New Labour and educational disadvantage: the limits of area-based initiatives

Since coming to power in 1997, New Labour has adopted area-based initiatives (ABIs) as a key strategy to combat economic, social and (especially) educational disadvantage. This paper briefly outlines the history of ABIs within the UK and explores the discontinuities and continuities between recent initiatives and their earlier counterparts. It argues that while New Labour's ABIs incorporate distinctive, new characteristics, they are largely based on the same assumptions which underpinned previous ABIs. The limits of these models, and the somewhat patchy track record of ABIs, raise serious questions about their efficacy and the restricted policy repertoire of the UK State.