The UK, like Janus, looks in two directions at once; to Europe as a Member State and to the US as a major political ally on to world stage. Both have felt the impact of globalisation and adopted neoliberal, capitalist ideals of the market to a greater or lesser degree. This has influenced not only the substantive nature of education by yoking its aims to the economic imperative but also structurally in adopting the principles of new public management which in turn has served to reshape the education sector as a whole. In terms of Europe this presents inevitable tensions between adopting material benefits of capitalism and the social democratic values of the European Social Model adopted as part of the Lisbon Treaty(2000) According to Leverett(2008:51) since 1997 and the election of New Labour to power in the UK, the sate has become more willing to intervene with a range of specific social and economic policy initiatives related to anti-social behaviour, poverty, educational standards, and revitalising the labour market.These initiatives directly involve or affect parents. Partnership with parents is part of current Government rhetoric. Consequently, this has led to an increase in state levels of support for, and surveillance of, parents(Leverett, 2008:45). In practice the outworking of this strategy identifies specific groups of parents according to gender, social class, ethnicity, culture and economic identities. Analysis of Every Parent Matters(DfES 2007) one of the last Blairite documents in relation to the Every Child Matters(ECM) agenda, implemented in 2003, suggests that it is these groups of parents rather than parents per se, who are being repositioned in relation to state intervention and policy making. This paper investigates the positioning of parents as agents of Government policy and the tensions for parents that Every Parent Matters presents. To this end the notion of ’parental responsibility’, ‘parental involvement’ and the concept of the ‘good parent’ is explored as aspects of citizenship. Such concepts have to do with New Labour’s principal aim of breaking the cycle of deprivation in which many children and their families have become trapped. It is about investing in human, cultural, social and economic capital to meet Government objectives - a neoliberal view of citizenship.. However, widening economic/capital resources means that people cannot participate and progress equally in education(Rasmussen et al., 2009). The assertion that all parents are to be empowered to influence the universal services available to them is questioned.

This paper takes the form of a policy analysis based on the ‘Policy into Practice’ framework offered by Bell and Stevenson (2006). This is an adaptation of the policy analysis tool constructed by Taylor et.al.(1997) which focuses on the context, text and consequences of policy. Bell and Stevenson (2006: 12) add four hierarchical dimensions. These have to do with understanding the transition from policy formation to policy implementation and focus on the socio-political environment, strategic direction, organizational principles and operational practices and procedures. Government expectations of parents and the services constructed for them as highlighted in Every Parent Matters will be an important focus of the analysis. Adopting parents as a further resource in furthering Government aims will be critiqued in the light of social democratic values.

The expected outcome of this critical policy analysis is a conceptual model of New Labour, Third Way understandings of parental responsibility, parental involvement or partnership in education in relation to social policy objectives.This particularly with regard to notions of 'empowering' citizenship through New Public Management. This will provide useful lessons for Eupoean education and social policy making.