Lee G, Baker A, Beard DPeople Management, (UK), 14 May 98 (4/10)
Start page: 52 No of pages: 4
Describes the recently revamped system used by the UK government department, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to recruit staff, showing how the introduction of competency-based selection and a different, less traditional approach to recruitment advertising had the effect of reducing the number of women applying and being selected for the jobs. 

Policy makers and communicators in local government are being challenged to demonstrate the value for money they provide to the public.Market-testing is routine for direct public services such as the emptying of dustbins and street maintenance, but with the Government’s drive for all of the sector to demonstrate ‘best value’, no service, however remote from day-to-day contact with the public, is free from examination. 

The Prime Minister says car crime could be cut by thirty percent through partnership working between Government, car manufacturers and the police.Tony Blair told the Labour Party Conference it was one of the boldest partnerships in fighting crime seen from a Labour government.
He also gave more figures to back up the Government’s measures on crime and disorder. 

Information for people needing to use Britain’s courts system has been reviewed, slimmed down, and made a lot more customer friendly, according to the Lord Chancellor’s Department.A new charter for court users in England and Wales has been produced following extensive - and praised - consultation with consumer groups and court users. 

The Government has announced what it is doing to help Britain increasingly become a ‘knowledge-driven economy’.The implications of the rapid growth of information and communications systems for both the economy and the public sector are set out in a report published by Peter Mandelson, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.He said: “The convergence of information and communications systems will have a major impact on commerce and society. 

Three North Yorkshire local authorities are setting up a combined internal audit service as part of the latest phase in the government’s best value initiative.Scarborough Borough Council and Ryedale and Selby District Councils will combine their internal auditing teams from April 1999.
The merger project has been chosen as just one of six ‘partnership network’ proposals being co-ordinated by the DETR. 

The underlying message from the Audit Commission report into Britain’s ambulance services is that closer working between hospitals and all emergency services is the only way to meet increasing demands.The ambulance service is struggling to cope with a forty per cent rise in emergency calls since 1990. In the past all 999 calls have received the same priority. 

Edited by: Jane HenryIntended for managers and others who wish to increase their capacity to respond creatively to the challenges of the 1990s, this book is written in typical Open University style. The focus of the book is the impact of thought upon action, in particular changing thought creatively so as to bring about creative action. It shows how thinking patterns can limit perceived options and offers a variety of creative approaches to circumventing barriers in the mind. 

Merrick NPeople Management, (UK), 30 Apr 98 (4/9)
Start page: 38 No of pages: 3
Profiles the way that the North East Essex Mental Health NHS Trust (UK) approached helping staff to deal with the stress caused by the closure of one of its hospitals. Underlines that stress is common within the health service, reporting research which found that between a quarter and a third of NHS employees were under stress, including a high proportion of managers as well as clinicians. 

A new report recommends the teaching of effective citizenship in schools as a way of delivering a generation of people who take moral and social responsibility, get involved in community life, and are politically aware.Education and Employment Secretary David Blunkett has given a warm welcome to the report of the Advisory Group on Education for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools. The cross-party group included politicians like the Rt.