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This paper aims to consider the potential implications of the layering of regulation in relation to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) at the borders between the nations of the UK.

This paper uses a qualitative research method grounded in particular in legal geography to examine the existing approaches to regulating hydraulic fracturing and identify the places and their features that are constructed as a result of their intersection at the borders of the nations comprising the UK.

The current regulatory framework concerning hydraulic fracturing risks restricts the places in which the practice can occur in such a manner as to potentially cause greater environmental harm should the process be used. The regulations governing the process are not aligned in relation to the surface and subsurface aspects of the process to enable their management, once operational, as a singularly constructed place of extraction. Strong regulation at the surface can have the effect of influencing placement of the site only in relation to the place at which the resource sought reaches the surface, whilst having little to no impact on the environmental harms, which will result at the subsurface or relative to other potential surface site positions, and potentially even increasing them.

This paper is limited by uncertainty as to the future use of hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and gas within the UK. The issues raised within it would also be applicable to other extractive industries where a surface site might be placed within a radius of the subsurface point of extraction, rather than having to be located at a fixed point relative to that in the subsurface. This paper therefore raises concerns that might be explored more generally in relation to the regulation of the place of resource extraction, particularly at legal borders between jurisdictions, and the impact of regulation, which does not account for the misalignment of regulation of spaces above and below the surface that form a single place at which extraction occurs.

This paper considers the potential impacts of misaligned positions held by nations in the UK in relation to environmentally harmful practices undertaken by extractive industries, which are highlighted by an analysis of the extant regulatory framework for hydraulic fracturing.

Whilst the potential for cross internal border extraction of gas within the UK via hydraulic fracturing and the regulatory consequences of this has been highlighted in academic literature, this paper examines the implications of regulation for the least environmentally harmful placement of the process.

The safeguarding and protection components of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 offers the culmination of four years consultation in England and Wales by the Law Commission and many years of evolving policy and practice with a view to protecting adults from harm. The purpose of this paper is to offer both scrutiny and challenge for Wales’ policy makers and practitioners alike.

The paper is a critical analysis of both current responses and forthcoming changes.

The paper proposes that Wales has failed to implement previous recommendations in relation to institutional abuse. Currently in Wales, there are individuals employed in safeguarding lead roles who have no social care qualification. This apparent “loophole” has not to date been highlighted to date by either of the regulatory bodies within Wales (CSSIW/CCfW).

The paper offers a viewpoint but leaves some questions unanswered.

The Williams Review in April 2014 is set to change the local authority landscape in Wales. There is scope for developing the function of adult safeguarding.

Wales’ failure to recognize institutionalized abuse as a distinct category may have had impacted on its ability to respond to abuse in nursing and care as well hospital settings.

The failure to recognize institutional abuse is not the only safeguarding anomaly within Wales’ arrangements for protecting those are risk of abuse. This paper describes gaps in the NHS and of professional accountability.

The paper presents and discusses the findings of a Strategic Insight Programme placement that explored the Youth Justice Board for Wales (YJB Cymru), a division of the YJB for England and Wales since the abolition of the regional structure in April 2012. The focus of the placement was on exploring the role of YJB Cymru in the development of youth justice policy and practice in the unique, partially devolved context of Wales. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The research was conducted over a six-month period from February to July 2013. A multiple methods design was adopted, consisting of semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders (YJB Cymru staff, Welsh Government staff and Youth Offending Team staff), observations of policy and practice mechanisms (YJB Cymru meetings, YOT projects) and documentary analysis of YJB Cymru publications.

Thematic analyses demonstrated that YJB Cymru has an increasingly important role in policy and practice development structures and processes in England and Wales more broadly (e.g. within the YJB for England and Wales) and in the Welsh national context specifically. YJB Cymru fulfills a role of dual influence – working both with government (UK and Welsh) and youth justice practitioners (mainly YOT managers and staff) to mediate and manage youth justice tensions in the partially devolved Welsh policy context through relationships of reflective and critical engagement.

This study draws inspiration from the groundbreaking research of Souhami (2011) and builds on those findings to provide a unique insight into the organisation and role YJB Cymru in the complex and dynamic context of youth justice in Wales.

This article aims to identify the different approaches to integrated care taken by separate proposed care services legislation for England and Wales with a view to informing debate on the legislation.

This is a comparative analysis of the proposed legislation.

