ABSTRACT
This chapter explores three particular sets of changes that have affected Area Child Protection Committees: education reforms, health reforms, and local government reorganisation. It deals with a description of the changes, followed by an account of perceptions of their actual or potential impact. In Wales at the time we undertook research for the Welsh Office, agencies were facing changes in the boundaries of police and health authorities, as well as the wholesale reorganisation of local government into unitary authorities. However, many Area Child Protection Committees members from both within and outside of health agencies experienced considerable confusion over the reorganisation and its impact, for example. In addition, the process of reorganisation has meant far-reaching changes in personnel and responsibility at the level of senior and middle management. Both social services and education departments as local government services needed to consider how to ensure the continuation of child protection services after reorganisation.
