ABSTRACT
By the time New Labour came to power in 1997, the context within which social work operated and the content of social work itself had changed fundamentally as a result of the establishment of the social work business and the embrace of quasi-capitalist rationality in the way it was run (see Chs 3 and 4). New Labour accepted the business legacy it inherited from the Conservatives and set about its modernisation. This chapter identifies the origins of the modernisation programme in ‘Third Way’ thinking, and the substantial areas of overlap between the New Right and New Labour, before considering the distinctive communitarian twist New Labour has supplied. The modern business model, represented by ‘Best Value’, is outlined as a precursor to charting the modernisation of the social work business through the activities of four new institutions. The central significance of regulation and audit is then discussed as part of the framework that has been reconstructing social work’s practice and controlling professional discretion.
