This report examines the findings from the first two programmes in a series of 24 hour Knowledge Exchange visits. It focuses on the key lessons about e-government and organizational change from two leading authorities - Liverpool City Council and Hertfordshire County Council. 

Five police forces in England and Wales are to pilot a plan which would allow them to hold on to some of their longest-serving officers in an effort to keep their skills and experience within the police service.Schemes to retain officers who have completed 30-years service will run in the Avon and Somerset, North Wales, West Mercia and West Midlands force areas and in the Metropolitan Police. 

Local councils will have to deliver far-reaching and sometimes contradictory reform, if the public is to see the the benefits of a raft of legislation contained in the Queen’ s Speech, according to the Local Government Association.The association said the proposals would have important consequences for councils across England and Wales. UNISON, meanwhile, has condemned what it sees a two-tier approach to the provision of services.