Introduction

The final two years of the Blair– Brown Labour government were fraught as Brown's long quest to replace Blair as Prime Minister approached its climax. Moreover, public service reform continued to provide one of the main battlegrounds between No 10 and the Treasury, with Blair seeking to push ahead with controversial reforms in health and education (Davis and Rentoul, 2019). Crucially, it was during this period that the challenge of implementing the ambitious ECM reforms began. The government's implementation plans were published in December 2004, in the report Every Child Matters: Change for Children (HM Government, 2004), shortly after the passage of the Children Act 2004. The first section of this chapter considers the early implementation of the Change for Children programme, including the role played by NGOs and the new DCSs. The continued involvement of the Treasury in children's policymaking is also highlighted. The second section considers resistance to the ECM reform agenda among educational interests within Whitehall and outside of government in the context of Blair's continued involvement in education policy. The third section reflects upon Blair's continued interest in youth crime and anti-social behaviour policy. Thus, the chapter examines the roles played by NGOs and Whitehall interests during this period in the context of unresolved tensions between the policy priorities of No 10 and the Treasury.

The Change for Children programme

In Chapter 4, it was argued that it was Blair's and Brown's interest in children's policy that led to the initiation of the ECM Green Paper. Both Labour leaders had become frustrated at the slow pace of delivery of key Labour initiatives.