Sadly, this is the final issue of the journal Research, Policy and Planning (RPP) and it marks the end of an of an academic journal which for nearly four decades has bridged the community of academia and social services researchers. As the journal of the UK’s Social Services Research Group, (SSRG), published from 1983, it has reflected the long term decline in the numbers of people employed to carry out and report on social services research and analyse policy, especially in local authorities. This final issue, divided into two parts, has five articles commissioned from earlier contributors and two book reviews; and it takes a retrospective and prospective look at social services.

The journal is available on request from admin@laria.org.uk