About
I am a Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of York in the United Kingdom, where I have worked since 1998.
Before joining the University of York, I had worked as a researcher in the Department of Government at Brunel University, the Department of Sociology & Social Policy at Newcastle University, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and in the House of Commons.
From April-September 2005 I was Visiting Fellow at the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia and in July 2007 visited the University of Sydney on a Worldwide Universities Network International Researcher Mobility Scheme award.
At present I am the Vice-Chair (Membership) of the Joint University Council’s Social Policy Committee (JUC-SPC) and manage its website www.juc.ac.uk and I am a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Social Policy & Society. I was a member of the Social Policy Association’s Executive Committee for 10 years from 1997-2007, during which time I was the founding editor of the magazine Policy World and the website social-policy.com.
I was born in 1972 in Sunderland, UK, was educated at Redby Primary School in Sunderland and Durham Johnston Comprehensive School and Brunel University. I hold a first class honours degree in Politics and Modern History, a PhD in Political Science and a Certificate of Academic Practice [cv].
My academic interests are heavily influenced by events that impacted on the North East of England during my formative years, particularly the deindustrialisation of the region and its subsequent attempts to adjust to a post-industrial era, its lack of a formal political base to voice its opposition to the Thatcher government’s rolling back of the Keynesian welfare state and the social impacts of persistently high levels of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion.
My research focuses on the politics of the policy process - particularly the making of social policies - and on the implications of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for public policy and public services.
Like many North Easterners I also have a passion for football - my hometown club Sunderland AFC in particular - and football governance is another research interest.
My teaching at York reflects my research interests. I convene a number of undergraduate and postgraduate modules that reflect my interest in social policy making, including Analysing Welfare Policy, Social Policy Analysis, Comparative Social Policy and Introducing Social Policy.
As Director of the University of York’s Social Policy Masters Programmes, I also co-convene the School’s Graduate Students’ Research Workshop.
