Abstract
This paper examines the dynamic nature of the British welfare state by analysing recent reformist programmes in the field of health care and personal care services. It draws special attention to some policy alterations in service supply and its regulatory regimes incidental to a change of government.
Section 2 defines the notion of the quasi-market system of service provision and discusses the factors underlying the introduction of this mechanism. Sections 3 and 4 explore some significant features of health care and personal care reforms under the Conservative Party Administration. Section 5 evaluates the new Labour Party's attempt to make their policies distinctive from those of their Conservative predecessors. The Conservative Party's ‘decentralised’ regulation was successful in privatising service supply and strengthening the central government's power and influence over the service system. However, it did not result in improved efficiency of services. The neo-liberal approach adopted by the Conservative Party has been replaced by a democratic empowerment approach under the new Labour Administration. The new Labour Party has adopted several aspects of the Conservative Party's reforms, whilst at the same time it has introduced some major changes. The once ‘centralised’ government, which disguised itself as a ‘decentralised’ system would now appear to be less coercive and more consensual. Competition among service suppliers has been converted to that among local authorities.
