Contributions reflect key developments in the UK and internationally. and focus on developments and change in core UK social policy areas. Additional chapters provide in-depth analyses of topical issues in UK and international perspective, while this year's themed section is 'New Labour'.

Contents: Introduction ~ Martin Powell, Linda Bauld and Karen Clarke; Part 1: Current services: Social security and welfare reform under New Labour ~ Peter A. Kemp; New Labour's education policy: innovation or reinvention? ~ Rob Hulme and Moira Hulme; Transforming the NHS: the story in 2004 ~ Rudolf Klein; Housing in an 'opportunity society' ~ Peter Malpass; Personal Social Services ~ Ann Netten; Part 2: Current issues: Governance and social policy in Northern Ireland (1999-2004): the devolution years and postcript ~ Eithne McLaughlin; At home abroad: the presidential election of 2004, the politics of American social policy and what European readers might make of these subjects ~ Theodore Marmor; The future of health care in the UK: think-tanks and their policy prescriptions ~ Sally Ruane; Consumerism and the reform of public services: inequalities and instabilities ~ John Clarke, Nick Smith and Elizabeth Vidler; The challenges of measuring government output in the healthcare sector ~ Adriana Castelli, Diane Dawson, Hugh Gravelle and Andrew Street; Social investment perspectives and practices: a decade in British politics ~ Alexandra Dobrowolsky and Jane Jenson; Part 3: New Labour: A rootless third way: a continental European perspective on New Labour's welfare state, revisited ~ Daniel Clegg; Welfare after Thatcherism: New Labour and social democratic politics ~ Stephen Driver; A progressive consensus in the making? ~ Peter Robinson and Kate Stanley; New Labour's family policy ~ Fiona Williams.

"Social Policy Review combines up-to-date reviews of current policies with penetrating historical and comparative analyses. It is invaluable for students, teachers and practitioners alike." Alan Deacon, Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds