Teachers and parents are being supported by the Internet in their efforts to improve reading skills. Tough literacy targets are an essential feature of the drive to improve standards. Estelle Morris, Education Schools Standards Minister, said: “Literacy isn’t just about books, new technologies mean that there are more and more worlds to explore”.
The National Year of Reading web site www.yearofreading.org.uk has introduced a magazine to give hints about creative writing. 

An attempt by Neil Morrison, HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services, to encourage the employment of women in Scotland’s eight brigades has backfired. His report was intended to find ways to increase the number of female firefighters in Scotland. There are only 128 women in a total workforce of more than 8,000.
His message in the report is that female firefighters are just as capable as their male colleagues in carrying out their full range of duties. 

Walker D
Public Finance, (UK), 30 Oct-Nov 5 1998.
Start page: 16. No of pages: 3
Refers to the United Kingdom Conservative green paper ‘Government direct’ which proposes a clear strategy for a common public service electronic service based on one-stop shops; and to a report by the consultants Kable ‘Better information for government’.