken enter into the wide range of activities directed at poverty reduction among priority target groups, i.e. families with children, people on low incomes or those with special needs (disabled), elderly or other people depending on social insurance and marginal groups which do not participate in the labour market or fall within the scope of social security schemes (e.g. long-term unemployed, homeless, ex-prisoners etc.) Of the numerous measures already in force (many more are being planned), mention can be made only of a few: replacement of cash allowances with services, goods or vouchers provided to families with children , activities minimising the risk of underdevelopment of children in poverty, supplementary assistance to households most at risk (large or lone parent families), ensuring access to essential medical treatment for families below the poverty line, and in general efforts to extend the social safety net to persons belonging to marginal groups.
4. Changes in procedures and in the appeal system
67. A few countries report on improvements in application procedures. Thus the reply from the United Kingdom (government source) mentions a project directed at simplification of procedures and language (already referred to under “Information”) as well as exploring new ways of working, e.g. the use of integrated claims forms for Income Support, Housing Benefits and Child Support claims. Iceland (government source)reports on improvements in the registration of the insured public eligible for benefits. Also in Belgium (government source), family allowance application forms have been revised and simplified. In addition, a “Charter for Social Insurance Beneficiaries” (Charte d’assuré social) has been drawn up which contains a series of directions on procedures for effective access to benefits and services. Belgium further reports the creation of the function of a mediator or ombudsman in the realm of social protection.
68. As far as initiatives with regard to appeals procedures are concerned, an Irish government source reports recent recognition of the independence of appeals procedures. Finally, a government source from the United Kingdom announces, a “Decision Making and Appeals Project” by introducing a streamlined and transparent system of decision making with simplified appeals procedures and clearer written notifications.
Notes
(1) Ditch,J. and Oldfield,N.: “Social assistance: recent trends and themes”, in Journal of European Social Policy (Sage Publications, London),Vol.9, No.1, February 1999, pp.64-76.
(2) European Committee on Social Rights, “Social Protection and the European Social Charter”, p.71 (Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 1999):
(3) Ibid. p.72
APPENDIX I
Partnership with non-governmental organisations in the improvement of access to social protection
1. From a survey such as this which is based on information from both government authorities and non-governmental voluntary organisations working in the field of social protection, arise inevitably questions on the relationship between the two sides. On the one hand, these relations have become more complex over the last decades with growing individualisation, the decline of traditional family structures and the increasing diversification of populations due to large-scale migration. On the other hand, communication and co-operation between public services and NGOs have steadily improved with the growing realisation that the state could – and should – not create and implement the whole range of social protection services. Because of the long tradition of voluntary engagement in Western Europe, its welfare states have always relied upon an active citizenry – the main feature of a civil society – and on the major role played by voluntary bodies. This role is being played mostly at a national and local level – though international NGOs have gained considerable importance – often intermediating between citizens and the state authorities. Although there are large differences between the kinds of NGOs regarding financial resources, power relations and political influence, they all play a role in putting forward the needs of specific groups in the population, eventually leading to new policies and legislation. There are also considerable differences in modes of organisation in the co-operation between volunteers and professionals and state and municipal welfare authorities. This diversity of the roles of state and non-governmental and voluntary groups is due to historic and cultural traditions of the different countries.
2 Generally speaking, NGOs occupy an area between the state and the market where social aims are being pursued and that is not – or not yet or no longer – adequately covered by either of the two. Thus for example increasing withdrawal of the central state leads to a growing role of the local authorities and of the voluntary sector as a service provider in the health and welfare fields. In addition, in securing, rendering and procuring social and care services, NGOs fulfil a variety of functions, – information, self-help, as advocate for individuals and groups, as pilots of new approaches to services, campaigners for social rights as well as constructive critics as the replies to the questionnaire show. As critics they may not always be appreciated by government services because they raise questions of clients’ rights and power, of exclusion and equality. They have been – and are increasingly – promoting the development of a consumer-oriented approach in the public services, involving consumers, that is clients and receivers of benefits and services more closely in the planning and the delivery of public welfare services.
3. One of the main aspects of the consumer-oriented approach is the improvement of access to services, – the need to make services more readily available to consumers through 1) decentralisation of delivery to small-scale, locally based units, both within and outside the public sector, 2) by changing the style in which services are provided at the point of delivery and 3) by ensuring that the service that is provided is fully integrated. Services provided in the context of neighbourhood, the family and other small nets at the “human” scale, are almost by definition more accessible. This is particularly important for people who are tied to their immediate environment because of limited mobility, lack of income or domestic commitments. Therefore the importance of decentralisation may be considered a main factor in any reform of public welfare services.
