Delegation from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Directorate visit SPRU

In January 2012 SPRU will host the visit of a project team from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Directorate who are looking for research in the UK to enrich their knowledge base. They wished to meet SPRU experts active in the field of welfare and employment, and particularly those evaluating interventions to help people back into work.

Professor Roy Sainsbury and his team will be greeting them and exchanging views on these subjects, including discussion of the British Government's Work Programme and Fit for Work Services; new initiatives which the team are in the course of evaluating for the Department for Work and Pensions. The visit will be of mutual benefit as the Norwegians will also explain their current projects.

Interestingly it is social workers who are engaged in 'back to work' support in Norway. One of SPRUs strengths, and the reason that the Norwegians will find much to interest them here, is our cross-team breadth of expertise.

Alongside the team dedicated to Welfare and Employment issues we have the Children and Young People's Social Work Team, so although social workers are not involved in employment support in Britain we have social work experts in the Unit who can share in the discussion and add value to the debate about social work practitioner roles and the use of randomised control trials (RCTs). Professor Nina Biehal and her team have a long and distinguished record of using RCTs in social work research. They also have an international reputation for their work on supporting young people in transition from care to adulthood, one of the major goals of this process being finding employment.