Howard Davis is Acting Director of the Local Government Centre, Warwick Business School. Steve Martin is Professor of Public Policy and Management and Director of the Centre for Local and Regional Government Research at Cardiff University.

• Contents: 1. The Rise of Public Services Inspection. Steve Martin, Cardiff Business School and Howard Davis, Warwick Business School. 2. Inspection of Local Government Services. James Downe, Cardiff University. 3. Inspection of Adult and Children's Social Care. Chris John, University of Wales Business School, Cardiff and David Loc, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff. 4. Inspection of Education and Skills: From Improvement to Accountability. Jane Martin, Local Better Regulation Office. 5. Regulation and Inspection of Health Services. Kieran Walshe, Manchester Business School. 6. Inspection and the Criminal Justice Agencies. John W. Raine, University of Birmingham. 7. Holistic Public Services Inspection. Steve Bundred, Audit Commission and Clive Grace, Cardiff University. 8. Performance Paradoxes: The Politics of Evaluation in Public Service. John Clarke, Open University. 9. The Future of Public Services Inspection. Howard Davis, Warwick Business School and Steve Martin, Cardiff Business School. The Editors. The Contributors. Subject index. Author index.

In this detailed account of the changing role of inspection in public services management, contributors analyze the key debates about the role that inspection plays in increasing public accountability and encouraging services improvements. They show were inspection works and where it does not, and explain the rise of such inspections and the inspection of local governments services, inspection of adult's and children's social care, education systems, health services and criminal justice agencies.