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BJSW Advance Access originally published online on October 18, 2006
British Journal of Social Work 2008 38(2):270-289; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcl345
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.

How to be Modern: New Labour’s Neoliberal Modernity and the Change for Children programme

Paul Michael Garrett

Paul Michael Garrett is the author of Remaking Social Work with Children and Families (2003) and Social Work and Irish People in Britain (2004). He works at the National University of Ireland in Galway.

Correspondence to Dr. Paul Michael Garrett, Department of Political Science and Sociology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Republic of Ireland. E-mail: PM.Garrett{at}nuigalway.ie


  Abstract

In England the New Labour administration is seeking to embed a ‘transformational reform agenda’ within children’s service. Social workers, among others appear, however, to be wary of the agenda which is now rhetorically rooted in the Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme (CfC). The main social work practice elements of this programme are associated with the introduction of a Children’s Index, a multidisciplinary Common Assessment Framework and the role of Lead Professional. In terms of the promotion of this programme, the government has maintained that the focal aim is to create a ‘modern’ children’s workforce. However, the entire ‘transformational agenda’ can be interpreted as reflecting New Labour’s neoliberal modernity. This is particularly apparent in the terms of the ideas associated with ‘flexibility’ which are so central to the CfC programme.

Keywords: children’s services, common language, flexibility, resistance


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