This new text provides readers with a comprehensive introduction to Local Authority Social Services, the main context in which UK social work is practised .

Michael Hill is currently Visiting Professor at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He was previously Professor of Social Policy at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He is joint editor of the Journal of Social Policy and the author of numerous books including Social Policy: A Comparative Analysis (1995) and Understanding Social Policy (6th edition, 2000).

The other contributors are Bob Hudson, Principle Research Fellow in the Community Care Division at the Nuffield Institute of Health at the University of Leeds.

Stephen Mitchell, Head of the General Social Services Policy Branch in the Department of Health.

Ian Shaw, Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Nottingham.

Jane Tunstill, Professor of Social Work at Royal Holloway College, University of London.