ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the direction of the reforms that have been introduced in the United Kingdom since the political changes of 1997 and the accession of a Labour government and endeavours to assess the prospects for positive flexibility gaining hold. It describes the European and national contexts, with a view to concentrating on the corporate level which, as will be seen, remains the dominate field of activity in the United Kingdom. The change of government in the United Kingdom in 1997 was an important landmark and signalled a shift in labour market policies and attitudes towards social exclusion. The voluntarist industrial relations system in the United Kingdom tends to encourage local agreement and corporate activity in the labour market and in industrial relations, especially in the areas of working arrangements, pay and conditions and work organization. Much of the turbulence affecting the private manufacturing and service sectors is having an impact on the public sector.
