Towards welfare pluralism - Nirmala Rao

This book assesses the impact of the Thatcher and Major administrations upon the form and style of local authority service delivery. It takes as its starting point the challenge to the post-war consensus on welfare and highlights the influence of radical Conservatism in shaping patterns of policy, post-1987. The book examines far-reaching reforms in four key areas: education, housing, competitive tendering and social services. - - Focusing upon policy development and the implementation process, the author shows how local authorities across Britain responded to the imposition of this new style of public management. Competition, consumer empowerment and choice displaced them from their former monopolistic position, creating a new regime of 'welfare pluralism'. Yet, despite the intense conflict which these changes originally induced, Nirmala Rao argues that the emerging consensus which we now witness signifies the triumph of the new public management.