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This paper reports on the impact of the ‘Next Steps’ programme (and other initiatives such as ‘market testing’) on the underlying coherence and unity of the Civil Service. It concentrates on the impact of these changes on the human resource and careers structures within the Civil Service, which has arguably been the single biggest factor under‐pinning a unified Service. It reviews both the nature of the changes imposed from above and the record of their impact as recorded by official, researcher, consultancy and ‘insider’ accounts. Finally, it draws on an ongoing major consortium project (organised by the Cabinet Office) on human resource development strategies in 10 departments and agencies to review how the changes are developing in practice. It draws conclusions about the likely long‐term impact of the changes on the Civil Service.

Public managers throughout the world work in an unforgiving environment in which to take risks. Managers face varying pressures from a range of informed publics to ensure that risks to them are minimized or eliminated; while many are simultaneously subject to criticism, via private practice models, that they are too risk‐averse. Concurrently, leadership from public managers is sought in drives to ensure quality in public services. Risk and quality appear strongly inter‐linked, although managerial discussion of their interrelationship seems relatively rare, at least within the public domain. Links these two concepts, as they are experienced by public managers, through two pilot case studies of managerial practice in the UK, based in probation and health services. Gives consideration in each study to the contribution of understanding and managing risk as a core element in improving public services quality. The theoretical underpinnings of the research are drawn primarily from the literature on strategic management and risk‐taking in public services.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and share learning about safeguarding children under Covid-19 drawn from a series of webinars held by the Association of Safeguarding Partners (www.theASP.org.uk). The learning is relevant for health, police, local authority and other relevant safeguarding agencies and includes sharing information about both the challenges and opportunities presented during the Covid-19 pandemic. By creating a webinar lead community of learning, lessons can be drawn that will help safeguard children during the remaining of the pandemic and during the release of lockdown as it emerges.

This paper summarises themes from discussions within three webinars run by The Association of Safeguarding Partners (TASP) (www.theASP.org.uk). Each webinar was attended by between 60 and 80 participants, sessions involving presentations and discussions on topics such as “managing safeguarding reviews at a distance”, “the impact on early years’ provision” and “how work with families and children has changed with remote working methods”. With the participants’ consent, webinars were recorded, and these can be viewed on www.theasp.co.uk. Webinars were supported by an on-line programme: “meeting sphere” capturing comments in a “chat” facility and providing capacity for participants to collectively code comments into themes.

Findings from the webinars note concerns about continuing and undetected abuse of children within and outside of the home; about the changing nature of criminal exploitation; and about the strains created by social distancing on children in families experiencing problems with poor mental health, drug and alcohol misuse and domestic abuse. Findings include some important lessons, including the discovery of innovative ways of working, the rapid collation of data across partnerships and about different methods of engaging with children, young people and families. Findings include suggestions about the impact of changes on the future safeguarding of children.

There is little published discussion of the implications of Covid-19 on practitioners working on safeguarding children. While some research is emerging, there have been few opportunities for practitioners to listen to emerging practice ideas under Covid-19 or to discuss in an informal context how to address the new and emerging problems in safeguarding children. This think piece contains original material from webinars held with safeguarding children practitioners and is valuable for those working to safeguard children during and post Covid-19.

Remarks on the parallel in the basis of the riches of the aristocracy and plutocracy. Illustrates the argument from the history of the development of the cotton textile industry, the underpinnings for its growth being the inventions prior to and during the eighteenth century. Exemplifies the part of inventions as the begetter of plutocratic wealth. Sir Richard Arkwright, notably, was its salacious issue.

From June 2017 to May 2018, the Prison Reform Trust partnered with Families Outside to identify the particular impacts on children of a mother's involvement in the criminal justice system. This included a literature review and extensive consultations with 25 children and 31 mothers with lived experience. This chapter presents the main findings of the research, which identified five key themes: ‘Children with a mother in prison are invisible within the systems that are there to protect them’; ‘Every aspect of a child's life may be disrupted when a mother goes to prison’; ‘Children feel stigmatised when a mother is involved in the criminal justice system’; ‘Children affected by imprisonment face many barriers to support’ and ‘With the right support, children can become more resilient and develop the skills they need to thrive’. The material presented in this chapter constitutes a compelling case for reform. The chapter concludes with recommendations for action at local and national levels to protect children from the harm caused by maternal imprisonment.

THE appointment of a Vice‐Chancellor for the University of Warwick was announced towards the end of 1962. The Registrar was next appointed and then the librarian, who arrived on the scene in July 1963. The building which is described in this article was envisaged in a programme handed to the architects, Messrs. Yorke, Rosenberg and Mardall, early in December 1963.

This article argues that measures for project accountability and cost effectiveness generated by the Home Office's Policing and Crime Reduction Unit are ill‐suited to capture the full complexity of project work over time. A new research tool is proposed ‐ a Calendar of Action. This tool has the advantage of being more dynamic and it allows the recording of both quantitative and qualitative data. Its principal aims are to aid the modelling of project impact, the process of evaluation and the measurement of the intensity of action.

The Education Reform Act and, in particular, the Local Management of Schools will demand different skills, understanding and differing roles of senior management in educational establishments. This text draws on written assignments and experience of teachers and headteachers who piloted an MBA programme, designed specifically for senior teachers. Topics such as customers, product, price, promotion and the notion of teachers as a salesforce are unfamiliar to educators. They draw attention to the kind of strategic planning which will take place in schools as they take over responsibility for delegated budgets. All of this is new territory for the majority of state schools and this collection hopefully provides a useful resource.