The Health and Safety Executive has taken an important step in its preparations for implementation of the Freedom of Information Act and the recommendations on openness in government made by the Philips inquiry into BSE.The HSE has become one of the first government bodies to report on its openness procedures and practices. The report, prepared by the independent Constitution Unit at University College London is based on an evaluation of staff attitudes towards openness and the effectiveness of current systems.

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Local authorities have been praised for delivering consistent levels of performance in many areas of educational provision. The Schools Minister,David Miliband, was commenting after the publication of the first star ratings for Local Education Authorities.The gradings have been developed in response to the White Paper ‘Strong Local Leadership – Quality Public Services’, which was published in December 2001. Of 150 LEAs, 32 have been awarded three stars for their current performance and 113 were also awarded three stars for improvement.

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By Julia Eadie Reproduced by permission of the Centre for Management and Policy Studies. The Public Service Leaders Scheme helps leaders from the Civil Service, local government, the NHS and the Police to work together, learn about different cultures and develop leadership skills. Julia Eadie, Head of the scheme’s secretariat, describes the features of the learning network, which has now reached its third intake of leaders who spend between one to three years honing their skills.