Professor Catherine Barnard and Dr Amy Ludlow have successfully bid to host one of the University's Philomathia workshops and participate in the Philomathia Forum. Together, they will host a one day workshop on 'Procurement and Precarity' on Wednesday 13 May 2015 in Trinity College.
The overall aim of the workshop is to explore the ways in which public procurement (how public services are commissioned) can be used to secure social objectives (such as the recruitment of staff from disadvantaged backgrounds and securing or raising employment rights, through e.g. the payment of a living wage).
The workshop will focus on social procurement in two case study sectors, namely criminal justice, and social care. A range of speakers with expertise in these areas have been invited, including legal practitioners and academics, UK policymakers, trade unions, bidders and contracting authorities.
Discussions from the day will feed into the University's Philomathia Forum later this year. The workshop builds upon Professor Barnard's research and expertise in European social policy (see, for example The Idea of Labour Law) and Dr Ludlow's recent book, which is an empirical analysis of the public procurement rules 'in action' and their impacts upon staff, in the context of prison privatisation (Privatising Public Prisons).
If you would like to attend the workshop, please email Amy Ludlow (acl46@cam.ac.uk) for further information.