You are in: Research Web/ Social Affairs
Charity Commission: Look in the 'register' section to search for UK charities by keyword. The site also contains a future events diary. USe to find people to interview about particular social problems.
Age Concern:
Homesite for the UK charity and main source
on the problems of older people. Factsheets and instant briefings on benefits,
work, travel, leisure etc. and statistics on the ageing population, pensions,
health and community care. 'News’ has press releases and in-depth coverage of
parliamentary issues relating to older people. Go to ‘Ageing Issues’ for an
overview of the key issues affecting older people. Press office may be able to
assist with case studies.
Citizens
Advice Bureaux:
The CAB site provides current information on
subjects such as health, social security, employment, tax, immigration etc. The
‘adviceguide’ gives basic information on topics listed A-Z and includes
links to relevant organisations. Click ‘social policy’ for reports,
briefings and CAB responses to government departments, select committees etc.
Commission
for Racial Equality: This site has detailed coverage of the legal
issues relating to racial discrimination/harassment including downloadable
versions of the Race Relations Act 1976 and Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.
Guidance to law and advice about making a complaint can be found in ‘Your
Rights’. A large number of CRE reports are available online. Go to ‘Publications’
then ‘downloadable texts’ for a list of factsheets, reports and codes of
practice.
Disability
Rights Commission:
An independent body set up by the government
to enforce the rights of disabled people and eliminate discrimination. Provides
information and guidance to the Disability Discrimination Act. ‘Information
and Legislation' links to the act in full, codes of practice and research. Go to
‘Downloadable Texts’ for guidelines and factsheets. For key facts and
statistics see the 'DRC Disability Briefing'.
DrugScope: This is the official site formed by the UK’s
two main drug information and policy organisations, the Institute for the Study
of Drug Dependence (ISDD) and the Standing Conference on Drug Abuse (SCODA). ‘Drug
Information’ provides facts on specific drugs and their effects. ‘Good
Practice & Research’ lists key publications covering education, crime and
treatment, some of which are available online. Click ‘Find a Drug Service’
for contact details of drug treatment centres in England and Wales.
Help
the Aged:
Website of the national charity providing
advice and information for and about the older population. For factsheets
covering finance, benefits, housing, health etc. go to ‘Advice & Info’
then ‘Info Point’. For Help the Aged policy documents on the key issues -
poverty, discrimination, pensions etc - go to ‘News & Events’ then ‘Policy
Watch’. ‘Links’ has a good selection of sites aimed at older people
including search engines, directories and general interest sites for silver
surfers
Home
Office:
This internal affairs site is good for
information on crime, drugs, law and order, immigration, race issues, etc. It
has links to reports and publications, press releases, legislation, research and
statistics. Latest factual statistical information from the
Home Office on sentencing, prison numbers, police strength, crime, etc available
at the following link. Click
here.
The
Housing Corporation:
The Housing Corporation regulates Registered
Social Landlords (Housing Associations) in England. Click on ‘Resources’ for
access to their various databases. These include the ‘Public Register of
Social Landlords’ for basic information and ‘PAIS’ for more detailed
performance assessments. The ‘CORE’ database contains statistical info on
the number of lettings, household characteristics etc. ‘Innovation and Good
Practice’ gives details of various housing projects and ‘Library’ has
newsletters, press releases and policy documents.
Judicial
Studies Board:
A training/advisory site for judges. Of
particular use is the ‘Equal Treatment Benchbook’. This is aimed at judges
and deals specifically with the justice system's treatment of minority groups
e.g. ethnic minorities, disabled people and children. Provides good background
information on ethnic minorities including demographics, religion, crime and
family issues.
Law
Society:
The Law Society library has collated
essential UK and international law links. Use it for finding barristers and
solicitors, law schools, legal organisations and resources. Elsewhere on the
site you can look at the Law Society Gazette and legal information.
Police
Federation:
Represents police officers in England and
Wales. Provides access to press releases and Police Magazine, both of which are
searchable. ‘Where we stand’ gives the Federation’s views on various
aspects of policing including patrolling, computer pornography, drugs and
firearms. It contains links to many constabulary websites, some police forces
overseas, police organisations and other related sites.
Shelter: Website of the homelessness charity. Click on
‘ROOF’ for selected articles from their bi-monthly magazine. ‘Factsheets’
are available to download covering issues such as health, ethnicity and housing.
There is a handy selection of facts and key statistics at ‘Regional Statistics’.
To order full articles from ROOF or Shelter reports call the I&A Social
Affairs subject specialist on x58307.
SOSIG:
Academic gateway to social science resources
on the web covering education, economics, environment, politics, government,
social welfare, law and statistics. The catalogue contains websites/resources
selected by social science specialists. The search engine is a large database of
social science webpages. An excellent place to start any social issues search.
TUC: Go to ‘About the TUC’ for a comprehensive
history of the TUC, ‘Britain’s Unions’ for contact details of TUC
affiliated unions and ‘Know your rights’ for factsheets on your rights in
the workplace. Good range of links.
UNICEF: Website of the United Nations organisation
for children. Contains a lot of full-text information and statistics
particularly relating to their campaigns e.g. HIV/Aids, Polio, child marriages
and child rights. Go to ‘Information Resources’ for a list of their online
publications and to ‘Statistics’ for figures on the situation of women and
children by country.