In the public sector inspection regimes and performance targets provide a powerful and dominant narrative, often placing pressure on professionals and organisations to continuously quantify the quality of services and to achieve targets.

This book explores the background, development, techniques and impact of such regimes across areas of the public sector including schools, universities, police forces, children’s services and health services. Putting inspection and audit regimes under scrutiny, the author questions their role and function across these organisations and builds a persuasive critical argument for the re-thinking of public accountability mechanisms and techniques.

Nick Frost is Emeritus Professor at Leeds Beckett University, UK. He was a local authority social worker and an adult educator, before joining Leeds Beckett University in 2009. Nick has over a decade of experience as Chair of three different Local Safeguarding Children Boards. He has addressed conferences on child welfare issues in many countries and acted as a consultant to a number of governments and voluntary organisations. Nick has produced over 20 books including, most recently, of Safeguarding Children and Young People (Sage, 2021).