There has for many years been talk of developing a “one-stop shop” for social policy provision. Unlike Canada or Australia, France still has no institution of this kind, where the full range of the citizen’s social welfare issues can be dealt with (employment, retirement, child benefit, disablement etc.). In the countries that have introduced such a system, the innovation has significantly increased the efficiency of welfare provision and provided users with a better service by simplifying procedures.
Drawing mainly on the Canadian example, Julien Damon underlines the advantages of the integrated service point and describes the technical and political stages involved in its implementation, before considering the possibility of transposing such an organizational form to France. His article is based on work carried out at Futuribles as part of the study of innovative social policies completed in autumn 2009.
