Abstract: | SUMMARY. Throughout the lifetime of the NCB there have been significant changes of emphasis and direction in child welfare services in Britain, which are often reflected in the Bureau's own history. The priority given to the related spheres of child-care, child protection, delinquency control and preventive work with vulnerable families has shifted over the three decades and changed priorities have contributed to a changing service ethos. The new Children Act aims at balance and a fresh synthesis, centred on partnership; a concept which promises much but has yet to be fully tried and tested. |