Patricia Greer examines the Next Steps initiative which is transforming the functions, organization and traditions of the Executive and its relations with Parliament in the UK. She uses the case study of the Department of Social Security and its agencies to explore the development of Next Steps and to consider the implications of the Next Steps experiment for Whitehall, for the British system of Government, for other countries involved in the decentralization of activity and for administrative theory.

This case study not only provides an inside view into the experiences of the Department of Social Security but also raises issues of wider relevance. Research for this book included interviews with ministers and central departmental and agency officials involved with Next Steps in Britain, and interviews with officials involved in comparable reforms in Canada and New Zealand.

The concluding chapter provides an overall evaluation of the success of Next Steps in achieving its aims of improving efficiency and quality of service from the point of view of customers, staff and parliamentarians.