I set up this blog to stimulate debate around the rapid changes in the way we deliver public services, especially in the arenas of crime and drug &  alcohol treatment, which I specialise in. The blog went live on 1 September 2011 and has continued to focus on these two key areas. Over the past thirteen years, the pace of change in both these sectors has accelerated, driven by some very different forces:

• The ongoing reductions in public expenditure have drastically altered the way public (and private and voluntary) sector organisations deliver services — and has resulted in a prison service on the brink of collapse and an ongoing re-definition of the role of our police.
• Radical government policies (most driven by the need to cut public expenditure) resulted in a privatised and fragmented probation service which eventually returned to the public sector in June 2021.
• In the substance misuse sector, the advent of an ever-growing range of synthetic substances has resulted in very different patterns of drug use and different types of help needed.
• The advent of new technology and of smartphone apps in particular is revolutionising the way we help people get free from dependency or move away from crime.
• All these trends have of course been accelerated by the global pandemic and the ongoing reductions in public spending