Introduction

Government policy does not always get enacted without getting slightly muddied along the way, and political rhetoric does not always tally with the realities of practice. Practitioners do not always do exactly what is expected of them, and there is a long history of research that explores the complex world of policy implementation and ‘street-level bureaucracy’ (Lipsky, 1980). Previous chapters have focused on the role of a small number of powerful people, and the official documents they write or commission, and the speeches and interviews they have given that have ‘set the scene’ for the TFP, and provide the framework within which it must operate. It is these publications and proclamations that are reported in the media and read by members of the wider populace. The day-to-day life and operationalisation of the programme, however, involves hundreds, if not thousands of other, less powerful people working away from the public eye to help ‘turn around’ or improve the lives of ‘troubled families’.

While local authorities and family workers have been spoken about in glowing terms by influential individuals such as Cameron, Casey and Javid, when the surface is scratched, workers do not always agree with all aspects of the policy they are asked to implement. Similarly, local authorities have often exercised the discretion afforded to them in their implementation of the TFP. This chapter examines the daily conduct of the TFP, drawing on a wide range of research that has been conducted with people involved in the delivery of the programme. The chapter begins with a discussion of ‘street-level bureaucracy’, a widely used concept that draws attention to the ‘murky waters’ of policy implementation, and its relevance to the TFP. Some recent research involving street-level bureaucrats in the UK is then sketched out, along with a slightly fuller discussion of research that examined local practices in the FIPs that preceded the TFP.