This essay focuses on the following issues:• What are the effects of Stockholm's Action Plan on both decision-makers and social security officers in the field?• How is the outcome of the Action Plan and the work environment affected by methods, organisation and control systems?• Why are conflicts between stakeholders and the organization handled in the way they are done?

The overall purpose of the essay is to a critically study of New Public Management, the ongoing personnel crisis in services for children and young people.  Where yhe crisis is resulting in significant staff turnover and high health statistic. What is being done and can be done within the local Action Plan to address this, and whether or not the Stockholm City Action Plan to improve the working situation of the Social Security Officer and Assistant Handler, or is it the organization itself and how is it managed in that case?

The paper is supported by Michel Foucault's theories on power and by Christopher Hood's work on New Public Management. In addition, I interviewed four Social Security Officers working in children and young peoples' services, along with four decision-makers (including politicians, managers and union representatives) and have incorporated information gained from those interviews in this essay.

The main result in the essay is that: There are common expectations of the action plan's output and that in the long term it will lead to a better working environment, but the decision-makers had more confidence about what can actually be resolved.  However, there is a concern that changes should have been implemented earlier. The crucial challenges are clearly linked to the economy and today's management systems, such as New Public Management (NPM).  NPM has changed over time and within different welfare areas.  There are also clear links between NPM and deficiencies in the working environment in Social Services. The essay addresses a number of these shortcomings and the strategies that Social Security Officers use to address the situation. However, more and more require other reforms, but at present there is no legitimate alternative, although this is being studied at state level in Sweden and Denmark. Conflicts between stakeholders revolve around the power that the organisation has produces; the organisation disciplines its employees as well as the clients, who are the same as society's residents. This has resulted in a culture of silence, where staff are focused on doing and reporting the right things, rather than looking at long-term results. The Action Plan challenges and balances these structures.