Agreement has been reached on the terms of reference for the commission which will examine pay and rewards for local government services staff. Setting up the body was one of the key proposals made by the Arbitration and Conciliation Service as part of the two-year pay proposals to settle the council workers’ dispute. 

By Trefor Lloyd Main stream systems do little to prepare underachieving young men in the final school years for the world of work. The author describes how a programme involving classroom work and visits overcame barriers and brought the participants back from the margins. He argues for a more flexible approach by schools and training across the professions involved in the problem.

Hospital consultants are setting up a round table meeting with other medical organisations to ensure they present a united professional view on the shape of a new contract for consultants in the National Health Service. The meeting being arranged by the BMA’s consultants committee will take place next Wednesday.