New Labour's Big Idea: Joined-up Government

Abstract

There can be little doubt that joined-up government (JUG) is one of New Labour's big ideas, alongside their new managerialism. Since New Labour's initial election victory in 1997 and their subsequent second term in 2001, significant resources have been spent in developing ‘joined-up’ strategies for social policy. This ‘big idea’ stretches from Cabinet level with new groups such as the Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) and the Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) and extends into every single social policy sector with area-based initiatives, such as Health Action, Education Action and Employment Zones, and encompasses agents from all sectors, public, private and voluntary. New Labour state that by ensuring policy making is more joined-up and strategic, social and public policy can be more ‘inclusive and integrated’ (White Paper, 1999: 6).