Hunter, Caroline Margaret orcid.org/0000-0002-7504-3422, Bretherton, Joanne orcid.org/0000-0002-8258-477X, Halliday, Simon orcid.org/0000-0001-5107-6783 et al. (1 more author) (2016) Legal Compliance in Street-Level Bureaucracy:A Study of UK Housing Officers. Law & Policy. pp. 81-95. ISSN 1467-9930
Abstract
Street-level bureaucratic theory is now at a fairly mature stage. The focus on street-level bureaucrats as ‘ultimate policymakers’ is now as familiar as it is important. Likewise, the parallel socio-legal study of the implementation of public law in public organisations has demonstrated the inevitable gap between law-in-the-books and law-in-action. Yet, the success of these advances comes at the potential cost of us losing sight of the importance of law itself. This article analyses some empirical data on the decision-making about one legal concept - ‘vulnerability’ in UK homelessness law. Our analysis offers two main contributions. First, we argue that, when it comes to the implementation of law, the legal abilities and propensities of the bureaucrats must be taken into account. Bureaucrats’ abilities to understand legal materials make a difference to the likelihood of legal compliance. Second, we must also pay attention to the character of the legal provisions. Where a provision is simple, it is more likely to facilitate legal knowledge and demands nothing of bureaucrats in terms of legal competence. Where the provision is also ‘inoffensive’ and ‘liveable’ it is less likely to act as an impediment to legal conscientiousness
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 Authors. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Law & Policy. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > The York Law School The University of York > Research Groups (York) > Centre for Housing Policy (York) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (ESRC) RES-000-22-4461 |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 14 Jan 2016 11:27 |
Last Modified: | 22 Jan 2025 00:05 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/lapo.12049 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/lapo.12049 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:90624 |
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Filename: Law_Policy_August_2015.pdf
Description: Law & Policy - August 2015