While there is much common ground between the two pieces of legislation, in other respects the approach taken to integrated care legislation differs across England and Wales.

This is the first published analysis of the different approaches to integrated care legislation reform proposed for England and Wales.

Draws upon recent legislative changes to Wales to provide new evidence and understanding of the way in which government reforms in the UK have impacted upon the promotion of equality of opportunity at government level. Analyses the problems and challenges that this new legislative duty presents for the elected representatives and bureaucrats as well as the civil groups it was designed to help. Points out a wider significance of these changes and engages the debate about the relationship between government, law and the promotion of equality.

This regular legal column reflects on legal issues which are relevant to health and social care policy in general, and integrated care in particular. Policy developments do not take place in a vacuum and need to take account of the legal framework and the latest case law; equally, changes in policy drive changes in the legal framework, so the law never stands still. Recent articles in this journal have compared the English and Scottish experiences (Vol 16 issue 5; Vol 17 issue 1) and reflected on the experience in Northern Ireland (Vol 17 issue 5) but there has not been so much attention to the implications of devolution in Wales. This article offers a legal perspective on the changes that have taken place over the last ten years, and looks ahead to Wales making its own legislation in a wide area of health and social care policy.

Women's movements played a significant role in the recent campaigns for constitutional reform in the UK. Their aim was to overturn the prevailing male domination in politics. This article explores this process in Wales, a polity where the women's movement was comparatively weak and fragmented. In contrast to more familiar patterns of mass mobilization, “strategic women” used elite advocacy and “insider strategies” to engender the process of constitutional reform. Thus, this case study tests three widely held theoretical assumptions: that engendering state restructuring must be combined with broader activism; that insider strategies are more effective in influencing state actions; and, that the elite nature of such strategies means they can be neither democratic nor inclusive. The research findings detail the ensuing rise of state feminism and gains in women's representation and provide evidence of a paradox whereby elite action may translate into greater democratization in contexts where women's movements are comparatively underdeveloped.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the background to the recent changes to adult safeguarding in Wales as a result of the new measures introduced by the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and discuss their potential impact.

The paper relies on a range of material including reports published by the Law Commission, the National Assembly for Wales and other public bodies. It also refers to academic and practitioner material in journals and government guidance.

Although the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 introduced many changes in adult safeguarding in Wales, not least the duty to make enquiries, it does not take the opportunity to include statutory powers of barring and removal. The introduction of Adult Protection and Support Orders (APSOs) is a cautious step forward – perhaps it is too cautious. More research in needed on the different approaches across the UK.

At the time of publication, the full effect of the new legislation has not been seen. Local authorities and others are coming to terms with the new provisions. No data on the impact of the new legislation are yet available. The paper identifies future research evaluating the working of the different approaches to safeguarding within the UK.

For practitioners, the new legislation provides opportunities to rethink the approach to safeguarding. The lower threshold for referrals will mean an increase in caseloads and the need to react to both low- and high-risk cases. For authorised officers, the practical issues identified relate to the circumstances in which an APSO may be sought and what can be put in place to protect the adult at risk once the order has been used.

For those who experience abuse or neglect, the new legislation provides additional support when compared to the POVA process. The duty to make enquiries and the duty to report will hopefully strengthen protection and, with a lower threshold for referral, enable more preventative work to be done at an earlier stage. Whether the new APSO will make a difference remains to be seen.

As this is new legislation, there is very little analysis of the implications of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 in relation to safeguarding. This paper presents an overview and, in places, a critical analysis of the new safeguarding duties.

The adverse impact of austerity on the available capacity of public bodies to give priority to engagement of older people means self-determination and older people representing the best interests of older people more generally – needs a fresh impetus if the voice of older people is to be heard and not marginalised. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The paper describes how a new direction for Cymru Older People’s Alliance was shaped, the engagement directly with older people that informed changes and key transitions negotiated to become a charity and form a democratically elected membership, with stronger structures and improved means to ensuring the “voice” of older people is heard.

Co-production, increased citizen engagement and promoting well-being are important new concepts in Welsh legislation but it is only through growing the infrastructure that enables older people to represent their own interests, that these new requirements will produce tangible results and progress can be made.

If we are to challenge ageism and recognise that older people need to be empowered and enabled to make their own decisions, then older people’s organisations need to change and adapt to the prevailing financial climate. This is not an easy pathway but it can be achieved through good planning, strong governance and effective engagement, listening carefully to older people’s views.