The role of local government in addressing issues of social equity is undergoing significant reconstruction in current educational policy reforms in England. The current conceptualisation of social provision places individual rights at the centre of policy, and social responsibility is represented as the work of individuals. Drawing upon a partnership project in Plymouth, England, and the analytical lens of refraction, the authors suggest that the 'autonomy' of local authority workers is embedded within systems of governance, including both traditional forms of centralised control, albeit obscured, and the new modality of networked governance.