ABSTRACT

The Conservative government in Britain during the 1980s espoused an ideology which in relation to social care sought to control or reduce public spending through more effective management of resources, encouraged a mixed economy of welfare and introduced greater market competition between and within the different sectors. This chapter considers the impact of these changes in the field of social care for older people, people with physical or learning disabilities and people with mental health problems. It focuses on the major piece of recent legislation the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 and considers more recent developments in the field following the election of the Labour Government in 1997. The Act was a culmination of a century of policy and practice developments within social care and in reviewing the history and context of this legislation briefly a number of intertwined strands. Conservative government was to introduce market principles into both health and social care service provision.