Bob GarrattThis is a revised edition of a book published in 1986 that was one of the first to try to put learning ideas at the top of the management agenda. The author is a leading authority on the subject.
Published by HareperCollins. 137pp. 14 pounds 99p.

Staff in about one third of councils in the UK will be able to take a computer driving test before the end of the year. The European Computer Driving Licence is the first pan-European Union qualification in personal computing skills. 

The Freedom of Information Act, which came into effect today, will radically alter the relationship between those who provide public services and the public at large. 

The government wants to create an integrated and seamless system of financial support for children. The aim will be to bring together working families’ tax credit, income support and the children’s tax credit which make up the current system of financial support for children. 

Benchmarking is to be introduced for the larger central government IT projects in a further move to limit implementation disasters. All the larger projects will be subject to a performance measurement regime which will include benchmarking and use of the balanced scorecard.Measuring implementation performance is one of the issues being addressed by a joint Government IT industry group - the ‘Senior Forum’. 

The Government says it has listened to - and implemented - the ideas put forward in far-reaching consultation with people living in deprived areas.It says that more than 85 per cent of the 569 recommendations made by cross-cutting Policy Action Teams (PATS) are now central to Government strategy aimed at improving deprived neighbourhoods. 

The lessons learned from the establishment of Education Action Zones (EAZs) can be applied to other government programmes involving the setting up of innovative new bodies, says the National Audit Office (NAO).The debate may continue about the educational achievements of the EAZs, or their success at developing true partnerships with business, but they have proved so far to be a safe method of administering resources. 

Skinner JThe International Journal of Public Sector Management, (UK), 2000 Vol 13 No 6
Start page: 540. No of pages: 9
Examines the implementation of the UK 1998 Crime and Disorder Act from a participant-observer perspective; focuses on the problems and issues that have arisen with regard to agency joint working to tackle crime in the community over a two year period. 

A survey is to be launched to find out what people think about the quality of life ‘barometer’ by which the government measures our social, economic and environmental wellbeing.Thousands of people across England will take part in a DETR study designed to get a picture of how the public perceive their overall quality of life and to get their views on the government’s ‘headline indicators’ which cover everyday concerns such as health, jobs, education, crime, economic prosperity, air quality and wildlife. 

Older people have revealed in a large-scale survey that they are keen to embrace joined-up customer-orientated public services.Far from shying away from change, people over 50 have been asking the Government to join up services which they make most use of - including local authorities, social services, Inland Revenue, National Health Service and the voluntary sector.