By Richard Y Chang and Mark W MorganShows how to develop Performance Scorecards and how to apply these techniques effectively.

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Care and support for older and disabled people could collapse unless the Government allocates at least 700 million pounds extra to social services each year, a King’s Fund inquiry has concluded. The inquiry report, Future Imperfect? shows that Britain’sestimated one million care and support workers exist on low pay, with poor training, inadequate support from their managers and too little time to care. The report warns that without urgent improvements, care and support services could face a recruitment and retention crisis as bad as the NHS’s current problems in nursing and medicine.The inquiry found that commissioning bodies displayed a damaging preoccupation with containing costs rather than promoting quality in care services and a workforce of which two-thirds do not hold a relevant qualification and earn around 5 pounds per hour. It also revealed high levels of staff turnover and inadequate education and training for care and support workers, both before qualification and during their working lives.

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One of the first moves of Prime Minister Tony Blair in responding to the election result as ‘an instruction to deliver’ is the creation of an Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in the Cabinet Office. John Prescott will act with the full authority of the Prime Minister in overseeing the delivery of the manifesto pledges. He will be supported by a new unit, staffed by civil servants and successful change managers from business and commerce, with a remit to drive forward reform of public services. There is speculation that the unit will be headed by Lord Birt, former chairman of the BBC. To ensure that the unit has sufficient ‘clout’ to make things happen its head will report directly to the Prime Minister.John Prescott will also take on responsibility for important cross-departmental issues, including social exclusion. The Regional Co-ordination Unit, set up last year in the DETR, will move the Deputy Prime Ministers Office, which will also take on responsibility for the Government Offices in the Regions and the Social Exclusion Unit.

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