Abstract This chapter introduces evidence-based policy and practice in public services and discusses the themes covered by the book. It presumes that there are two broad users of evidence: policy makers and practitioners. The book is organised first by exploring the role of evidence in different models of the policy process, and then by focusing on the role of evidence in specific public policy areas. The second half of the book then picks up some of the recurrent themes to explore cross-sectoral issues of evidence generation, before moving on to consider evidence implementation. The turn of the century has seen evidence embedded in the political and policy rhetoric of the day, and infused in the newly transformed professional ethic of many service professionals. Bringing such diverse accounts from across the public sector together under a coherent framework, the chapter suggests, will offer new insights and scope for cross-sectoral learning.
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