The Social Exclusion Unit

In December 1997 the Prime Minister of that time set up the Social Exclusion Unit (SEU).  Its purpose was to improve government action in order to bring about a reduction in social exclusion by the production of ‘joined-up solutions to joined-up problems’.

The majority of the SEU’s work is topic based and the topics are chosen by the Prime Minister following discussions with other ministers and with suggestions from other groups including the SEU itself.

The unit is staffed by a mixture of external secondees and civil servants.  The latter are taken from a cross section of Government departments and the former from a range of organizations that are au fait with the experience of tackling social exclusion.   So far this has included personnel from the faith communities, social services, the police, probation services and the local authorities.  Also from the voluntary sector.

The unit will not cover any issues dealt with by one single Government department nor will it duplicate work being carried out elsewhere.  It will however devote time to participating in wider interdepartmental work which has a close bearing on social exclusion.  

The Unit reports directly to the Prime Minister and is located within the Cabinet Office.  It is therefore truly at the heart of Government.