ABSTRACT
This chapter will examine the formation of one of the childcare policies operated by Eastern regional council, a Partnership Project with a local district council and local employers (hereafter Partnership). In doing so it is first necessary to explain the structural setting in which the policy was devised. This is followed by a history of the development of the policy before turning to the nondecision-making model outlined in Chapter 1 to highlight the instances of nondecision-making which occurred to the disadvantage of working mothers. Much of the source material for this section was collected by a series of interviews with council officers, with local politicians, employers and with members of the community. As confidentiality was promised the interviewees remain unnamed, but their words are used, and they are referred to by their post. Another research method was the analysis of council documents and minutes and these are referred to throughout by their correct notation, I have simply removed the actual name of the region.