4. Attention to the role of voluntary organisations has also been drawn in a document submitted to the U.N. General Assembly at its 24th Special Session of 23 June 2000 (A/S-24/2/Add.2 (Part II) that calls upon member States to “promote the contribution that voluntarism can make to the creation of caring societies as an additional mechanism in the promotion of social integration....The Commission for Social Development is invited to consider the issue in 2001, the International Year of Volunteers....promote the involvement of volunteers in social development, inter alia, by encouraging Governments, taking into account the views of all actors, to develop comprehensive strategies and programmes, by raising public awareness about the value and opportunities of voluntarism and by facilitating an enabling environment for individuals and other actors of civil society to engage in, and the private sector to support the voluntary activities” (paragraphs 54 and 55).
5. A few examples from Council of Europe member States are chosen to illustrate the role of volunteering in the social field. In Finland most of the welfare services are provided by local authorities and financed from municipal taxes and state subsidies while 10 per cent of the costs are covered by fees paid by clients. As these services may fail to reach persons in real need, voluntary organisations are often considered “suitable for dealing with the leftover excluded population” (VIP, 1999). According to this source, statistics and research clearly show that new polarisation processes are going on in society, resulting in the exclusion of vulnerable people and groups. Thus the voluntary sector plays an important role considering there are over 100,000 registered voluntary organisations in Finland (pop. 5 million) and there are about 700,000 volunteers involved in different kinds of activities. These organisations account for almost 25 per cent of all the health and welfare services provided.
6. An example of a neighbourhood volunteer programme is the British “Home Start Programme”. It is run by neighbourhood volunteers experienced in the education of their own children, offering families support, friendship and practical help. Started in 1973, there are today 200 Home Start agencies with over 5,000 volunteers. Each agency has a paid co-ordinator responsible for the funding of the programme and the recruitment of volunteers. The programme is designed to help isolated parents or families with disabled children, newly arrived families, lone mothers etc. Similar programmes exist in Sweden for ambulant psychiatric patients and in the Netherlands (‘Optap’ – for the integration of young or immigrant families, newly settled in a neighbourhood) and in Germany (“Familien im Stadtteil”). In the Netherlands, according to one source, “the government’s policy in relation to migrants, poverty and educational inequality has mainly a ‘top-down’ character while organisations and groups of citizens, that is NGOs, try to tackle the problem from ‘bottom-up’ “ (Gabriels, R., 1999). Thus aid-schemes have been initiated by one NGO in form of non-profit savings and credit unions for the provision of loans to migrants. Migrant work by NGOs is also reported from Austria where volunteer groups assist migrants with integration through language courses, information and counselling. One of these projects won the UNHRC Refugee Award in 1996.
7. The Ministry of Social Affairs of Denmark has increasingly co-operated with funded voluntary agencies whose work, complementing professional approaches, has produced positive results, particularly among the least privileged groups. In this way voluntary work supplements public policies. It has been noted in Denmark that private individuals, civic and local community groups etc. frequently come up with novel solutions and ways of working together. Further, experience has shown that voluntary initiatives are often more flexible and may reach further and wider than public measures. This may be due to the approach adopted by the voluntary organisations which allows users and voluntary workers to meet on equal footing. In Denmark co-operation with voluntary organisations typically consists of the local authorities putting premises and other facilities at the former’s disposal; some are also granted financial support. In Italy where volunteering is regulated by legislation (Law No.266/1991), the voluntary sector has grown continuously since the middle 1990s and is co-operating with local authorities, providing social services within the context of the law. The sector offers services that complement the often inadequate social and health care by public providers (VIP, 1999).
8. In central and eastern European countries, non-governmental organisations had fallen into oblivion during the decades of totalitarian rule. After its downfall in 1989 however they were rediscovered and very quickly began to be active in different sectors. The change in the system gave an impetus to many citizens to become involved in the promotion of causes that in their opinion seemed important. Most of the new initiatives concerned – and continue to do so – the protection of the environment, social welfare and social policy as well as humanitarian aid. The number of NGOs has grown considerably in most of these countries, though, as one study points out, “most are, at best, tolerated by government and rarely seen as partners...(yet) increasingly supranational and international programmes, including UNHRC, EU Phare, TACIS etc. promote the work of partner NGOs as providers of social welfare services” (Deacon,B.,1997).
9. In Poland NGOs are reported to be “mushrooming as a sign of a new civic initiative, but lacking public support and control...The challenge lies in the devolution to decentralised levels (i.e. municipal) and to non-profit, private and voluntary organisations, particularly NGOs” (POMOST-selfhelp,1998). In this country about 3,500 organisations are actively providing services, that is, provision of basic goods and services for the poor, elderly, lone or disabled persons etc. or act as interest organisations or advocacy groups. A number of problems, – not unknown to NGOs in EU-countries – have arisen in Poland and still remain to be regulated, to mention but a few : a clear division of responsibilities between central, regional and local authorities on the one hand and NGOs on the other hand; appropriate legal provisions regulating the co-operation between state institutions and NGOs; principles of financial support for NGOs by state organs (ibid.)
