ABSTRACT
The idea of a ‘mixed economy of welfare’ in which the statutory agencies are no longer the sole or even primary service providers received its first sharpened statement in Britain in the mid-1980s. Norman Fowler, then Secretary of State, reasoned that the state has not, cannot and should not monopolize the personal social services. He argued for a strategic view of all the sources of care in any area, and for the recognition that the direct provision of services is only one aspect of local provision and that other forms of care are also available. He pressed for a new ‘enabling role’ for local authority social services which promoted the fullest possible participation of other sources of care. This initiative was a relatively late flowering of the Conservative government’s commitment to rolling back the frontiers of the state, and part of central government’s programme to control local authority spending and promote cost effectiveness. With this flagging of government intentions, the lead vehicle for the introduction of quality management in the personal social services in the United Kingdom was on the road.
