ABSTRACT
There was something inexorable in the government’s thrust towards privatisation, but there was nothing inevitable about it. Different decisions could have been made, different programmes offered, and a different Probation Service would have emerged. But there was certainly something inexorable in the build-up through that long drawn out process described in Chapter 2, and the emerging neo liberal view, exemplified by Carter, that governments must promote systems which are effective, efficient, and offer value for money.
