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, with a side interest in payment by results. Over the past nine 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 is scheduled to return to the public sector in June 2021.
• In the substance misuse sector, the advent of New Psychoactive Substances (particularly synthetic cannabinoids) 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.