Political Responses and Inquiries

Abstract

Serious cases of failure by agencies such as social services and probation necessarily result in some sort of panel of inquiry. Inquiries may be seen as instruments of rational policy-making and organisational adjustment. Depending on the level at which they take place and the wideness of their remit, they may be aimed simply at finding out what in a particular case went wrong and why, where responsibility lies and what sanctions, if any, or organisational ‘tweaking’ are necessary to minimise the likelihood of recurrence. On the other hand they may, usually under the leadership of a knowledgeable outsider, be charged with looking at the extent to which the failure in question reflects fundamental policy orientations or organisational structure and working of the agencies involved, and recommend far reaching changes.