The 7th report (HCP 364-I, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215524867), from the Home Affairs Committee examines policing in the 21st century, with Volume 2, providing oral and written evidence, (ISBN 9780215524850). The Government aims to replace the top-down police targets with locally-set priorities and encourage greater use of officer discretion, backed by more effective supervision. At present, the Committee believes that public expectations of the police are not being met, with the public wanting the police to put a greater focus on minor crime and anti-social behaviour. Further, the police need to be more visible and responsive to the public and give greater consideration to the needs of the victim when investigating crime. Police resources have been put under greater pressure particularly where foreign nationals need to be processed. Whilst funding shortfalls have been exposed where rapid population change has occurred due to immigration.The Committee highlights a concern over the deployment of police for longer periods dealing with alcohol-related crime due to the changes in the licensing laws and are not convinced of the effectiveness of Alcohol Disorder Zones. Further, the Committee expresses concern about the large number of murder suspects released on bail, but do support amendments to the bail laws to take into account the capacity of the police forces to monitor offenders, and a presumption against bail in murder cases. There are also examples of effective police approaches in reducing gang-related knife and gun crime, combining diversionary activities and targeted intelligence-led campaigns against known offenders. The police need to find ways though to free up resources, and the Committee expresses disappointment at the lack of progress in reducing police bureaucracy. Centralisation of the development and purchase of technology through the National Policing Improvement should reduce costs and ensure systems are integrated and prevent duplication. More control should be given to local forces, with greater accountability of policing at a local level. The Committee also identifies a gap in provision for tackling serious and organised crime.

Additional written evidence is contained in Volume 3, available on the Committee website at www.parliament.uk/justicecom

This is a book that students and professionals from different disciplines and backgrounds, including from academia, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, the medical community, governments, etc., will find to be a valuable resource in their quest to learn more about an area of study that has long been neglected. 2 Volume set.

Performance measurement is now a key management tool used by government to assess and enhance public services. It is also used as a tool for public sector transparency and accountability. Despite these noble objectives, performance measurement can also generate counterproductive and sometimes paradoxical outcomes. This book innovatively conceptualises performance measurement as a ‘policy instrument’. Such an approach necessarily invites careful and critical examination of instances of the formation, application and contestation of particular performance measurement regimes, the tools used to measure performance, the way in which performance data is produced and used, and the complex dynamics between professionals, managers and service users that arise from these practices. The book provides detailed empirical examples of performance measurement in the delivery of health, schooling and child welfare services, as well as the problematics of assessing national wellbeing. Instead of a form of scientific and rational management, performance measurement is revealed as an intrinsically contested, socio-politically charged and value laden practice. The book concludes that to succeed in delivering authentic performance improvements public sector managers must be aware of these complex, paradoxical dynamics and the circumstances that make performance measurement perform. This book was originally published as a special issue of Policy Studies.