ABSTRACT
The Social and Cultural Planning (SCP) Office is a government data-collection and data-analysis agency that documents the statistical and information backdrop against which policy decisions are made in the social and cultural spheres of government. The key ideas are monitoring and interpreting social and policy changes and trends. In theory, the SCP considers all areas of government policy to the extent that social aspects are involved in those policies, but the emphasis is on health, welfare, social security, the labor market, education, and culture. The Social and Cultural Report is published in Dutch and English and is available on SCP's Web site. SCP also publishes a wide variety of regular and occasional publications. One part of the work of the Social and Cultural Planning Office that is not very visible outside the government is the policy recommendations that are made in memorandum form and addressed to ministers, their staffs, and various government committees.
