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This article arises out of a research project that sought to assess the development of regulation within the public sector. It examines the forms and impact of the regulatory systems that now operate within the public sector focusing on the further education sector. The research project developed out of an awareness that the increase in various forms of regulation and control by central government, that was begun under the Conservative government prior to 1997, has continued under successive Labour administrations. The project sought to assess current forms of control, to examine the relationship between the regulators and the regulated, and to consider various alternative accounts of this relationship. It examined the regulatory regimes in such areas as health care, personal social services, policing, further education, probation, social security and housing. The project used a range of methods, including documentary research, questionnaires to local level managers and officers, and semi-structured interviews with key individuals involved in the implementation of regulated services.