Reforming the police in Britain: New public management, policy networks and a tough “old bill”

Abstract

Since the late 1970s the public sector in Britain has been subject to major reforms, which have been consistent with the prominent international trend of bringing new public management into government. The police service has escaped significant reform, particularly when compared with other policy areas. But in 1993 the Conservative government put forward a series of police reform measures, corresponding largely to the tenets of new public management. However, despite political commitment to reform, the implementation of many of the reform proposals has been successfully resisted by the police. Provides an explanation of the attempt to reform the police service by using a policy networks approach.

Citation

Leishman, F., Cope, S. and Starie, P. (1995), "Reforming the police in Britain: New public management, policy networks and a tough “old bill”", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 26-37. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513559510096255