As the voluntary sector awaits publication of the Treasury’s Cross Cutting Review and the call to help deliver more public services, it warns that it should not be viewed as a cheap option. The sector can provide niche services and specialist local knowledge in delivering services such as drug rehabilitation, or ex-offenders working with young offenders. Although voluntary groups do not need to satisfy shareholders, they do need a profit margin so that they can reinvest in their organizations. Profit is not an optional extra. The National Council for Voluntary Organizations argues that groups should receive payment for the specialist knowledge they bring to public service provision. Despite the difficulty in defining added value, it will release a report in November recommending how this can be done.The Organization has also called for the government to set up a skills council to promote training and identify skills gaps. It has pointed to the need to concentrate on building the skills of leadership and negotiation as well as financial management skills. It is concerned that there were no proposals for a skills council in the draft Review report.

Read more on VOLUNTARY SECTOR NOT A CHEAP OPTION FOR DELIVERING SERVICES…

The promise to councils that Whitehall will release its grip on the work of local government is starting to be delivered with the ending of detailed prescription for councils tax bills. The aim is to make council tax notices clearer and more understandable. The move will mean that councils will no longer be required to send taxpayers complicated financial information or include explanatory notes on the bill. Instead they will have to give information on the their expenditure plans, how these are to be funded, their impact on council tax payers and reasons why the level of council tax has varied from the previous year.Councils will also be given the freedom to serve bills and reminders electronically for the first time. This change will need amending legislation to make clear that bills are deemed to be served where a council has issued a demand notice by email. Taxpayers will also be able to pay their tax bills electronically.

Read more on COUNCIL TAX BILLS LEAD THE WAY TO TOWN HALL FREEDOM…

By Gill RinglandThe author shows how scenario thinking can help public sector organizations think about uncertainty in a structured way. The book focuses on the use of scenarios for developing public policy, whether by engaging the public or for use within government. Drawing on a wealth of global examples, Scenarios in Public Policy, provides managers at all levels with the knowledge, best practice guidelines and a practical toolkit to use scenarios in the public sector.

Read more on SCENARIOS IN PUBLIC POLICY…

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development recommends employers to give clear advice to their employees on the use of mobile phones while behind the wheel. This follows the government’s proposal to allow the police to prosecute an employer who “causes or permits” a worker to use a mobile phone while driving. It also advises organisations about the need to prepare for the possibility of new legislation.The Institute has warned that employers need to make it clear to employees, particularly those who do a lot of driving as part of their work, that they should not make or receive calls, using a hand held phone, while driving. This will ensure that they protect employees, other road users and themselves. The basic advice is that employees need to pull over and switch off the engine if they want to use a mobile phone.

Read more on WARNING TO EMPLOYERS ABOUT MOBILE PHONES…

Information to support the development of the health workforce is held in isolated pockets without any links between them. The three main databases are held by the NHS national censuses, workforce development confederations across the country and the postgraduate deaneries responsible for medical training and they all operate independently. Data is also held by other employers and regulatory bodies.A Review of Workforce Information Needs has proposed far-reaching changes in the processes and planning systems for workforce development. It recommends a comprehensive review of existing information about the workforce in order to develop a robust dataset to support the new arrangements. As the health service changes, access to reliable data becomes more important. It is crucial to know about new ways of working and changes in skills and skill mix and changes in employment practices such as greater diversity in recruitment.

Read more on CALL TO POOL INFORMATION ABOUT HEALTH WORKFORCE…

The GMB union wants urgent legislative action on workplace stress. It believes that employers and enforcement authorities are not taking the issue seriously despite the fact that it is estimated to cost employers about 370 million pounds and society about 3.75 billion pounds a year.The union is critical of the current trend of promoting alternative therapies such as massage and aromatherapy in the workplace, because it believes it raises the danger of trivialising what is a workplace killer. It quotes examples of employers bringing in masseurs, having lunchtime yoga sessions and even bringing in clowns for employees who are working in stressful environments. It compares the situation to ignoring a wet floor and putting a plaster cast on someone every time they slip over on the floor and break a bone.

Read more on UNION CALLS FOR LEGISLATION ON WORKPLACE STRESS…

The 20 councils taking part in piloting local public service agreements have discovered some of the reasons why they have difficult relationships with central departments. An evaluation report of the pilots by the Office for Public Management, reveals that apart from departments having regular contact with councils, there was a low understanding of how services are delivered and this meant that issues often did not receive high priority.The research exposed the need to improve understanding in Whitehall of the complexities of local government. There is a perception that many civil servants have little opportunity to experience the realities of service delivery at local level, many aspects of which are profoundly affected by decisions taken in Whitehall. The discussions between the pilot councils and departments highlighted the perverse effects of micro management where government controls the detail of local action and the intended result is often unachievable for specific local reasons. Usually the central department is unaware of the problem.

Read more on PILOT REVEALS CAUSES OF PROBLEMS BETWEEN TOWN HALLS AND WHITEHALL…

By Gill JonesYoung people are becoming increasingly sharply divided between those who have and those who do not. At a time when the major policy thrust is to combat social exclusion, the report shows how difficult this will be. Despite investment in education and training, inequality continues and becomes more extreme. Polarisation of experience occurs in every aspect of transition to adulthood. The youth divide provides an overview of the changes in transitions to adulthood and proposes ways of overcoming the processes of social exclusion.

Read more on THE YOUTH DIVIDE: DIVERGING PATHS TO ADULTHOOD…

Liverpool City Council continues to make it easier for people to get in touch. Libraries are now being used to provide one stop shops for council services. In the pioneer site the shop has in its own section of the library and offers the same services as the city’s four larger one stop shops. The shops give people access to all council services under one roof, from housing benefits to education awards. Each shop is specially designed with the customer in mind, in welcoming, comfortable surroundings.Callers to the shops are given an individual ‘account’ which means council advisors can deal with a number of different enquiries in one visit.

Read more on EASIER TO CONTACT THE COUNCIL – IF YOU LIVE IN LIVERPOOL…

Finding ways of making back office systems, such as finance, human resources and procurement, work smarter, is a key element of the NHS Modernisation programme. The National Shared Services Initiative aims to introduce standardised systems across the NHS to make the collection of data quicker, easier and more accurate.Some 600 NHS finance departments use different methods, processes and software and the result is that information varies in quality and is difficult to collate. More than 40 NHS Trusts are now taking part in a pilot programme to test the concept of Shared Financial Service Centres and two pilot centers have been set up. The centres are working with private sector suppliers and NHS staff to develop new and innovative ways for managing NHS finance. The interim system, which is provided by Oracle, is being tested and the first wave of NHS trusts will migrate to the pilot centres early in 2003

Read more on NHS DEVELOPING SMARTER BACK OFFICE SYSTEMS…