This thesis examines a wide range of domestic novels, from Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) to Woolf's Mrs Dallowa~ (1925), in order to explore their intensified concern with the aesthetlc value of domestic scene. The representation of the house in these works is viewed as an ideological strategy of containment, effected not only by narrative exclusions but also by the literary mode of the narrative. The domestic novel at the turn of the century does not necessarily produce an image of the house but presents a writing of space which interacts with architectural aesthetics in a discourse of the house beautiful. Critical analysis of the cultural and economic contradictions of this discourse indicates the way that the domestic novel is shaped by the colonial situation and at the same time opens out the complexity of its construction of feminine subjectivity. The late 19th century produced simplified spacious design in a reaction to the Victorian concept of the civilised house. The fictional and architectural ideal of a unified house form is, however, an assertion of identity and, in this sense, a renegotiation of the opposition between the E~gl~sh home and foreign or colonial 'otherness ' • This mapping is effected w~th~n the ideological imperative of the question of colonial trade. The flctl0nal emphasis on woman's relation to the house deals with her displacement in the commodity world of the aestheticised house. Yet the privilege given to the English word home lends to woman's sensual appreciation of the house, or creation of setting for herself, an importance which limits th~ ~mplied critique. Furthermore, feminine experience of habitation is relfled by the authoritive definition of the house in the interacting aesthetics of architecture and literature. The domestic novel thus mystifies new feminine roles, particularly the role of entertainment and even the attempt to demystify such ideals of habitation to . some extent colludes with the mystique by seeking the truth of woman's unspoken experience of the house

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One of the most significant developments affecting local government in the past fifteen years has been the imposition of compulsory competitive tendering. Initially compulsory competitive tendering (CCT), as imposed by the local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, only affected the ability of local authorities to perform construction and maintenance work via their Direct Labour Organisations. However, the Local Government Acts 1988 and 1992 now establish a CCT regime for local authority services: this study will examine the development of this regime, rather than that established by the 1980 Act, and evaluate its provisions. This study will be divided into three major Parts. The first will examine the policy developments which preceded the establishment of compulsory competitive tendering for local authority services by virtue of Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1988, and then consider the developments in policy which led to the subsequent expansion of the range of services to CCT and the refinement of the tendering regime which has followed the enactment of the Local Government Act 1992. It is intended to consider the development of the CCT regime within the context of wider legislative developments in local government over the past fifteen years, and of wider policy initiatives relating to the institutional structure and role of both central and local government. The second, and main, Part of the research will be a detailed evaluation of the tendering regime which applies when local authorities wish to perform work via Direct Service Organisations. This regime is put in place by the Local Government Acts 1988 and 1992, and the delegated legislation issued pursuant to those statutes. A wide number of issues will be considered in this Part of the research.

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