Social services are at the forefront of the continued neoliberal transformation of public
services and the welfare state in the UK. The social care market was constructed by …

Adult social care is rarely out of the headlines. It is underfunded; it is damaging the NHS
through delayed hospital discharges or failing to reduce emergency admissions; it is …

This chapter discusses the introduction of new public management principles and methods
into social services in the UK, within the broader context of a policy of privatisation of public …

Since the 1970s, UK governments in common with those of other welfare states have faced
a dilemma: pressure on social spending due to population aging and a changing labor …

The privatisation of adult social care is a 30-year process that has grown unchecked, made
worse by austerity politics. Should the private sector lose interest and leave the market, the …

This chapter explores the extent to which three key sectors in British social policy–personal
social services, social housing and primary medical care–have involved mixed economies …

As the government continues to open up child protection and social work in England to a
commercial market place, what is the social cost of privatising public services? And what …

Even before the arrival of COVID-19, the care sector was already in long-term crisis, in large
part due to insufficient funding, but the sector has also been under pressure from structural …

This paper considers the transformation of state social work over the past two decades.
During this period, it is argued that a steady yet radical process of privatization has ensued …

Adult social care was the first major social policy domain in England to be transferred from
the state to the market. There is now a forty-year period to look back at to consider the …