Councils will no longer need to seek central government permission to take action on a range of local matters, following a deregulation drive by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM).ODPM has worked on this issue with the Cabinet Office as part of the Government’s wider de-regulation agenda.

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Urgent action must be taken to tackle the causes of staff shortages in the public sector, according to a new Audit Commission report.’Recruitment and Retention: A public service workforce for the 21st century’ says employers and central government both have a role to play if quality staff are going be available in sufficient quantity for modernisation to be successful.

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