10 In the Czech Republic, the reorganisation of the social security system which took place in 1996 rests on three components : social insurance, state income support and social assistance and is demarcated in terms of finance and administration. While the first two are governed by the principle of solidarity as laid down in social legislation, social assistance is designed for people and needs that are not covered by the other two schemes and is supposed to prevent poverty and destitution through provision of cash benefits, of existential minima (food, clothing and shelter) and social services. The scheme is financed through government grants to local authorities. However, according to one source, “local authorities are neither prepared nor sufficiently organised to cope with potential demand ...in this situation it is the voluntary sector and charities that are heavily relied upon for local support and services” (Castle-Kanerova, M., op.cit.)
11. An increasing role of the voluntary sector is also reported from Hungary where in 1998 existed over 50,000 registered voluntary civil organisations, providing information, medical care, day care, home nursing etc. (Szeman,Z.,1999). The beneficiaries of their services are composed of 51 per cent youth, 44 per cent elderly, 31 per cent disabled, 30 per cent of people with health impairment, 28 per cent of families in difficulties, 25 per cent destitute people. Over half of the 3,000 local authorities have concluded agreements on co-operation with civil organisations. This situation arose when due to changes in the system in 1990, the central state began to withdraw from the economy and from social protection and welfare.
12. As to the situation of NGOs in the Russian Federation, social partnership between the former and the authorities have in some parts of the country become a way of approaching social problems that the authorities by themselves are not able to handle, usually due to lack of funds or of qualified personnel. An example is the field of social protection by assisting people whose pensions or benefits have not been paid, - thus serving the poor, the homeless, veterans, families in need, providing medical care and rehabilitation to the disabled. The work of the NGOs is regulated by the Law on NGOs, adopted by the State Duma in 1995. There are over 30 laws, decrees and rulings on social partnership and social dialogue. Figures vary as to the exact numbers but it appears that some 60,000 work in the social field, helping some 20 million people annually and provide two million people annually with a place to work. About 10% of the Russian population are estimated to spend 4-5 hours a week doing voluntary work. Though NGOs have become a public force, they are still not considered as an equal partner by many federal, regional and especially local authorities . In addition, the public at large still lacks understanding of the concept of social partnership. For this reason, that is to facilitate and to improve cooperation between NGOs and the various authorities, the EU sponsored and financed project TACIS had launched pilot projects in various regions. Coordinating centres facilitating interaction between the authorities and NGOs have been created as well as social partnership centres, providing data bases on the activities of NGOs and their cooperation with state and municipal institutions. The experience and the results of the TACIS project are reported to have been distributed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Development to all regions.
13. In addition to the TACIS project there exist a number of other social partnership initiatives in which, apart from NGOs, local/regional authorities, local businesses and/or trade unions have been involved. Some of them have been funded by various international or foreign organisations. There are several examples where NGOs are pooling their resources in Resource Centres that maintain links with the authorities and which are open for NGOs to join (e.g. Nizhni Novgorod, Saratov, Samara).Foreign donor organisations such as USAID have in the 1990s launched an NGO sector support programme to promote collaboration between government officials and NGOs, resulting inter alia in the Interregional Public Foundation “Siberian Initiatives Support Centre” in Novosibirsk. According to this Centre 1,800 NGOs are active in Siberia. It is reported that all major Siberian cities have established special departments for relations with NGOs. In addition, there are a number of social partnership initiatives organising round table discussions and conferences with the purpose of establishing procedures for cooperation between NGOs and local authorities. Social partnerships involving also local business are reported to become more and more common, involving interaction between NGOs, business and city administration for the solution of social problems.
14 . Summing up it may be said that, according to a recent report of the European Commission on “The social situation in Europe 2000”, although “there is very little scientific evidence on volunteering and voluntary activity in the Member States, but what there is suggests that it is extensive and has been growing....A Survey of over 20,000 people across Europe found that one in four Europeans undertakes unpaid work for a variety of charitable causes and voluntary groups.” The concept of civil society citizens acting from their own volition for the common good is also making its way, as shown above, in the countries of central and eastern Europe.
APPENDIX II
Guidelines
The Guidelines arise out of the replies to the questionnaire analysed in this report with the aim of giving recommendations for the improvement of social protection. In many instances they refer directly or indirectly to the contents of specific paragraphs such as :
I. Improving communication and information about rights, benefits and services : paragraphs 17, 18, 19, 26, 31, 40, 41, 42, 43.
II. Improving the management and organisation of benefit providers and social services : Paragraphs 6 – 10, 21, 22, 30, 32, 33, 37, 39,48, 49.
III. Improving the partnership between social protection bodies and services on the one hand and NGOs and other actors of civil society on the other hand : Appendix I paragraphs 1 – 14.
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