Editor: Sue GossPart of the new government agenda is a changed relationship between the state and citizens - making government more accountable to local people. The most important contact that the average citizen has with government is through the staff of public organizations, so that changing the relationship inevitably means changing the roles and behaviours of these public organizations. 

For those not able to get along to the Queen Elizabeth II conference center in London on 26 September to take part in the E-champion conference, all is not lost. They can log in to a webcast and see and hear how e-government is transforming public sector organisations, employment and social inclusion from an international perspective. 

A new group has been set up within the Cabinet Office to steer Civil Service reform. When the Modernising Government White Paper was published in 1999 the task of driving through the changes was given to the Civil Service Management Board, which is made up of the heads of departments. With the arrival of Sir Andrew Turnbull to head the Civil Service, a new look has been taken at the reform programme and how it is to be managed. 

By Sarah del Tufo and Lucy Gaster People experiencing poverty do not influence decision-making and policy. Six grassroots people with direct experience of poverty, and six people in public life were brought together to form the Commission and find out why. The result was a different kind of report, rooted in real experience and in ’street language’, through a different kind of commission process.

The King’s Fund in a new report ‘Changing Relationships’ calls for a shift in the way in which health professionals and patients interact. The report is based on the Patient Involvement Project, that set out to assess changing relationships between health professionals and patients/clients in a changing health environment.The study found that progress towards patient empowerment, increased patient choice and patient-centred service was not well advanced. 

Prime Minister, Tony Blair, in a vigorous defence of the public finance initiative insists that the new hospitals and schools being built under PFI are being delivered on time and within budget. He said he will not allow unions to have a veto on reform and even more must be done to encourage private sector involvement in the provision of public services.He argued that PFI has delivered on time and within budget, something that public sector-led investment projects seldom managed to achieve. 

The report by The Foundation for Information Technology in Local Government (FITLOG) explores the question: Can electronic procurement help local authorities to get better prices for the goods and services they buy, as well as saving administration costs and improving management information? It provides senior decision-makers with an independent view of the potential of e-procurement approaches in local government, as well as the policy and management challenges they offer. 

Doctor in training are being given smart cards to streamline the administrative process when they move the next post. 

Quality of life indicators devised by the Audit Commission have been successfully piloted by local councils to measure the effectiveness of their community strategies and help in developing local strategic partnerships. The success of the pilot is likely to lead to public service wide adoption of the indicators which are set to become powerful levers of policy.The 32 cross-cutting indicators cover social, economic and environmental issues and they have been piloted by 90 councils. 

J.A. ChandlerIn 1991 eight polytechnics offered a BA in public administration while five universities provided the degree with either public or social policy. Currently, no higher education institution in Britain offers a BA degree solely entitled ‘public administration’.